medicine

John Tothill: Thank God This Lasts Forever, Soho Theatre

by Zahid Fayyaz

This is the sophomore effort from a former teacher turned stand-up comedian, after his critically acclaimed debut from last year The Last Living Libertine. This time around, the ‘modern day libertine’ talks about how he became a teacher, his mouse infestation, his weeknight escapades spent drinking, and how you can make money from participating in medical testing. The latter constitutes the meat of the show, as he explains how a malaria experiment almost went disastrously wrong.

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Stomach, Camden People’s Theatre

by Diana Miranda

It’s often said that the stomach is the body’s second brain. Supposedly, that pulling energy inside our gut – the thing we call intuition – is no woo-woo concept. This is certainly true in Ariana Xeno’s debut show, Stomach, which unravels the intertwined narratives of three women navigating environments that threaten their mental and physical health.

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Boy, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by Laura Kressly

In 1965, a Canadian couple give birth to identical twin boys, Brian and Bruce. When Bruce’s circumcision is botched and he is left without a penis, a doctor convinces his parents that the best way forward is to raise him as a girl. He thinks that with hormones and clear gender roles, Bruce – now Brenda – will be able to lead a normal life. The desperate parents eventually agree. This true story, dramatised by two adult performers and a zoo of soft toys, emphasises how enforcing strictly-defined gender binaries and stereotypes can have far-reaching, tragic consequences.

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Thought to Flesh, VAULT Festival

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The ice bucket challenge did a lot to raise awareness of Motor Neurone Disease. But how many people who froze their tits off because their mates dared them to actually learnt anything about the condition? Probably not many, so other means of educating about the condition are needed. Supported by the Wellcome Trust, Thought to Flesh creators Nathalie Czarnecki and Gareth Mitchell worked with doctors and researchers to develop a work that shares the human side of MND in an episodic montage following a young woman’s life with MND.

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