Review: SH*T HAPPENS, Camden People's Theatre

At the age of 21, about six years ago, Patrycja Dynowska was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She details her struggles with coping with such a crippling and humiliating - yet entirely invisible - illness in Sh*t Happens, her self-penned solo show.

Her very personal and intimate experience becomes a multidisciplinary performance, with poetry and physical theatre used to deliver a lot of talk about poo. As she tells the public about her relationship with Jerry, the toilet that stands tall and proud centre-stage throughout, she destroys taboos and explains IBD with a laugh.

Helen Herbert's set design is very much the co-star of the piece. Dynowska stalks the space around the makeshift toilet, metaphorically chained to her being forced to use it. "My super power is to know where all the toilets are in close proximity" she brags, initiating a journey through resignation and acceptance.

She's always smiling, even when the pain gets too much to bear. An aura of endurance and light pervades the anecdotes as she recounts stories of soiling herself after being turned down from restaurants for asking access to their facilities, or having to use a Tesco bag because her flatmate used to take very long showers.

Her writing is infused with positivity and elegance but doesn't shy away from showing the nitty gritty of her syndrome. She cuts to the chase and lists symptoms and drugs, humiliations and fears. The visuals are equally important in the narration, with director Theodor Spirindon accompanying her odyssey with a striking lighting design and dynamism of movement.

The uncomfortable truth of the debilitating illness is laid out for the audience to take in. Dynowska is honest and blunt, raising awareness and representing over 300,000 people who battle with it every day in the U.K. The piece is effective and accessible, it doesn't demand pity but does ask for kindness and understanding when the reason for someone's behaviour or discomfort isn't immediately evident.

Sh*t Happens runs at Camden People's Theatre until 18 August as part of Camden Fringe.

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