Getting Better Slowly
by Getting Better Slowlytheatre, dance
An inspiring story of illness & recovery
about the production
Adam Pownall woke up to find his body was slowly shutting down. Unable to walk, talk or blink and nobody knew why… When Guillain Barré Syndrome affected Adam it caused full paralysis within days. Getting Better Slowly tells the story of his illness through a creative collision of new writing, verbatim accounts, sound and movement. How does it feel when your closest relationship is with the illness that’s holding you back? Adam’s frank and moving account of how he dealt with GBS and the two years he spent recovering – including months spent learning how to walk and talk again –
about the artist
Creative Producer/Performer – Adam Pownall Director – Tilly Branson Movement Director – Marc Brew Associate Choreographer - Kimberley Harvey Writer – Nick Wood Performer – Kitty Randle Associate Dramaturg – Luca Rutherford Sound Design – Adam P. McCready Designer - Kate Unwin Lighting Design - Howell Thomas Producer - Toby Ealden Assistant Producer - Martin Bygnell Research and Development support from Arts Council England Commissioned by GAIN Charity, Core Lincolnshire One Venues & Lincoln Drill Hall. With support from ARC Stockton, Deda Derby & In Good Company
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stage dimensions
width: 5 metres
height: 3 metres
depth: 5 metres
We tour our own lighting & sound equipment and only require 7 lanterns from the venue overhead rig. The performance can play non theatre spaces with a compromise on lighting, please discuss this with us.
We hang 3 practical lights in the rig where possible.
We tour the set and equipment in a long wheel base van and would require parking.
For those interested in:
• Contemporary / Fringe Theatre
• Movement / Dance
• Spoken Word
• Verbatim
• Stories about illness and recovery
• Recovery
• NHS
• Disabled Arts
• Accessibility
"This new writing is the product of great thought and feeling" "The fine path trodden between acting a script and one’s own life creates a paradoxically entertaining performance of an illness most people have never heard of, let alone experienced. Along with being entertaining theatre, Getting Better Slowly also has the potential to educate the audience about a rare medical condition and making a recovery."
"Getting Better Slowly’s main strengths lie in its performers and the sheer amount of heart in its story. It takes place in a small world, but ultimately one that is perfectly formed and we can all recognise a place we would take in it. As for Pownall’s goal to raise awareness of Guillain-Barre – it is thoroughly fulfilled. And he’s created a remarkable show along the way."
"A delightfully positive man, telling a delightfully positive story of how you can recover from an assault so great that you imagine there is no future, no normality to be found and yet there is recovery – if only it were for everyone and not just for the lucky few."
We take accessibility seriously for the GBS project, Marc Brew our Movement Director and Kimberley Harvey are disabled artists and Adam Pownall is formerly disabled.
We are always open to discussions on accessibility and already have performances with caption options in certain venues.
Post show discussions available with no cost
Participatory workshops available, can be tied into package or a stand alone negotiable cost of £250
Workshops on movement, theatre-making, working with disabled artists, autobiographical performance, new writing.
Discussions and lectures available on Guillian Barre Syndrome from GAIN Charity & Adam Pownall
We can offer the performance on a negotiable fee of £800 per performance this can be reduced further for consecutive nights. We would consider lower fee versus a box office split.
GBS Project is not VAT registered.
