Spanning nine decades and dozens of characters, Is he a bit Simon Jay? is a unique one-man play that combines character comedy and narrative drama to create an innovative and exhilarating theatrical experience. Eccentric mortician Dr Richard Wise delivers a live autopsy to his medical students, studying the body of the strangely deformed Simon Reuben Jay (1931-2013), who recently died alone. Using modern science "and a bit of guesswork", Dr Wise tells Simon's shocking life story. Unfolding backwards - from his death, to his birth - we meet a plethora of delightfully disturbed characters who shaped Simon's life, from his jailbird mother to his ?jolly-hockey-sticks' wife. Over the course of the hour we will come to learn how Simon ended up alone, why he looks so alarmingly strange, and what dark secret has been kept from him, that might make his story the most important in history. Told from the perspectives of those he encountered, this is the tragic tale of a life never truly lived, as seen by the people who got in the way. Running time: 60mins| 11 Nov 14 to 15 Nov 14 | Bread and Roses Inner London, Greater London Performance Details => Venue archive |
