Up Down BIG Man

Up Down BIG Man runs at The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic from Tuesday 20 to Saturday 24 October, a production by Myrtle Theatre Company and Wiltshire Creative. It's the third play in a trilogy inspired by the life of Nathan Bessell, a performer with learning disabilities who plays his on-stage alter ego, Matty. This one follows a young man leaving home, and it's the final chapter of a story that's been building for over a decade.

To get where this is, you have to look back: Up Down Boy came in 2012, written by Nathan's mother, Sue Shields; Up Down Man followed in 2016, written by Brendan Murray. Both toured nationally and internationally, including a run at the National Theatre. The whole series grew out of a twenty-year collaboration between Bessell and Heather Williams, Artistic Director of Myrtle Theatre Company, and was researched with the Bessell family and Keynsham and District Mencap. It's billed as a unique insight into the social history of a person with Down syndrome and the artistic development of an actor with a learning disability, and the trilogy is presented in loving memory of Sue Shields.

On stage with Nathan Bessell are Tom Brennan, Tom England, Rieko Kijima and Heather Williams, with Helena Seneca directing. The production is by Myrtle Theatre Company and Wiltshire Creative in association with The Wardrobe Ensemble, with in-kind support from Bristol Old Vic and an Arts Council England National Lottery project grant.

There are six performances over the five days: Tuesday 20 October at 8:00pm; Wednesday 21 October at 6:00pm; Thursday 22 October with a relaxed 1:00pm matinee and an 8:00pm evening show; Friday 23 October at 8:00pm, BSL interpreted by Sherrie Eugene-Hart; and Saturday 24 October with a 3:00pm matinee and an 8:00pm evening show. Each runs about 60 to 75 minutes with no interval, and there's age guidance of 12+. Tickets start at £15, which includes a £1 booking fee, though members and ticket subscribers are exempt from that; groups of eight or more save 15%.