Flawbored’s bitingly satirical It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure is raucously sensible success on the VAULT Festival
“I am not disabled, society disables me”
First issues first, e book for It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure proper now as it’s deservedly promoting out its performances. This is the kind of present the place you wanna be capable of say I used to be there, for if there have been any justice on the planet then this could blow Flawboard up into Mischief Theatre ranges of success. And I’m not simply saying that as a result of they’re disabled. Or as a result of I’m disabled. It actually is simply one of many funniest exhibits of the yr to date.
Its opening sequence encapsulates the present and Flawbored’s strategy completely. As a disability-led firm reconceiving how entry can and must be higher built-in into theatre, they open with an outline of the preparations made for the totally different entry wants recognized – units and performers are audio-described, captions are launched, content material warnings supplied…then, non-disabled viewers members requested to show round to imitate visible impairments, one of many performers takes himself on a contact tour for the entrance row, the captions begin speaking again…
It is completely managed chaos and fricking hilarious. But whilst we’re put comfy and really feel in a position to chortle, the underscoring of great intent is unmistakeable – these are actual points going through actual individuals and most theatres provide a mere handful of accessible performances if that. As It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure progresses into the present correct, its goal turns into society at giant, lampooning company makes an attempt to monetise identification politics while skewering the notion of “able anxiety”, the performative dance of understanding what it have to be wish to be disabled, simply addressed via company-wide re-learning workshops.
Writer/performers Samuel Brewer (blind and Australian!), Aarian Mehrabani (blind and homosexual and Iranian) and Chloe Palmer (a white girl) are mercilessly unbelievable throughout the hour. Slipping between characters and ‘themselves’, at all times commenting on one thing or different, they deftly deal with the metatheatrics. The present isn’t lower than completely inclusive however additionally it is unafraid take us to some darkish locations – at one level Brewer quips “do you know what it is like to be out-satirised by real life?” after which hits us with a ferocious one-two of extremeness, first real-life, then fictional, each stunning.
It’s the humour that stays with you although – the gag about placing your hand up, the jabs on the Art Council and sycophantic arts media, poor hapless Helen from HR, the omnipotent John the Captioner (a spin-off within the making, certainly!), that is belly-achingly humorous and with such objective as properly. Go now, get your badge and then you definitely’ll be capable of say ‘I saw it first’. I imply, for those who can see. Sorry, I imply ‘I experienced it first’. Whoops, possibly I want a kind of workshops…