Disability Arts Online

The last eleven days, during which the Unlimited Festival happened, were more amazing, exciting, and exhilarating than I could have ever imagined. And, fittingly, they ended with a massive bang. Graeae and the New Wolsey Theatre’s hit musical ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’ saw an extremely diverse cast perform a coming-of-age story while playing, with a full band, the greatest hits of Ian Dury and the Blockheads.

As we get to our seats in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the cast is already on stage in character, and there is a deliberate atmosphere of chaos as they banter with the audience. The musical has gained a cult following during the last two years, and the people next to us proudly declare that this is the tenth time they've come to see ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’.

Despite the familiar boy-meets-girl plot, the show stays true to its punk aesthetics throughout. Whenever the ‘sentimental bollocks’ goes on for a bit too long, John Kelly grabs a microphone and, completely unfazed by the cutesy love story, bursts into another Blockheads song.

Reasons to be Cheerful’ is set in an economic and political climate that mirrors contemporary Britain in an almost uncanny way, and the characters’ frustration with cuts and a government that shows little interest in the rights of disabled or ill people is all too familiar to the audience. When the cast chaotically and joyfully belts out the songs of the late Ian Dury and proudly shouts ‘I’m spasticus autisticus!’, the audience joins in and the last day of the Unlimited Festival becomes a bold and snotty celebration of individuality and diversity.