That’s Not My Name – ASYLUM Arts / Camden People’s Theatre, London
Sammy Trotman bares all in That’s Not My Name, a frank look at labels vs. lived experience in mental health.
Content warning: contains discussion of mental health and mental health diagnosis and treatment.
That’s Not My Name
“75 minutes of ‘complete carnage’ in the form of stand-up, sketch and musical comedy speaking to the insanity of Psychiatry, labels and our mental health system.” Quite the claim made by That’s Not My Name, a co-production by Asylum Arts, Covered in Jam and Brightmouth Productions. And so I dutifully took myself over to Camden People’s Theatre to check it out.
Writer and performer Sammy Trotman is clear that this is not a play. It’s not even a show. So what is it, then? Well, after seeing it, I still can’t quite tell you. It’s definitely a performance. There’s some comedy in there. A couple of musical numbers. Some nudity. A fair bit of shouting. Audience participation. Food and drink. Prat falls. Assign that to whatever genre you will.
Moving beyond genres to themes, That’s Not My Name becomes a bit clearer. Based on Trotman’s own experience of mental illness and its treatment, this is a work about the insufficiency of mental health interventions and labels. How none of it has helped, really, and a lot of it has harmed. It’s an insight into how Trotman interacts with the world, and how the world has responded to her. Deeply personal, and yet something which I’m sure all of us can reflect on.
Creative and Unpredictable
As theatre making, or performance, or whatever we’re calling it, goes, it’s intriguing. Trotman references a couple of times how uncomfortable she feels: this work keeps its audience uncomfortable, too. Unbalanced. Disconcerted. The sudden shifts and unpredictability prevent you from ever knowing what’s coming next. It keeps you on your toes. What Trotman tells us about herself also keeps us in a slightly suspended state as an audience. Should we take at face value our growing rapport with her, or her statements about her diagnoses and personality that belie what we feel is the truth of her performance? Can it be both?
ASYLUM Arts, founded in 2021, aims to improve the representation of neurodiversity and disability in the arts. That’s Not My Name thus becomes a shining example of what happens when creative people have the space and freedom to tell stories unconventionally. That’s Not My Name is also an interestingly almost-but-not-quite one woman show. Director Jake Rix interjects at various points as a version of himself, as does sound engineer Scott Ward (together they are most of Covered in Jam – not a theatre company). Fourth walls and theatrical conventions broken all over the place. Rix’s direction feels on point for a performance of such chaotic energy, but there are definitely some areas of the performance which could do with tightening up. Or maybe not: what do I know when I’ve never seen anything like it? Perhaps those are simply the parts which made me feel the most uncomfortable.
Looking at this in the round there are most definitely things in London you could go and see that are easier watches. So really it depends on whether you want safe and perhaps boring, or whether you want to see theatre that challenges you, that adds to your world view, and takes risks. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea by a long stretch, but the interesting things rarely are.
Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5
That’s Not My Name on until 13 April at Camden People’s Theatre, and on tour. More info and tickets here.