Photo: Maria Spadafora
Of Min the Gap’s new production Joyce Nga Yu Lee (Director) says: “Poignant stories of people with learning disabilities and their experiences of parenthood happen everyday, but we rarely hear people discussing them. I decided to tackle the issue head on by creating this fast moving, contemporary performance based on real life stories of parents with learning disabilities. It’s a very complicated subject to tackle but Mia aims to reflect the complexity through the interplay of style, pace and an emotional journey. It’s a wild ride!”
So, indeed, Mia ranges from slapstick comedy to scientific interpretation, audience interaction and with deep emotional acting from the four learning disabled players. There is excellent use of audio-visuals and at one point it takes the form of a quiz which is both hilarious but informative too.
The three Mias are compared and contrasted and their stories are clearly the result of primary research, such is their believability and sincere authenticity. At times the piece is very moving and we actually feel anger at the social worker’s patronizing and negative attitude and it really has us gunning for the underdog.
For many of us it may be the first time we had considered the issue in depth but we really come out both informed and a little disturbed. I have followed Mind the Gap’s progress over the past decade and this show lives up to their high standards and really hits home its message without tubthumping. A powerful piece that is ingenious in its form and confident in its presentation of content.
See here for tour dates.
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