theSpace Surgeons Hall
Aug 9th, 2024
As much serious as it was funny, Jane Japes’s ‘Dead Inside’ is essentially an hour’s comedy from a woman diagnosed with cancer, Combining astute writing with compelling acting, this blend of stand-up and storytelling involves the use of a pre-prepared list, reaching well into the 20’s, which would help her to deflect the heavy sickness which was coming.
Dead Inside is a frank tale, widely scoped, well put together, with stylish and risqué jokes cutting her audience like fire. It was strangely amusing to be listening to her speak with ever so light tones about the exhausting post-diagnosis processes and procedures, and as the troubles which heaped themselves upon her. Ploughing through doubt, falling in and love with doctors and surgeons, underestimating this great foe who apparently half of us will at sometime meet.
In her skilfully written and graciously delivered show there was a happiness, a finding wisdom and a feeling of being able to breathe again. She tried but couldn’t deny nor overcome nor contain the illness in its commonality. Through the cyclic means of surgery, that took a part of her and left her with the following pain to come.
As we sit humoured but perplexed, we witness a story meant to be told, for such a harrowing change of everything we think we are might only be just around the corner. Jane circles around an urgency in her message of living life to its fullest, all delivered with style and the power of healing. We couldn’t ignore her presence, her softest vocal, her vulnerability, her touching and thriving new will to live. Dead Inside was a showcase on how to fill a life of transitory nature; a tidy, concise and productive way to leave a great and lasting impression.
Daniel Donnelly
themumble.uk 