Many of us hated the necessity of staying at home, at the first stages of the pandemic in particular. Until the lockdown, people suffering from agoraphobia had to face up to an opposite struggle. The struggle to leave. This is what Stuck Like Me talks about.
Written and inspired by the personal experience of the author, Jen Wooster, the one-woman show perfectly uses the opportunity of the lockdown to depict not only the condition of agoraphobia but also, the prevailing relativity and subjectivity. That’s why, Stuck Like Me uses agoraphobia to tell a story comprising of so many more elements and themes – media propaganda, FOMO, body image, fear and anxiety.
The text is really simple but simultaneously, graphic, relatable and gracefully delivered by actor and producer Eliza Williams, a very genuine performer. She has great diction and a truly expressive face, therefore her star shines bright within the reality of online theatre. Not only does she cleverly sell the actual knowledge but also, efficiently portrays true emotions and the sense of being stuck.
Thankfully, Stuck Like Me is not another Zoom call aspiring to become theatre. Instead, it is filmed in various spots within a domestic space, in an amateur way yet with the acceptable quality. The show features banal, daily activities that can become a struggle for an agoraphobic person – watching out of the window, going back from the grocery store, choosing clothes to go out, leaving the house. The filming shortens the distance and creates an illusion of proximity to the performer, forever missed these days.
What also distinguishes Stuck Like Me from other online productions, is the fact that it doesn’t try too hard. It is not too funny or too dramatic, it doesn’t intend to amuse or shock the spectator on the other side of the screen at all cost. It simply weaves a direct yet extremely valid story that I watched with genuine interest. And I hope so will you.
