Chronically Ill-Prepared

Improv at Fringe usually means comedy – and there’s plenty of that here – but there’s also a good dose of serious drama: tension, thrills, and a narrative that you want to explore further than the ding of the bell allows.

‘The Voice’ (for this performance, it’s Dylan) steers his performers from an initial starting point (say, your favourite fairy tale or place to go on holidays) and a style of improv, such as where every object in the scene has to be played by a performer – hilarious and brilliant as an actor becomes a backpack, a water bottle, or whatever is discussed in the reactive dialogue. Alternatively, a line of dialogue is repeated, but in a different way, perhaps with an opposite emotion, suggested by ‘The Voice’ – who would nudge them down a different path if the scene threatens to run out of steam, or just to make it more challenging for the performers. It gets our brains thinking how we might respond or act – and then the bell is dinged, to move to the next scene.

Created by a diverse troupe of local performers, they bring their lived experiences of disability, neurodivergence, and chronic illness to the stage – not just as a context, but sometimes as the subject of an improvised conversation. The creativity that each performer generates is individually clever and considered, but they’re also working as a great team: they react quickly and step in to help one another with a throwaway line, or a nudge in a new direction.

The accessibility for this show is fantastic: there is a full guide explaining in words and pictures what the venue looks like, where you can sit, how to navigate to the toilet (and back!); for the performance I attended, it was a Relaxed Performance, so that each member of the audience can enjoy the show in the ways they want to, without judgement. Another performance will have an Auslan interpretation, a third will be Audio Described. It is amazing work from this group to create and perform a show that everyone can enjoy.

Chronically Ill-Prepared plays with stand-up comedy and serious theatre and succeeds at both. It’s a great show, thoroughly enjoyable, stimulating the brain and heart, whilst making you laugh.

Review by Mark Wickett

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