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Falling: A Disabled Love Story

 
Rebecca Vines Review by Rebecca Vines 4 Published: 22 Aug 2025 Pleasance Courtyard Show Dates: 30 Jul 2025-25 Aug 2025

Aaron Pang’s quest for a relationship lies at the heart of his Edinburgh Fringe show, and he shares his hopes and fears with the audience with a charm and honesty that propel the narrative and bring us face to face with his particular dating conundrum. Because, in addition to unpicking the nutty problems of choosing Tinder pictures, writing a suitably witty biography and curating “sexy” interests, Aaron walks with a cane. A cane which, he notes, carries its own legion of socially awkward questions and difficult conversations – especially on first dates.

A tender, intimate and uncompromising hour

Thus begins a tender, intimate and uncompromising hour in which we share Aaron’s medical history and how he feels that his disability has impacted his ability to find love. To be honest, I have no idea whether the story we are told is autobiographically true or not, or whether the “Aaron” we see in front of us is the genuine article or a dramatic construct. Not that it matters – the message is the same.

We are required to check in with ourselves and consider both what we think of Aaron’s disability and what we want to take from his story. It turns out, he tells us, that too many people need his story to have a happy ending. And, be it down to sympathy, narrative neatness or an opportunity to absolve oneself from awkwardness, these optimists are doing a well-meaning disservice to those living with a disability. It is not up to others to navigate a medical journey that is not theirs. And for as long as we need another’s condition to be “cured” we can neither read the person in question as a whole, nor give their lived experience the respect it deserves – such unintentional ableism discounting the reality of living within a world that is not designed to be accessible for all.

Pang is a natural storyteller – full of charisma and twinkle – and Falling is fascinating and thought-provoking but also very, very funny. Beyond this, it is human to its core and asks us to explore our own relationships with the concept of disability as much as to engage with Aaron’s romantic arc. Not asking for any favours – just to be heard.

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The Blurb:

Aaron walks with a cane, and everyone asks 'what happened?'. Aaron answers the question twice, first with a story you've heard a thousand times, and then with one you've never heard before. Faced with a spinal-cord injury, follow Aaron's journey to understand this new body in the uncertain world of first loves, online dating and sex. The show untangles his own understanding of his body and the stories he tells himself. Falling is an uncomfortably sexy and hilariously vulnerable stumble through Aaron's misadventures searching for love, lust and life after disability. Directed by Connie Chen.