Intoxication

“It’s about connection. Connection in all its forms: between friends, lovers, electricity cords and sockets, all getting close. Trying to get closer.”

Performed in front of an intimate audience at Brunswick Mechanics Institute, Christopher Bryant’s Intoxication explores queer millennial anxiety. The performance deftly manoeuvres between a place of contentment and acceptance to a place of intense fear of being alone and being unloved. If you can’t form a meaningful connection with another human, does it render your existence null? 

The one-man show touches on the trauma Bryant suffered in a head-on collision in Berlin. Suffering from an acquired brain injury, the road to recovery was pained by a serious bout of amnesia, re-learning how to function in daily life, and constant migraines. These elements are weaved throughout Bryant’s story and were undoubtedly the most fascinating. 

As the story progresses, the focus shifts to the dating landscape in the digital age and the legitimacy of our social media persona. This story thread invokes feelings of resentment, anger and heartbreak as Bryant opens up about failed relationships, fizzled-out romances and online dating.

I held great expectations in the premise that by the end of it, I felt oddly underwhelmed. In no way shape or form is this a comment on the performer’s abilities because the NIDA-trained Bryant commanded the attention of the room for the entire hour. Yet some of the topics explored felt passé. By now, surely, we’re all aware of the dangers of social media and “living our best life” online? What did inspire was the incredible battle Bryant waged and his journey to piece his life back together. 

First performed at the 2016 Midsumma Festival, Intoxication was reworked and rewritten as a monologue, inspired by Bryant meeting and working with Kate Mulvany, and is presented as part of Critical Mass for this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival. 

Intoxication 
Brunswick Mechanics Institute, 270 Sydney Road, Brunswick
Melbourne Fringe Festival 2018
melbournefringe.com.au/event/intoxication