Nicole Nadler, an Edinburgh resident, but originally for the US, created a surprise success of a show at the '23 Fringe, based around her experience of being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. This follow up goes back to that source material, and expands upon it because knowing is one thing, but being the different person she hoped it would make her is something else entirely.
She combines elements of storytelling, theatre, stand up and generally having a rant. Speaks too fast at first, which can make her difficult to understand at first, but is a part of the persona. And this multi-syllable per second style does make for a very in-your-face experience for the audience.
It's a well structured show, with a history of her symptoms as both child and adult, and the impact it had upon her, notably self-hatred. Having a diagnosis helps, explains, but doesn't solve. And, having had some experience of working with a few people like her, I recognised much of her story and associated difficulties.
It's very commendable, but it's a hard show to really like. Such an intense and personal subject does need some light relief for the audience. But the few laughs were neither frequent enough or big enough to do the job. It ends up feeling like we're watching something akin to a therapy session for the performer. But I suspect it must be helpful to anyone with a similar diagnosis.
One further criticism. In her thank yous at the end she missed out the sound person, who had done a great job of following some quite complex cues.
No comments:
Post a Comment