As a baby, Fraser Patterson is ‘bonny’. His Mum June is already a Type 2 Diabetic, so she’s not surprised when her newborn weighs in at over eleven pounds. But she’s fine with that,
‘A chubby baby is a healthy baby.’
June is a single Mum. She and Fraser live in substandard council housing, and June has to get back to work fast to make ends meet. But she doesn’t mind, she loves being a mother, and she loves Fraser. Fraser loves her. And they both love food.
In Nathan Scott Dunn’s excellent new play for Saltire Sky Theatre, we follow Fraser through his early years into manhood. It’s not an easy ride.
MANikin is set in Ellon, a market town in Aberdeenshire. The play is semi-autobiographical and references real places throughout, from Aucterellon primary school, which Fraser joins with enthusiasm, to Ellon Academy (much less fun) and the shops on Aberdeen’s Union Street. This happens to be local territory for me, but it won’t matter if you’ve never set foot in the North East; although Sands Stirling recreates every location, from Fraser’s Mum’s house to his schools, the dreaded pool changing rooms, a bar, a North Sea platform and more besides, with impressive acting throughout, his story could take place in any working class community. Fraser is everyman, or at least every fat man; his pain is the pain of so many.
Solo shows make huge demands on actors, but Stirling switches roles with dexterity. Using minimal props (June cradles her infant son so tenderly that we hardly notice it’s a rolled-up coat), he’s Fraser, June (a headscarf signalling her arrival, though Stirling’s highly entertaining sashay into Aberdeenshire wifie mode is probably all we need), Mr Jingles, the far from jingly head of Aucterellon, Findlay, head bully at the Academy and Mr McGinlay, its austere, judgemental Rector. Stirling brings each one of them to vivid, sometimes hilarious, sometimes horrific life.
Fraser’s life at primary school is a happy one. He’s overweight and unfit, but it doesn’t matter. He loves all of it, especially Golden Time. He gets on with one and all,
‘Everyone’s your pal’
and most of all he treasures his friendship with Jack. Jack’s got his back. They share X Box sessions, WWE and rugby. Because for the moment Fraser still loves PE. I didn’t mind it myself in primary school. But for Fraser, as for so many of us, everything goes downhill after that.
Quick costume changes take us from one part of Fraser’s life to another. For the Academy, it’s just a bigger blazer. As Stirling acts out Fraser’s school experience, our hearts start to break for that happy little boy as he comes up against the realities of life as a fat adolescent. The bullying is merciless, and of course it’s at its worst in school sports. Nathan Scott Dunn shows us not only the physical but also the psychological damage of obesity. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle; those who can’t do sport, or who are teased for not being good at it, swiftly learn to hate it and avoid it all costs, often for the rest of their lives. Lack of exercise and comfort eating (‘confectionary therapy’) to take away the fear and humiliation make us fatter. And the fatter we get, the more the bullies circle. Inwardly Fraser despairs. People often say that during a panic attack they feel as though they are dying; Stirling’s acting is so horrifyingly realistic that at times we fear for Fraser’s life.
MANikin expertly blends several intertwined themes. There’s health; June knows she’s unfit, and the last thing she wants if for Fraser to follow in her footsteps. There’s body image; the worse we feel about ourselves, the more our confidence plummets and our mental health suffers. And most importantly, perhaps, there’s poverty. June knows she should pay more attention to what Fraser eats, but she’s working all the hours that God sends; she’s exhausted. Cheesy pasta and Supernoodles are quick and cheap. And no, despite what a thousand middle class food blogs will tell you, it isn’t easy to ‘just make nutritious soups and stews’ when you come in the door 5 minutes before tea time, your electricity bill is already rocketing, and your child wants fast food because it tastes nice, and that’s what all the cool kids eat.
June worries constantly about Fraser, she’s a loving, caring mother who doesn’t know where to turn. MANikin highlights the lack of communication that happens when two people want to save each other pain; Fraser doesn’t tell his Mum about the bullying (partly because he thinks she’ll be straight down to the school, something that every victim knows just makes things worse), and she in turn keeps her own health problems from her son. She doesn’t want to worry him. And when she finally does speak with Head McGinlay, the blame for everything is placed firmly at her door. Helpful, very much not. Both Fraser and June are made to feel shame, when all they are doing, like so many people, is getting through life the best they can.
Fraser leaves school as soon as possible. Things start to improve for him, he gets a job in a bar, he’s muddling through. When he lands a job on the rigs, he even gets himself fit enough to pass the medical. ‘Hoorah!’ we think, ‘he’s going somewhere at last.’ At this point Fraser still somehow retains a touching optimism,
‘Mum was proud of me and I was proud of myself.’
Until once more his obesity catches up with him, this time with devastating consequences.
Scott Dunn gets right inside Fraser’s troubled head, and shows us how long lasting the effects of bullying are. Fraser is so damaged by his terrible experiences that they dominate his later life, and he’s stunned when he realises that his nemesis Finlay doesn’t even remember him. He expects everything to go wrong because so much already has, and his low expectations inevitably lead to more disappointment. He takes his frustration out on his poor mother because he has no one else to shout at. Even Jack’s left town.
We can talk about body positivity all we like, but the sad fact still remains; in Western society we are judged by our size and shape. Schools can develop shiny anti-bullying policies to please the inspectorate, but children are cruel, the playground is a breeding ground for bullying, and the bullies will always find a way.
Efforts to change the body shaming mindset tend to focus on girls, but what about boys? In MANikin we are reminded that fat-shaming is cruel and harmful no matter who it’s aimed at, but the show goes so much further than that, exploring the issues around obesity, the factors that may cause it in the first place, and what it will cause once it takes hold.
When Fraser reaches rock bottom we want to reach out and give him a hug. Eventually somebody unexpected does do just that, and when the play ends with a glimmer of hope for this sad, wounded man we breathe a sigh of (albeit cautious) relief.
Sands Stirling’s performance in Sunday’s show was an absolute tour de force, receiving a well-deserved standing ovation from an appreciative audience. It was all the more impressive when you know that Stirling was standing in at the last minute for the original actor, Josh Brock, who had suffered an ankle injury. Credit must also go to Sandy Bain (and to Stirling and Scott Dunn themselves) for the excellent sountrack; the hits of Meatloaf certainly brought extra depth to the show, while the set design included telling details; the XXXL size T shirts on the hanging rails, the book on diabetes carefully placed on the night table. Lighting and projections were well handled by Johnny Tulloch.
MANikin is an accomplished, perceptive and expertly staged play, addressing topics highly relevant to modern life but rarely featured in traditional theatre. Saltire Sky’s aim is to create theatre for people who don’t go to the theatre, to change stigma and to challenge perceptions of what working class theatre is and can be, sharing stories that accurately reflect modern society. In MANikin it more than succeeds.
Please note this show does contain dark themes, swearing and sexual references. It is considered suitable for anyone aged 14+.
MANikin is at Venue 506, the Wee Red Bar, at 5pm every day until 25th August*. Tickets here. The Wee Red Bar may not be on the main drag, but it’s just eleven minutes walk from the Royal Mile (and if you don’t want to walk, several buses stop nearby.) It’s a real pleasure to leave the noise and crowds of the Old Town behind for a while and enjoy the leafy Edinburgh College of Art quad.
*Please note there is no performance on Wednesdays 14 and 21 August.
Saltire Sky Theatre has worked with, and is grateful for the support of, the British Obesity Society in the making of MANikin. Find more information about BOS here
