Phoebe Bakker
One room, six participants living with long term illness and a book. It turns out thats all that was needed to render me speechless for the rest of the day.
Illness as Metaphor is originally a book by Susan Sontag that aims to demystify illness – to critique our choice of language around the terms that speak to it as a metaphor which often times leads to a mentality of victim blaming rather than acknowledging what it is. An illness. Dead centre have managed to adapt this book in a way that gives a face to Sontag’s words, exploring ironically, metaphors, but keeping the authentic voice of illness front and centre. A creative blend that amplifies the voice of chronic illness.
Ben Kidd is the director of this show and he greets us cordially as one has come to expect “how are you” we respond ” we are well” thus sparks our journey into this world of language and meaning. We say we are well because that is expected, how many of us are actually well, what does well mean and so forth. We spend a little time discussing Sontag’s book and then inevitably we discuss what a metaphor is. Ben explains what this could look like, for example- “this chair is a car” it could also be him saying “hello I am Susan Sontag” before taking his place next to the overhead projector solidifying him as a narrator of Sontag’s words for this performance. Una Mullally enters next introducing herself as Ben Kidd and here the pattern develops that each cast member will be playing another within this show and representing their illness and story through a meta exploration of the initial day they all met and decided to create a performance from this book.
What makes this show work so well is the concentration on the level of authenticity. The cast were hailed from a callout through twitter (now X) – looking for real people living with long term illness. The show was then created by these same people Cabrini Cahill, Eamonn Doyle, James Ireland, Conor Lenehan, Una Mullally, and Megan Robinson, using their words and stories. While some were already experienced as performers in some capacity some were not but either way within this show that doesn’t seem to matter because the focus is on telling the story. Mostly I would argue this is quite a stripped back performance – there isn’t an abundance of props, or set and therefore the focus really is on the narrative voice. There is no pomp or extreme character acting in this show, its people talking about other peoples stories simply by saying them and it makes it all the more alluring.
I should stress that this show is extremely entertaining. Given the subject matter you would be forgiven for thinking that this might be quite clinical. I assure you it is not. They handle incredibly sensitive subject matter with astuteness and wit, injecting light where we begin to fall never sullying the message. Theres even some Blink 182 for all you fans out there.
When props are used they are chosen for specific intent. Fake blood is used multiple times in collaboration with with loud noises which feels like it juxtaposes some of the more relaxed nature of the show but it works quite effectively. It’s a reminder of the reality of illness – it doesn’t shy away from the nature. It forces us to deal with it as the same time as the cast effectively breaking down the stigma of it. Each choice feels handcrafted with an intelligence that knows exactly how to capture their audience, a breathtaking display of skill. Equally the use of technology is astonishing with a blue screen taking over as this beautiful metaphor for becoming invisible within society, even the smaller moments that use just the camera to get close up on the cast is a valuable reminder that you can’t see pain.
There are shows which impact you so deeply they embed their way into your soul and make a home there, This is one of those shows as I feel fundamentally different having gone to see it. What a wondrous thing is to see something that can captivate you so wholly that you have no choice but to evolve.
Recommended drink: A Hot chocolate for self care
Performances of Illness as Metaphor have now concluded at Dublin Fringe 2024
Jake Mace
