‘It reminds you what life is about. It’s not about desk jobs and 9 to 5s and clocking out at the end of the day. It’s about people, it’s about growth and love. It’s about bumble bees and chocolate digestives.’
In the prime of her early twenties, Sadie is diagnosed with melanoma. Her quiet life is quickly overshadowed as she learns to navigate life with a chronic illness: getting poked, prodded and bombarded with questions.
When medical staff are all too focused on the physical symptoms, Sadie turns to her sister to rediscover her sense of self beyond a diagnosis.
Complete with an immersive sensory MRI experience, Skin is a bold new play by up-and-coming writer Peter Todd, sharing a candid yet amusing view of Sadie’s experience.
Todd says, ‘Skin contributes to a much wider discussion about the impact of chronic illness and disability on the lives of people everywhere. It connects and unites the struggles of millions who are so frequently overlooked and forgotten about, especially considering the impact of invisible illness and disability.
‘The feedback we received from audiences in Oxford was both heart-warming and incredibly frustrating: so many of us feel the same way and share similar traumatic experiences and mistreatment. The general public too often frames chronic illness and disability as short-lived, something that can be cured or that will improve or go away in time, but this is not the case. It is an ever-present part of who you are from the moment you are diagnosed.
‘This show presents that fact in plain sight, validating the experience of those who have lived through it and encouraging those without disability and chronic illness to improve our own mindsets and the larger societal structures that affect those who suffer under such regimes.’
Cast: Juliette Imbert, Elise Busset, Leah O’Grady, Am Wyckoff, Cosimo Asvisio, Proshanto Chanda.
Join Oxford-based production company, Scar Theatre, at the Jack Studio this August for the London premiere of this warm and human journey.
Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH from 1st – 5th August. Time: 7.30pm. Admission: £14, £12 concessions (suitable for 16+)
Preview tickets £10
Booking: www.brockleyjack.co.uk – 0333 666 3366 (£1.80 fee for phone bookings only)
