Disabled Artists' Festival of Theatre review: Body of Work

As the audience enters Bats Theatre's main stage, we are invited into McKerchar’s bedroom through a visual projection of the view from her window. This goes on for several moments, allowing the audience time to take in the scene before us. There is a bed surrounded by miscellaneous items including a pile of books, a pair of glittery heels and a glass jar with a mysterious substance: a strangely relatable scene to those of us who live with chronic illnesses. This long drawn out intro invites the audience into one of the realities of living with chronic illnesses; needing to take things slow and to do things on our time.  

I’m seated in the theatre, watching Body of Work by Melanie McKerchar - a one woman poetry show featured in 2023’s Disabled Artist Festival of Theatre lineup. 

McKerchar enters the stage draped in a dressing gown and her mobility walker, who she later refers to as her costar. What follows is an hour-long exploration into McKerchar’s lived experiences of being a woman in a body that is chronically ill, disabled, and plus-sized. The audience is guided through this journey with a selection of McKerchar's poems, which explores a variety of interconnecting themes including censoring women’s bodies, memories and how they impact the physical present, the stress of navigating the medical healthcare system, and owning the body you were born in. McKerchar blends humour, a sharp wit and her natural charisma to deliver her poems in a way that has a thought provoking impact on the audience.

Body of Work is both socially and politically relevant. McKerchar is aware that we live in an ableist patriarchal society, and her poems invite the audience into this awareness. By providing examples from her own reality of how patriarchy and capitalism has shaped her life, I could sense that many audience members (myself included) felt vindicated in our similar lived experiences. 

The stand out moments were whenever McKerchar spoke unabashed about her reality. In moments where she was unapologetic about her body, it demonstrated that McKerchar has the strong sense of self needed to create a show that explores the themes Body of Work spoke to. In a society that is built to make women like McKerchar feel othered, her unapologetic nature was inspiring and deeply infectious.

There was a sense of guilt from McKerchar whenever she touched on darker themes, which feels reflective of what it’s like to be someone living with disabilities and not wanting to be a negative nancy. This is especially true for women, who feel we must push through our pain with a smile so as not to burden those around us. In saying that, I would love to see McKerchar be as unapologetic about discussing the darker sides of living with disabilities as she is when owning her body. This would inspire the audience who can relate to her guilt to reflect on why we feel hesitant to turn conversions towards the darker aspects, inspiring us to carry her unapologetic nature into our own lives. 

In her words, McKerchar is a STAR! She shines bright in the moments where she was unapologetic, and these moments were extremely effective and inspiring to witness. She both figuratively and literally shines as much as her glitter shoes and sparkly dress. Her charismatic personality loans itself well to creating a fun atmosphere in a show that tackles not so fun topics. Body of Work ignited a passionate fire within me and left me even more eager to burn the patriarchy! 

About: DAFT: Disabled Artists’ Festival of Theatre is a festival in Aotearoa New Zealand made by and for disabled people. DAFT is in its second season, produced by actor comedian playwright Susan Williams, who staged their solo show in 2021, and multi-award winning poet and comedian Kate Spencer aka Creatif Kate. DAFT ran between 16-30 September, 2023.