Review - the inventive, fun and moving Wonder Drug: A Comedy About Cystic Fibrosis, Omnibus Theatre (Edinburgh preview)
19/07/2023
Wonder Drug: A Comedy About Cystic Fibrosis is more than its title suggests.
Writer and performer Charlie Merriman, who has cystic fibrosis (CF), takes us back to March 2020 when he's been told that a new drug treatment is coming; he just needs to stay healthy. Charlie has also just met a woman he likes on an acting job who shares his love of 80s music.
But then the first COVID lockdown hits.
Having CF, which affects the lungs and digestive system, means he's at high risk and needs to shelter.
He mixes up his monologue with puppets, game show elements, audience prompt cards, impressions, rewriting famous song lyrics and snatches of 80s pop. He also gives his various treatments and drugs characters with different voices to distinguish them.