Words: Aria Tsvetanova
Disability-led theatre company FlawBored (winner of 2023 Edinburgh Untapped Award) bring their debut dark meta-satire to the Fringe and what a pleasure it is! What begins as a description of the accessibility measures taken to ensure the performance can be experienced by all quickly descends into a chaotic tense storyline. The performance plunges you in sensory chaos from the get-go, unsettling as well as preparing you for what is to come.
The plot revolves around a company one of whose influencers has been accused of ableism. As a result they decide to hire a new star: a blind influencer (Aarian Mehrabani). What follows is a series of sketches filled with corporate politics, critiquing tokenism, commodification and the uselessness of workplace accessibility training.
The actors demonstrate great range as each of them takes on multiple roles, often within the same scene. They excel particularly when playing heightened versions of themselves. The actors frequently step away from the fictitious corporate plot to examine their own place in the able anxiety landscape as a disability-led theatre company: were they perhaps a token hire as well? Are they disabled enough to merit that?
The show is not afraid to ask tough uncomfortable questions and to make audiences squirm in their seats. The tension is palpable and rivals an episode of Succession.
It’s a Motherf**cking Pleasure
Underbelly Bristo Square, Friesian
14.20
9-13, 15-20, 22-27 Aug
