Stories will be everywhere in the coming weeks of the Edinburgh fringe. Some we will want to hear, others to dismiss. Perhaps we will yearn for the kind of uplifting tale given to us initially by Aaron Pang – about a tragic accident and his overcoming of adversity to find true love. Or perhaps we will demand something grittier.
In his sweet and clever one-man show, Pang offers to give us both.
First, he leads us into a happy-ending trap; a story that is not what it seems. Then, he questions our need to see him, a disabled man who walks with leg supports and a cane, as the conquering hero of his own story. Would we think less of him if the dice had not rolled in his favour?
To demonstrate how programmed we are, he shows us a diagram of a classic story arc, mirroring the tale he has just told. Even then, with our eyes wide open, we still want a narrative in which everything works out. He gives us the option of two endings, Choose Your Own Adventure style, and smiles wryly when we vote for the most comforting.
Connie Chen’s simple, chatty production sits somewhere between standup and spoken word, framing the actor as charming, cheery and self-aware as he describes with humour and not a little poignancy the mismatch between his erotic desire and physical capability. What starts as a standard coming-of-age tale about a boys’ school chorister making fumbling approaches to the girl he fancies turns into something sharper and deeper.
Pang is brave in his willingness to talk about a sex life that deviates from the social norm and gently provocative in his needling of the audience: what prejudice lies behind our impulse for the perfect story in an imperfect world?
