The Brilliance of Broken Glass @ Underbelly George Square

Are you always what you once were?

That’s the question posed by New York comedian and Moth StorySLAM champion Brooke in The Brilliance of Broken Glass, an hour-long one-woman exploration of growth, loss, and crisis. Blending conversational story-telling with sharp comedic timing, Brooke ponders what identity means to a person facing major medical uncertainty.

With little guidance and increasingly only a cuddly guide dog for moral support, Brooke articulates the exhaustion of navigating the complexities of the healthcare system while trying desperately to cling to the benchmarks of the twenty-something experience. In the small, dark comfort of Underbelly’s Wee Coo, she takes the audience on a quest to heal, both internally and externally, filled with devastating drawbacks which are countered by her hopeful delivery and wry humour.

“My first line of offence and last line of defence has always been a sense of humour about myself and my situation,” creator and performer Brooke writes of her debut Fringe performance. The persistent thread of laughter weaves through this blend of spoken word and stand-up as she delivers the tales of her childhood through to the eventual unrelenting visits to hospital wards.

We are, Brooke concludes, a sum of all our parts in their perfectly imperfect unique ways – we are the brilliance of broken glass.

---

The Brilliance of Broken Glass, Underbelly George Square (Wee Coo), until 28 Aug, 1.20pm, £10-11

Brooke is also staging a semi-companion comedy piece, 22* at City Café (Nineties), until 27 Aug, 11.55am, pay-what-you-want from £5