★★★★
For all the bombast and pyrotechnics many fringe shows employ to grab your attention, a lot of people forget what the Fringe is actually about. It’s about allowing anyone, from any background, to come and tell a story. Simon Gomes’ Natalie and I is the gentle, autobiographical story of a former lawyer whose keratoconus resulted in sight-loss from an early age.
Coming to terms with his sight-loss is managed by his love of Natalie Imbruglia’s music. And in fact Natalie joins us for the show, well a cardboard cut-out does. Gomes is much more of a storyteller than a stand-up. This isn’t some tight set you’d get at The Stand, it’s stories with humorous asides.
Gomes talks about how his disability ostracised him from his job, how medical complications made his sight even worse. That the way he navigates the world has, at times, been so challenging he didn’t know if he had the fight in him.
Gomes is authentic, he doesn’t try to be anything other than himself. His dancing along to Imbruglia’s hits, his piano accompaniments are delightful and very real.
For someone who is totally new to performance, and who worked with Moorfield’s Eye Hospital on this project, even performing a preview for them; Gomes has accomplished much.
Natalie and I was on at Paradise at St Augustine’s Church
