I AM – A Walking Universe at Edinburgh Fringe ★★½
★★½ I AM – A Walking Universe at Edinburgh Fringe | Underbelly Cowgate
A confusing mix of gynaecological racism fused with African mythology and tech.
Much like Mojisola Adebayo’s recent work Family Tree, exploring issues of race and medicine, the heart of Habesha (Eritrean Ethiopian) trailblazer Lula.xyz’s work is legitimately calling out medical racism. The autobiography is made abstract by the creation in this modular story of the character who is pregnant and defiant – but ultimately, this introduces a wedge between fiction and reality.
The mix of abstract, Janelle Monae-style Afro-futurism within a sci-fi epic poem and MiMu glove tech ends up a distraction from the emotional heart of the story: the real-life nightmare pronouncement by a racist doctor that Lula.xyz has ‘the Black woman’s curse’.
Lula.xyz is a natural storyteller and smiley, though at times that smile is through gritted teeth. The show is perhaps a little too high concept, lacking a clear narrative arc, and audiences may struggle with parallels of ancient storytelling alongside futuristic tech and imagery. There is also a cringe-inducing section where male audience members are asked who has a ‘small D’, which feels unnecessarily cruel. It seems jarring compared with the vital calling out of white supremacy and complicity, which is appropriately levelled and an hones, angry reaction to global colonial history.
Lula.xyz is certainly one to watch with an original concept, but this show would benefit from editing and perhaps concentrating on a more focused saga of race rather than feeling like an episode in a series.
I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like free, cheap & offbeat London, especially: cabaret, art, theatre, pop-ups, eating out, quirky films, museums, day trips, social enterprise & much more.
