Pete Edwards uses distinctive movement, projected imagery and spoken text to create a surreal narrative along the bank of the River Thames. Follow his quest to find the fat man, eat some spaghetti and live happily ever after.
Fat is an exploration of a queer wheelie’s desire and sexuality, and challenges society’s view of attractiveness and sexual fantasy. It places the sexuality of a disabled man at the heart of the story and looks at the myth that physically disabled people are not sexual beings. Fat reveals the inner thoughts, dreams and fantasies of someone rarely encountered in contemporary culture.
There are plenty of love stories on this year’s fringe, from Phil Porter’s clever Blink at the Traverse to Dirty Great Love Story at C , about which I’ve heard some good things (although I haven’t seen it yet). But one of the most interesting is Pete Edwards’ Fat at Pleasance Courtyard . Edwards has cerebral palsy and has always seen his differing speech patterns and lack of control over his own limbs as an essential part of his creative work and not an obstacle to it. Every performance that Edwards makes has an element of uncertainty about it: Edwards has no idea if he will be able to make his body do what he wants it to do, when he wants it to do it. One of things that makes Fat so intriguing is the fact that it is not about disability, but is a love story about a gay man yearning for a fat man to take him home. Mixing film (rather magical shots of London’s South Bank) and live performance, it turns into a touching fairytale and celebration of wish-fulfillment.
-Lyn Gardner | The Guardian
