Theatre / 60 min / £19(£14), £17(£12), £6 / 13+
Showing @ Traverse Theatre, 2-26 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), times vary
Statistics show that 1.6 million people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder. Despite the media regularly exploring the links between body image and food on TV shows and in magazines, our understanding of eating disorders is proportionately low. Caroline Horton’s Mess is a funny, bright and insightful drama about anorexia that will turn your preconceptions of the illness upside-down and back to front.
Instead of an intense ‘issues play’, Horton’s is light-hearted, engaging and informative. As we journey through key scenes of Josephine’s (Horton) anorexia, she is accompanied by friend Boris (Hannah Boyde) and Sistahl (Seiriol Davies): musician, everyman as necessary and sound effect extraordinaire. Fiammetta Horvat’s set represents the concept of anorexia – a huge mound that distances the subject from reality, a warm blanket of comfort and reassurance, and several gold medals that denote weight loss and achievement. The characters speak directly to the audience, there’s no fourth wall, which only encourages our empathy for not only Josephine, but her powerless friend Boris. Mess takes a huge subject and makes it digestible; from the need for control to the fear of licking an ice-cream, eating disorders are much more complex than the media would have us believe.
Comments