Traverse theatre, Edinburgh
A former police officer with muscular dystrophy fights a grotesquely bureaucratic system in this subversive satirical broadside
It is 2037 and the government has instituted a new system for assessing claims for disability benefits. Having listened to complaints about the old questionnaire, it has reframed its evaluation in more positive terms. This, goes the slogan, is “accessible Britain: a country we can all use”, and now everyone can be provided with work that suits their ability.
For Chris (Gillian Dean), the very thought is excruciating. A former police officer, she reluctantly quit her job because of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD), which is causing her body to progressively weaken and her eyesight to fade. The interview with her upbeat assessor, Ralph (Neil John Gibson), blandly following Department for Work and Pensions protocol, is a cat-and-mouse game of evasion and entrapment. Chris cannot win.
