Going Solo: a collection of experiences

Performances at this international festival will surprise you, make you laugh and move you

My mother never liked to see me crawling, though that’s the easiest way for me to get around, Robert Softley tells the audience mid-way through his performance. One can understand why. It was disconcerting when the lights were dimming half an hour ago to see Softley come on to the stage using his hands and legs because in a way, that’s both part of the performance and it’s not. It’s not an “act” because Softley has cerebral palsy, a condition he has had since birth, but it is part of the performance because “If These Spasms Could Speak” is based on his own experiences and that of four other people with disabilities he interviewed.

 

If this sounds like a maudlin performance intended to move you to tears, it is anything but. Softley recounts the experiences with humour and allows the audience a glimpse into lives most of us would otherwise only be able to view from outside.

 

The performance, in Bangalore now as part of the “Going Solo” international theatre festival, is a collection of experiences which will surprise you, make you laugh, and yes, move you as well but not in the way you would think. The instances are varied: a woman speaks about the pride in her body (or her breasts, to be specific) and how even though she attended a wedding in her wheelchair, what all the guests talked about admiringly was her cleavage. Another talks about how she is treated either as invisible or stared at, especially in the gym, where the reaction seems to be “what on earth are you doing in a gym in the first place.” It hits home because that is, in fact, how most of us would react. 

 

After the one-hour show, I asked Softley over email (we couldn’t talk because he wanted to catch the next performance) about his own experiences of being stared at or treated as invisible. “There are no hard rules to this -- sometimes we all want to be invisible -- but it’s better to have the choice,” he says. In India, of course, he was stared at more often than not. “I've found it very noticeable in India where I - as a white Westerner who uses a wheelchair and shakes - am stared at quite a lot. It depends a lot on where I am in the world - I go to New York City quite a lot where everyone is different and therefore I'm not really unusual - I blend in much more.”

 

Other vignettes are humourous. A mother in a wheelchair who deals with her stubborn adolescent with a firm hand, how Softley’s own attempts to workout are often thwarted by well-meaning passersby, his first date with his partner, and others. 

 

The genesis of “If These Spasms Could Speak” was his own experiences, in particular, a holiday he had with his partner, when they had ordered champagne cocktails to celebrate. “But as soon as they were set down on our table, my hand spasmed and I knocked them all over both of us. Things like that are obviously annoying but they also show that disabled people have experiences that are unique to us and that inform who we are. So the play came from a desire to share these stories…”

 

During the show, it is not always easy to understand what he says, and I find my eyes flickering constantly to the screen at the side where there are subtitles. This took away from the experience a little but it was also my fault for not trying hard enough from the beginning, especially since my friend having managed just fine without the subtitles. 

 

Even so, this is a unique performance. Softley says that theatre, to him, is also about changing people’s perceptions and making them question their own beliefs. “It lets me connect with audiences in a way that is quite rare -- they are captive in a theatre for an hour where I have control over what they see and hear. That’s a great privilege and responsibility.” 

 

It’s a responsibility Softley executes beautifully.

(If These Spasms Could Speak will be staged in Bangalore on October 18 and in Mumbai on October 20. Details of the festival available on http://goingsolo.in)