BRIGHTON FRINGE: Alice Ella: Chronically Sick, Hormonal Slag – Komedia, Brighton

Writer: Alice Ella
Director: Veronica von Beaverhausen

Fringe theatre is well known as testing ground for new work, and disability advocate Alice Ella has done just that with her new show Chronically Sick, Hormonal Slag. In this 90-minute solo show, Ella explores her own self-described ‘hormonal hellscape’ health challenges.

This is not a polished show. It is raw, real, and – at least in these early days – guided by a set list. This doesn’t take away from the performance. In many ways it adds to it, the unfinished feel of the productions allowing its audience to experience Ella’s vulnerability first hand as they get taken along on her journey; her medical journey and also her journey of returning to the stage following her illness.

During the show, Ella shows her full range of talents. There’s singing, character work, and even an appearance of Puppet Alice, each adding variety and helping keep the show moving at pace. From an audience point of view, there’s little time to process each new piece of information as new concepts, new ideas, and new diagnoses are brought to the fore throughout. This adds to a building sense of urgency as Ella brings her audience into the very real world of living with, and managing, a disability.

Parts of the show feel laboured and overly long, most memorably a portion looking at an NHS fatigue management plan – although this could have been by design as Ella invites the audience to experience the long process of getting support from the NHS. Other parts of the show feel like they could have been made more off, such as the ringing phone which appears so briefly at the end and Ella’s pre-recorded video segment.

Ella is undeniably funny, a fact shown most clearly through her parody songs throughout the show and a song featured early on about a cinema-based activity that is best not mentioned outside of an 18+ show.

Chronically Sick, Hormonal Slag is, at its core, a love letter from Ella to performance. It is full of passion, love, and a deep appreciation of the journey she has taken since her last public performance before her ME diagnosis. For that passion alone it is worth watching, although it is the comedy and entertainment make it stand out among a sea of Fringe shows on offer.

Reviewed on 11th May.