Review: ON ONE CONDITION Shows Life with Cerebral Palsy

At the beginning of the one-man show, ON ONE CONDITION, running through May 26, 2017 at Soho Playhouse, actor Dan Daw arrives on stage in his underwear. He then proceeds to dress himself as we watch. As someone with cerebral palsy, getting dressed is a painstaking process. Immediately, Daw takes us into his world and gives us a little taste of what it's like to be him.

Then, he launches into a dance sequence followed by personal stories told verbally in between more movement and song. In simply struggling to pour water into a glass, or lying down and getting back up, Daw shows us how much we take these movements for granted and challenges what we consider to be normal.

But when Daw dances, we see another side of him that has largely overcome whatever limitations he may have faced during his life.

Daw is a self-described "dance-maker and artist" from Australia who is Associate Director of Murmuration, a Sydney-based, integrated performance company. In an interview with Access2Arts, he once said, "it's important for me to make work that I want audiences to see rather than making work that audiences want to see."

Indeed, ON ONE CONDITION has a performance art quality to it that isn't always successful. For example, at one point, he repeats the same movement over and over for at least a full minute or two.

Originally, ON ONE CONDITION included more verbal stories than the current version that probably amounts to no more than a couple of pages of text. While I applaud the inclusion of movement and expression other than verbal, I found myself wanting to hear more stories about Daw's life, such as the one he told about trying to descend a staircase with no handrail in China.

Nevertheless, the piece is brave, raw, unique and moving, as we see someone illuminate both his many physical challenges and his many physical triumphs. It's his triumphs, however, not his challenges, that will move you the most.

The 65-minute show directed by Graham Adey runs Thursday, May 25 and Friday, May 26 at 7pm at Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, New York, NY. Tickets are $39.

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