one4review | On 13, Aug 2023

Adam Lenson’s autobiographical show asks the question, ‘What if there are multiple versions of each of us?’ Faced with a diagnosis of cancer, he questions whether his predicament is a result of his decision to drop medicine and become a theatre director. Is there another version of him out there that didn’t delay seeking a diagnosis and having to face debilitating treatment?

Structuring the play around a countdown of days before and after his diagnosis – day zero being the day of the shattering news – Adam moves back and forth through his life and ponders the ‘what ifs?’. TV screens are used to for the countdown and other images pertinent to the drama. The loops and wires on stage seem to reflect the chaos in his mind as his terror bubbles over and he faces up to the alternate lives he could have led.

This play is balm to the soul. I could palpably feel the audience rooting for Adam as he faced the hurdles along his journey. A cancer story may not seem like the most life-affirming theatrical choice given the hundreds of options available, but Adam’s gentle humour peppers the narrative, and I left the venue uplifted. A life of regret is a life half-lived and this show more than demonstrates this. Thoroughly recommended.

4.5****

Reviewed by Rona

Summerhall – Cairns Lecture Theatre

12.30pm

Until 27th (not 14th or 21st)