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13 Questions: performer Pete Edwards
As the old saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and although a bit of chub might not be everyone’s cup of tea, London-based disabled writer and performer Pete Edwards loves fat men. So much so that Fat, his first solo play follows the main character James as he searches for the perfect one. Along the way Pete uses movement, speech and projected imagery to look at ideas of attractiveness, sexual desire and communication, drawing partly from his own experiences as a gay man with cerebral palsy.
Busy with preparations ahead of Fat’s UK tour, Pete kindly gave up some of his lunch break to answer Ouch’s 13 Questions.
Today I'm thinking about...
Rehearsing before we go on tour. This will be my first one, so I’m not sure how hard it’s going to be spending time away from home yet.
My motto is...
Live life to the fullest.
I couldn’t live without...
Music; I listen to all kinds, from Diana Ross to Andrea Bocelli.
I'd like to ban ...
alcohol, after last night anyway!
My ideal dinner guests would be...
Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Freddie Mercury and Samuel Beckett, because I just love them and their work, and I think they would get on.
A life-changing invention for me would be ...
A robot who would type for me and communicate. I do experience a lot of communication barriers in my everyday life, but I don't allow it to get in the way of my work.
I struggle with...
People’s attitudes, a lot assume that those of us with differing speech patterns are not able to communicate, on stage and off. My speech is as important as anyone else’s.
I excel at …
Being a good listener.
My first job was...
As a youth worker in charge of a club for disabled people back in 1992, it was fantastic but very hard work.
My dream has always been to ...
Perform. It’s not easy to find opportunities to perform as a disabled person though, that’s why I wrote my own show!
If I could live anywhere...
It would be by the sea with people I love. Watching the water is just fantastic.
My favourite food and drink are ...
Mexican food and a good cup of coffee.
In the future ...
I would like to direct people with differing speech and alternative forms of communication in a production. I also want to tour Fat internationally!
•.Fat tours the UK until the 8th of December. For more details visit the production's
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