Presenting a comedic insight into intrusive thoughts, Beth Wants the D is an autobiographical one woman show that confronts death and delusion. Using writer and performer Beth May’s own struggle with bipolar disorder, audiences will journey through the extreme highs and lows to the scariest thing of all – a future full of hope. Pleasance Courtyard (Baby Grand) from 30th July – 24th August at 13:45
- Thank you for chatting with A Young(ish) Perspective! Introduce us to who you are and what you’re doing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year?
My name’s Beth May, and I’m a writer and actor based in Los Angeles. I’m probably best known for playing bumbling stepfather Ron Stampler on “Dungeons & Daddies,” a comedy D&D podcast. I co-produced and co-starred in Rocketjump’s “We’re All Gonna Die,” which premiered at SXSW last year. I love poetry and I have a couple of published poetry works including my book “The Immortal Soul Salvage Yard” and spoken word album “Sunday Scaries.”
I also live with bipolar disorder and I’m working hard to diminish the stigma associated with serious mental illness, which is one of the main reasons I’m bringing my solo show “Beth Wants the D” to Edinburgh Fringe this year.
2. A Youngish Perspective platforms accessible arts and champions the huge scope of different perspectives – can you tell us about the show you’re taking to Edinburgh Festival Fringe as if you’re flyering to both a young first-time-Fringe goer and a festival veteran returning every year?
Beth Wants the D is a comedy about all the times Beth May has thought about killing herself. This autobiographical one woman show puts you in the splash zone of death and delusion as Beth journeys through her struggle with bipolar disorder, but like, in a funny way. Through the bizarre highs and perilous lows, Beth knits comedy and drama together to find the scariest thing of all — a future full of hope.
Content Warning: This production includes conversations about mental illness and suicidal ideation.
It’s funny, dark, and hopeful — and while it normalizes and pokes fun at the very fine line between sanity and madness, it also speaks to the very serious consequences of mental illness, and how they affect a person, a family, a community, and society. Ultimately it is intended to be a reminder that things can get better, and that even people some deemed to be crazy and useless can go on to write a funny and touching solo show about their experience.
3. Given that this show is autobiographical, how are you able to be so vulnerable in front of an audience every night? What inspires you to tell this story?
So this solo show is about my experience with mental illness, but I’m actually just one of millions, because 1 in 20 adults live with SMI or serious mental illness. These people, particularly those who deal with psychosis or have substance use issues, are often feared and vilified, and many times they haven’t survived to share their story. My story can’t bring them back or even do justice to their experiences, but it can show people that the curtain between sanity and madness is shockingly thin. And even though it’s my very specific story being told on stage, I genuinely think anyone can see themselves in elements of it. That’s maybe why I feel comfortable performing it for an audience, because I believe it’s a very human thing to feel hopeless or out of control or totally unsure of a way forward. This illness has shaped a lot of my life in negative ways – I’m interested to see if there are positives, too. And that’s something that only comes from talking about it.
4. The subject of this show is dark and complex but is portrayed through a comedic lens. How do you balance the heavy nature of the subject with entertainment?
Bipolar disorder used to be called manic depression, which is maybe the more accurate name for it, because that old label is about the juxtaposition of moods characteristic of the illness. It felt very fitting for my show about bipolar to have the same exchange of highs and lows, but beyond that, I would describe the genre of my whole ass personality to be dark comedy. A friend of mine has this saying – “You can only laugh so hard until you cry and you can only cry so hard until you laugh.” I firmly believe that mantra would be on the bumper sticker of my life.
5. Who would your surprise dream audience member be?
There’s a lot of incorrect or incomplete information about bipolar disorder on social media, and consequently my suspicion is that many people don’t know how the illness actually manifests or what a true manic episode looks like – ultimately that makes it hard for people without bipolar to wrap their heads around it. So my dream audience member for Beth Wants the D is a family member of someone with bipolar, someone who maybe doesn’t understand the odd or delusional behavior of their son/niece/mom/uncle etc and what it feels like first hand. This can be a very isolating illness for families, and to shed some light or make it easier to connect would be a total dream for me. My other surprise dream audience member would be somebody super rich who wants to fund me and my friends’ movies.