Near the end of dressed. Lydia Higginson tells us some of the words she expects reviewers to use when talking about this show, one of 56 at this year’s fringe characterised by the #MeToo movement.  She also says she probably won’t be happy with any of them, and I can understand why, because this is a deeply personal story, and one that Lydia has reclaimed as her own.
While living abroad Lydia is stripped at gun point and sexually assaulted by a gang of men, when she returns home she locks herself away and starts to sew. At first, she creates costumes and then moves on to clothes, now she only wears clothes that she has made herself.  She tells us she is tired of talking about being stripped, now she wants to talk about being dressed.
Lydia is joined by three of her friends, and they have helped her to stitch together this production from the depths of her trauma. Josie Dale-Jones, Nobahar Mahdavi and Olivia Norris each wear one of the first costumes that Lydia created, and they each represent a part of the woman Lydia has become.
dressed. begins and ends with a traditional kind of story-telling, but between these segments is a mix of song, dance and performance theatre which attempts to explore the varying states of mind that Lydia has experienced. It’s frenetic and a mis-mash of thoughts and experiences pulled together in true performance art, I suspect no theatre performance could ever truly capture the horror of Lydia’s experiences, but this is probably as close as you can get.
It’s brutally honest, and at times excruciating to watch. It’s hard to imagine the kind of bravery required to stand up and tell this story to a crowd of strangers, and yet the four of them do it with a strength of character that is inspirational. Sound and lighting are used to create a sense of fear and confusion, while the performers get us back on the right path.
I probably haven’t written the right words to describe Lydia’s journey, but her words will stay with me for a long time because dressed. is a poignant and important piece of theatre that deserves its place on the Fringe stage.
