Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Edinburgh Fringe review: Hanna Stanbridge isn’t perfect, and you don’t have to be either

Hanna Stanbridge
Hanna Stanbridge

IT takes guts to get up on stage at the Edinburgh Festival.

It takes another kind of bravery all-together to do so while detailing personal struggles with mental health.

But that’s exactly what ex-River City star Hanna Stanbridge is doing nearly every night in August – baring her deeply personal battle with anorexia while putting on a full-pelt show at Just The Tonic.

When she arrives, Hanna bounds onstage having taken on the persona of a self-help guru, complete with motivational slide-show and ‘life-affirming’ mottos.

The show is spliced between Hanna’s exuberant life coach character and an honest, straightforward monologue about living with an eating disorder and Hanna’s experience once she came forward and asked for help.

Hanna Stanbridge takes her anorexia battle on stage at the Edinburgh Fringe

As the two halves of the shows come together, the gradually material peters into darker and darker territory.

While this show does have some laughs, the unflinching exploration into Hanna’s past (“I thought when people saw me, they’d be so disgusted they’d be sick in the street”) can be quite breath-taking, especially when it’s coming from someone who seems so confident and ‘perfect’.

That’s what this show does really well – it attacks the premise of ‘perfection’. Not just in regards to physical appearance, but also maintaining the outward semblance of having a ‘perfect’ life.

In the Instagram age, this is a timely and important reminder that social pressures and surface-deep posts on social media can be damaging and chip away at self-esteem and mental health. A little bit of honest conversation can go a long way.

 

Verdict 

★★★ 1/2

When Hanna’s chatting away about her glam showbiz past, it can be difficult to believe that this successful woman could have harboured such vicious self-hate.

Which is exactly why this show is important. Mental health issues can affect anyone, and this show is sure to inspire conversations and hopefully smash some of the silence that still surrounds mental health issues.

The production’s partner is mental health charity Sane.

 

 

tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/i-hate-myself-so-people-will-like-me-and-other-strategies-for-success