Talk About Something You Like

"Insanity", an oft-abused term, is a common subject in art, and an even more common subject at the Fringe. It is such a tempting and potent metaphor that both artists and audiences are prone to forget what it really is. But this is Scotland, a nation that has been locked in an underreported mental health crisis for as long as anyone can remember. As such, it deserves to see Talk About Something You Like.

Byron Vincent offers an honest, imaginative, tragic and inspiring account of the time he spent in an NHS psychiatric unit. He explains how this came to be, what it was like, and the tenuous conclusions he has drawn in the aftermath. Vincent tries on bitterness and surreality for size, as most of us have, but neither can mask the deeply relatable human experience he articulates.

The show acts as a stark reminder that most artistic portrayals of mental illness either romanticise or stigmatise; Vincent does neither. He makes a brief, pointed mockery of the relationship between madness and creativity, and makes it clear that those who find themselves institutionalised are often very, very aware of what the rest of the world thinks of them.

Talk About Something You Like is a quietly brilliant piece of autobiographical theatre, a cutting critique of modern psychiatry and a brave attempt to turn life's most difficult moments into comedy. Vincent reminds us of all the work that must be done, both in our treatment of mental illness and in our attitudes towards it.