IT takes guts to get up on stage at the Edinburgh Festival.
It takes another kind of bravery all-together to do so while detailing personal struggles with mental health.
But that’s exactly what ex-River City star Hanna Stanbridge is doing nearly every night in August – baring her deeply personal battle with anorexia while putting on a full-pelt show at Just The Tonic.
When she arrives, Hanna bounds onstage having taken on the persona of a self-help guru, complete with motivational slide-show and ‘life-affirming’ mottos.
The show is spliced between Hanna’s exuberant life coach character and an honest, straightforward monologue about living with an eating disorder and Hanna’s experience once she came forward and asked for help.
Hanna Stanbridge takes her anorexia battle on stage at the Edinburgh Fringe
As the two halves of the shows come together, the gradually material peters into darker and darker territory.
While this show does have some laughs, the unflinching exploration into Hanna’s past (“I thought when people saw me, they’d be so disgusted they’d be sick in the street”) can be quite breath-taking, especially when it’s coming from someone who seems so confident and ‘perfect’.
That’s what this show does really well – it attacks the premise of ‘perfection’. Not just in regards to physical appearance, but also maintaining the outward semblance of having a ‘perfect’ life.
In the Instagram age, this is a timely and important reminder that social pressures and surface-deep posts on social media can be damaging and chip away at self-esteem and mental health. A little bit of honest conversation can go a long way.
Verdict
★★★ 1/2
When Hanna’s chatting away about her glam showbiz past, it can be difficult to believe that this successful woman could have harboured such vicious self-hate.
Which is exactly why this show is important. Mental health issues can affect anyone, and this show is sure to inspire conversations and hopefully smash some of the silence that still surrounds mental health issues.
The production’s partner is mental health charity Sane.
tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/i-hate-myself-so-people-will-like-me-and-other-strategies-for-success
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