I Am Not Myself These Days is a fast-paced one-man show that is by turns brutal, funny and heartbreaking, a gripping tale of love and self-discovery set amidst the hedonistic excesses of 1990’s New York. It is adapted for the stage from Josh Kilmer-Purcell’s New York Times Bestseller, a darkly humorous autobiographical story of a young New Yorker’s unconventional journey to self-acceptance while living a daring dual life – advertising art director by day, glitter-dripping drag queen by night.
At last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Tom Stuart’s adaptation of this best-selling memoir soon become the highlight of the Festival and you can catch this jaw-dropping show at The MAC for only two nights on 25th and 26th February, performances which will conclude the play’s two-week run in London.
A trained Shakespearean actor, Tom Stuart was given a copy of the book by his friend, the actor Kathy Burke and after immediately connecting with Josh and his story decided to take his fate in his own hands.
‘Over a summer where I had no acting work, I was fed up of waiting for the phone to ring and so set about adapting the book in to a play. I’d never written anything before and I had no idea if it was any good, I just knew I had to do it. As I went deeper and deeper into the process I began to feel incredibly understood and even validated by the book. As well as the horrendous experience of breaking up with someone, I also related to Josh’s journey of self-discovery. Both these themes are very common to us all, and there’s something about Josh’s writing that speaks very cleanly and directly to the reader, he has a visceral honesty which I admire. It’s hard growing up gay. Even if you have very liberal parents like mine, it’s very hard to find your place in the world.’
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