When ADHD is a laughing matter

Aaron McIlroy in *ADHD*. He quips about his new show: “If not exactly autobiographical, I certainly have inside information!”

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STAGE: Aaron McIlroy with ADHD – Seabrooke’s Theatre, Durban High School campus, Berea, from September 8 to 19. Performances are at 7pm Wednesdays to Saturdays and 3pm on Sundays. Tickets via Webtickets cost R180 each (R160 for students and pensioners). Seating is limited in this intimate venue – so early booking is advised.
REVIEW BY BILLY SUTER
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THE acronym ADHD may not be much of a laughing matter for many – being, of course, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the rather complex neurodevelopmental disorder that can affect a child’s success at school, as well as his or relationships.

However, with direction by Patrick Kenny, and in the hands of one of Durban’s favourite performers, funnyman Aaron McIlroy – who draws from experience, as he has been diagnosed with ADHD – the theme is playfully juggled to make for another loopy and entertaining show. As McIlroy has said of his show: “If not exactly autobiographical, I certainly have inside information”.

Originally performed at the 2018 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, then at the 2018 Hilton Art Festival at Hilton College before the first of two seasons at Durban’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in 2019, ADHD is co-written by McIlroy and Kenny. It runs for just over an hour and has McIlroy playing a range of characters.

Unfolding against a backdrop of stacked cardboard boxes airbrushed with graffiti by Iain ‘Ewok’ Robinson, the production is certainly sure to rake in the McIlroy fans.

I have to lay my cards on the table, however, and say that, while I enjoyed it, there were moments when I first reviewed it in 2019 ,when ADHD seemed to hit brief dips, and seemed in need of more of the sort of full-throttle hyperactivity referred to by the loose-limbed McIlroy.

Aaron McIlory in *ADHD*, a show he co-wrote with his director, Patrick Kenny.

The show starts with Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, increasing in volume before Aaron, in schoolboy shorts, arrives as Angus, a lad with ADHD, who has musical interests.

Aaron, with a blonde wig, then appears as Angus’s stressed music teacher, Miss Kook, who admits to having “special juice” hidden in the school for emergency situations.

We also get Aaron as Angus’s dad, then as a man who wears caps as both school rugby coach and counsellor.

Before the show’s end we also get an appearance by a white-coated scientist as well as (oddly) Shaka, who dances to We Are Growing and gets to explain how lobola came about.

In between all of this we get a variety of songs that includes a good version of Supertramp’s The Logical Song, performed by Aaron on acoustic guitar, as well as his amusing, lyrically doctored renditions of Village People’s YMCA, Eminem’s Without You, Rolf Harris’s Court of King Caractacus and that early-’90s hit by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince hit, Boom, Shake the Room.

Fans will be sure to lap it up.

ADHD, produced by MacBob Productions, will have performances at 7pm Wednesdays to Saturdays and 3pm on Sundays. Tickets via Webtickets cost R180 each (R160 for students and pensioners). Seating is limited in this intimate venue – so early booking is advised.