An irreverent and unique piece of art, which keeps you laughing while your consciousness opens to different understandings of humanity

Spectacular, borderline, both at the same time. That’s Not My Name is a provoking play engaging the audience’s senses from the beginning. The performance quite smartly plays between the edges of energy on stage, flashy colours and simplistic scenography. In fact, the minimalistic scenery plays along very nicely with the flamboyance of the musical performances in the play. A combination of ambivalences that kept captivating the audience’s attention throughout the play.  

The script and the performance offer a very well artistically crafted critiques to the way mental health and dis-orders are understood, or rather institutionally imposed under different labels and categories. It is almost impossible not to appreciate the rawness of the monologues, and the vulnerability of a narrative that manages to touch the audience as it felt quite personal and open. It is easy to question psychiatric categories when put so simple as the play did, and probably not just the categories, but also the entire system of institutionalisation of mental health. Such complex topics were quite easier to digest when combined with a significant amount of laughter throughout the play. The play can make you feel joy, critical, breathless and some references could be uncomfortable for some persons. Thus, few disclaimers or trigger warnings would have been welcomed in terms of aggressive behaviour on display and other mental health references.

All in all, the performance masters the comedy to keep the audience between borders: between the joy of the laughter and the consciousness of the serious topics touched upon. That’s Not My Name is an irreverent and unique piece of art, it will keep your jaw busy laughing while your consciousness open to different understandings of humanity.