Pleasance Courtyard

14.15

July 30 – Aug 24

£7-12

Byron’s emotive, highly charged account of his time sectioned under the Mental Health act is an uncomfortable journey for us that pushes us and reaches out to us asking for us for be more tolerant of people who have mental illness. He asks us to consider if the treatments that patients in this country receive for being officially “not normal” are worse than the illness itself. The list of side effects of his medication is astounding as is his courage to stand up and give a warts and all account of his journey to get to that point and the personal pain he has suffered by being placed in one of our psychiatric establishments. It’s a serious subject but he gives us moments of plenty of moments of levity.

An interesting and informed performance to make us think about how society judges those with mental illness and the power that those that draw the metaphorical line between sane and insane and the ramifications that that can have for that individual. This is brave and entertaining theatre. THREE STARS

Reviewer David McMenemy