Louise Comb always felt different from everyone else. A mid-life diagnosis of ADHD changed her world. In Gail Louw‘s new play, ADHD? WTF is ADHD?, Comb shares her own personal story.
Played by Emma Wilkinson Wright, Louise and her stand-up alter ego Blulu tells us about her inability to stop reliving negative experiences and her creative ‘superpower’.
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) affects the brain, leading to behaviours such as inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
For Louise Comb, it was so destructive it sent her into psychosis, https://loureviews.blog/?s=Anthony+shrubsalldepression and a wish to die. But in her stand-up routines and side business of printing comical t-shirts, she takes on the funny side.
For a 65-minute play ADHD? WTF is ADHD? feels a little longer now and then, but Wilkinson Wright really captures the character in all her ups and downs. Her abusive father, loving partner, indifferent siblings, ineffective health practitioners, all feature.
Video projections by Holly-Anne White highlight pertinent words and phrases and echo the confusion Louise describes going on in her brain.
Director Anthony Shrubsall lets the words do their work, with the help of a few props and lighting cues. There’s a lot about relationships (romantic and family), the mind, religion, and anxiety.
There are also moments in the spotlight that stand as confessional poetry, working very well with the contrast of the reality of being what’s often referred to these days as ‘neurospicy’.
Louw has turned Comb’s very personal story (described in the playtext blurb as being ‘bold, funny, and raw’) into a play popping with individuality.
When Blulu is on stage, sparkly jacket and all, she’s self-deprecating and amusing, but as Louise tells us after the event the applause and laughs she doesn’t get sting her the most.
There’s a strong scene about hypersensitivity to sounds in a hospital ward, beautifully played and written. Another about simply forgetting a bad experience entirely hits hard.
ADHD? WTF is ADHD? is a play that makes this one woman’s life both funny and poignant. I enjoyed it while it made me really consider the realities of people on the spectrum.
4 stars.
ADHD? WTF is ADHD? is at the Playground Theatre until 16 Aug.