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Two years in the making, it sees the 60-year-old mother-of-two on stage with “an extraordinarily talented team of drag queens” telling her life story.
The Hendon resident, who writes and paints using eye gaze technology, describes her journey from a devastating diagnosis aged 34 to unlocking her creativity decades later.
“My marriage collapsed and I was left alone with two young children to bring up with the help of carers. As the disease progressed and I became more disabled, I spiralled into deep depression and couldn’t see any hope or happiness ahead.
“Dr Adrian Tookman at the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead put me back together and I started to enjoy life again. I began volunteering for the NW London MND Association branch, writing, painting using eye gaze technology and campaigning to help people with MND get the equipment and help they need.
“He wanted me to create an eye gaze picture for a book he was writing. When I met him, I told him I had started writing my memoir, but hadn’t touched it for years because I couldn’t face going back to my bad place. He wanted to read it, so I emailed it to him.
“In February 2023 Andrew introduced me to his former student, Dr Michael Atkins (aka drag star Cheddar Gorgeous). I didn’t know much about drag but started watching Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK and Drag SOS, which featured Cheddar. I enjoyed the programmes and suddenly saw how drag could be an innovative way to tell my story.
“Cheddar brought on board fellow drag queens Pixie Polite, Te te Bang, and Duane Nasis. We first met in June 2023 and threw some ideas together and six months later we got together for rehearsals and Ms MaNDy’s Adventures in Wonderland was born!
“My memoir helped to write most of the scenes, which was cathartic. I was nervous as it was also my first attempt at directing a show, but Cheddar was a wonderful help.
“Te te Bang made my costumes, which I love, and Alex Herd composed the ambient electronic music behind my monologues. Alex also has MND and makes his music on a laptop using a mouse and a chin switch, combining software synthesisers, samples and vocals.
“My amazing ‘Dragstravaganza’ explores memories of childhood, motherhood, diagnosis, and creativity, alongside my fantasies, imaginative musings and hopes for the future.
“Ms MaNDy’s Adventures in Wonderland, combines drag, lip-sync, music, dance and generative AI, bringing to life my vibrant inner world in the context of the challenges posed by a life lived with severe disability.
“The first show, a work in progress, at a tiny venue in Manchester in April 2024, and was a great success. We further developed the show. I wrote new scenes, and now the very fabulous Chanukah Lewinsky talks humorously about my relationship with Judaism and the stunning dancer Black Peppa joined us as lead dancer.
“We did a further performance at the start of this year and it felt magical receiving a standing ovation. I’m delighted to have created such a unique and innovative piece and feel so lucky to work with such talented and well-known artists.
“And the icing on the cake is that Professor Andrew Irving and Dr Michael Atkins’ (Cheddar Gorgeous) have just been awarded a £2.66 million Wellcome Discovery Award for their Co-Creative MiND pioneering project which Ms MaNDy’s Adventures in Wonderland is part of!
“I’m also very proud to raise awareness of MND and to show that you can achieve anything despite disability, illness and other challenges.”
Ms MaNDy’s Adventures in Wonderland is on Sunday June 15 at JW3 in Finchley Road. Tickets £20 from www.jw3.org.uk
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