Still No Idea @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Lisa Hammond and Rachael Spence tackle public and media attitudes to disability in the arts with a mixture of humour and brutal honesty

Review by Dominic Corr | 11 Nov 2019
  • Still No Idea @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Writer and performer Lisa Hammond joins fellow creator Rachael Spence in looking to unravel a key issue facing the industry today. While attempts to increase representation and diversity deserve praise, what happens when we seek to change the world... and nothing changes?

The duo’s performance is invigorating and marvellously energetic, as their attempts to establish some semblance of what sort of show to create often sees them boxed into the same corners over and over. In asking the public what sort of show the two of them would appear in, it’s humorous to hear about Hammond’s ‘cheeky face’ and watch as Spence launches into imaginative situations the public toss to her, even if they do run longer than necessary.

Affairs, spy dramas, haunted houses and, well, then there’s Hammond. It appears, without malice, that there just isn’t room for her in these stories. Here, the production takes a pointed turn towards becoming an openly honest piece on disabled performers. It tackles day-to-day invisibility of disability, or a hypersensitivity which is somehow worse. 

As Spence leads an outlandish game of public charades, Hammond tackles ‘inclusion porn’, plucking comments from interviews, twisting what the public isn’t saying into a tangible and emotive stance. Both performers have fierce stage presence, Hammond especially has a projection and timing to hold the court with ease.

When the names of those fatally affected by benefit cuts, the DWP’s statistics of those found 'fit for work' scroll by, the laughter dies away. These are names of individuals who found it difficult to cope; Hammond, Spence and Lee Simpson's script becomes brutal, yet requires no fabrication, simply the facts.

Balancing this heartache with a welcoming, family-like presence, Hammond and Spence are delightful to watch. Still No Idea is a fascinating interrogation of the creative process. But more than this, it’s a precise arrow into mainstream media attitudes towards not only those with disabilities, but towards single mothers and other marketable 'sob stories'.

It leaves its audience with the message that if the world won’t respond to our attempts to change it, we’ll just have to make our own narratives.


Still No Idea tours the UK until 12 Nov
http://bunnyproductions.co.uk/still-no-idea