Words: Rosie Hall

3 stars

I Dream in Colour is a one-woman show written and performed by Jasmine Thien, a fully blind Bruneian-born Chinese writer, poet and comedian. Based on Thien’s own experience, the show follows Sophie, a blind woman who grapples with the decision whether to remove her one remaining eye, or to risk the growth of the tumour that lies behind it. Ever since she was a child, Sophie has been subjected to countless medical procedures and operations: now, she wants to salvage her right to choose.

Told in a non-linear style, I Dream in Colour follows Sophie from travelling to Canada as a child for medical treatment, to uni life in Cambridge, to her current life in England with her fiancee. Throughout her story, we see Sophie constantly encounter both covert and overt ableism; from the strangers calling her ‘brave’, to the medical personnel moving her around like an inert object. A scene set in a nightclub during Freshers Week is particularly striking.

Thien is a spirited, engaging performer who commands the stage easily. The parts of the other characters – Sophie’s parents and partner, the medical staff and strangers around her, are portrayed using voice-overs. These, unfortunately, are rather flat and emotionless, lacking the energy Thien brings to the performance and slightly dampening the emotional weight of key scenes.

The title refers to Sophie’s synesthesia, which is touched on every so often as she sees the colour of the music in a night club (orange), of her school friend (navy blue), of her partner (lilac). This was a wonderful storytelling device which felt a little underutilised. Despite this, I Dream in Colour remains a nuanced, thought-provoking and intimate depiction of the struggle of claiming bodily autonomy as a disabled person, as well as the multiple interactions of race, gender and disability.

I Dream In Colour
Underbelly Bristo Square, Fresian
14.20
30th Jul – 24th Aug