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Bipolar Badass

 
Richard Beck Review by Richard Beck 4 Published: 24 Sep 2025 Multiple Venues Show Dates: 11 Aug 2025-23 Aug 2025

Mari Crawford is familiar with labels. She has seen thousands of them on the pill bottles she has worked her way through since being diagnosed with bipolar II disorder at the age of 19. Hundreds of them form an apron around the stage. These labels are inoffensive, unlike some pinned on those who live with the condition they treat. Her show’s label, Bipolar Badass, struck me as interesting rather than inviting, but having it on offer in Dundee, where the spirit of fringe theatre abounds, it was an opportunity to step out of my comfort zone.

An uplifting and inspirational tale of triumph over adversity

My fears of having to endure an introspective, navel-gazing lament, with a woe-is-me narrative designed to elicit sympathy, were quickly allayed. This is an upbeat, positive challenge to the monster that tries to dominate her life. Imaginatively and amusingly, she likens her chronic illness to a fire-breathing dragon in her brain that takes on a persona, genetically inherited from her late grandmother, who endured unethical medical treatment. It is a legacy she did not ask for and does not want, but then neither did her gran.

Her show is a wide-ranging discourse on how her condition has been viewed, and on the stigma and ignorance that still surround it. She shows how both entertainment and social media have long given ill-informed portrayals of people with the condition, and highlights the manifestations it can take. There are times of losing touch with reality, of aural and visual hallucinations, delusional situations, suicidal thoughts and episodes of self-harm.

She performs and speaks with expertise, having studied acting at the British American Drama Academy and worked as a peer counsellor with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Later this year she will study at Ecole Philippe Gaulier, which might give even more energy and physicality to a show that is already fast-paced and full of action – necessary skills in dealing with a dragon.

Her coping mechanism has been to embrace the mythical beast and work with it; fighting against it only makes it angrier, she learned. Hence humour abounds, and she exudes a sense of triumphant power that vanquishes fear.

This is a well-constructed show that successfully combines entertainment with insight to create an uplifting and inspirational tale of triumph over adversity.

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The Blurb:

At nineteen, Mari was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder. She likens her chronic illness to a fire-breathing dragon in her brain passed down through genetics. "This is yours now.""But I don't want it?" "Neither did I." Through the story of discovering the horrible yet humorous societal perceptions of the disorder, Mari tries to create a way she can live with her new identity. If we have power over fear, what is there to be scared of? Neurodiverse Review Bounce Emerging Artist Award '23. 'A must see!' (Matt Kudish, CEO National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) NYC).