Adam Lenson (Public Domain, Vaudeville Theatre; Wasted, Southwark Playhouse) fuses his own battle with skin cancer with an exploration of parallel universes to create an interdisciplinary work merging gig theatre, memoir, and lecture.
Anything That We Wanted To Be looks at how small acts can lead to big changes and how human lives branch, bend and curve. The show is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Everyone has that one big decision, that one big choice, that one big what if? There’s a you that made that choice, and there’s another you that didn’t. Fifteen years ago, you stop training to be a doctor and decide to be a theatre director instead. But, in 2019, when you are diagnosed with cancer, the various versions of you collide. This life-affirming new show is about learning to accept the choices you made, instead of worrying about the ones you didn’t.
The piece moves from lecture theatres, to scanners, from Tetris to Fleetwood Mac, travelling backwards and forwards in time and across multiple universes. Anything That We Wanted To Be investigates Adam’s decision not to be a doctor, the branching lives that ensued, and marks his journey through cancer and the different versions of him that got different results.
Alone on stage, Adam Lenson acts alongside other recorded versions of himself through an immersive soundscape, using a loop pedal to perform original songs with a choir of Adams. Presented in the second person, this innovative production is framed, not just as an autobiographical solo show but, as an act of imagination about the possible lives we could all be living and how we process when both good and bad things happen to us all.
Adam Lenson comments, At 34 having previously only directed theatre, my experience with cancer and my former life as a medical student led me to make a show as a writer and performer. I am so thrilled it has led me here. As the world gets more interested in the ideas around decisions and multiverses, I am excited to be sharing a piece that uses innovative multimedia and original songs to take audiences on this complex journey. The show is about finding resilience and optimism through life’s most challenging moments, and I hope it’s a story that might in some small way be useful.
