Reflecting on it, memory has been discussed for longer than I can remember – but never before with any kind of focus on a comedic stage. Gilligan has found a universal topic that has been somehow overlooked and elevated it, raised it to scrutiny, and delivered it in the middle aged northern working class woman’s voice all the marketing execs are having so much fun employing for voiceover work. It’s easy to listen to Gilligan – they’re right. Which is brilliant because she has a lot of interesting things to say.
Gilligan is engaging – we’re in her front room having a natter, leaning in for the gold usually found accompanied by a good cup of tea. She vividly paints images of familial relations, homely and alive with fond eccentricities, nudging into her own memory loss issues and placing them within a wider forum of trauma experience and medical indifference. Examples of lost words are sensitively offered in a guessing game, easing into an emotional understanding and a shared frustration at the lack of research or resources into this issue that affects so many.
It is in this place of connection in the show that Gilligan’s goldfish metaphor comes into its own, telling a brave and heart-rendering story of vulnerability through voiceover, leaving the stage empty to let the tale stand on its own. It’s a monument to why unionisation is invaluable, powerfully framed and clear as a bell in its message: this cannot be forgotten.
‘Goldfish’ is articulate, funny, touching, and powerful, but most of all it is memorable. Gilligan is the clearly-spoken voice of a generation.
Nina Gilligan: Goldfish, 20:40 Just the Tonic Nucleus, Until August 25
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on#q=%22Nina%20Gilligan%3A%20Goldfish%22
Victoria Nangle
