★★
Sarah Mills is a funny and engaging storyteller. No easy task when your subject matter is bowel cancer. Yet Sarah manages to put the audience at ease when talking about what is still, a very taboo subject for many. Sarah’s monologue is so densely packed, there isn’t a moment that isn’t filled with an amusing aside or opportunity for an extra gag.
Its message is important and we value any artist who breaks the silence around cancer, especially bowel cancer, where embarrassment can be a death sentence, and using your own story is commendable. Mills’ show will save lives and that’s an incredible legacy for a show to have.
It was in the staging and presentation of Mills’ story that I had issue with. I felt that the video presentation (bar the moving home movies at the end) detracted from the story, as did the celebrity voice cameos. Mills’ delivery worked well without the bells and whistles.
For us Mills will always have a special place in our thoughts, having one of the cleverest show titles at this years fringe. It may lack coherent staging, but it delivers as a true story of surviving a cancer diagnosis.
