Tired of living in London, comedian Nellie White applied for a job as a carer and, with no prior experience and minimal training, soon found herself in a tiny village looking after Leigh, a woman severely disabled by multiple sclerosis. Nellie White is the Shitty Carer is the story of the six weeks she lasted in the job.
White is an intriguing performer, whose awkwardness is so pronounced as to seem deliberate. She takes a while to find her rhythm, rambles and says ‘um’ a lot, but transcends all this with a wry, deadpan delivery, inventive language and a keen eye for all that’s absurd and bizarre in everyday life.
At times White gazed silently above the audience’s heads, as if deciding which story to tell next. Some of these stories trailed off anticlimactically, as did the show itself, with White saying, ‘and I think that’s where I’ll leave it for tonight, thank you,’ and vanishing behind a curtain. Her Fringe Festival website blurb credits her with ‘creating’ the show rather than writing it, so it’s possible that she doesn’t adhere to a script but instead takes a choose-your-own-adventure approach to the story.
While this technique arguably keeps the material fresh for both performer and audience, it risks leaving important questions unanswered. White expresses frustration at her unpreparedness for the carer role but, although she couldn’t offer nursing expertise, she certainly seems to have connected deeply with Leigh and made a sincere effort to improve her quality of life. Exactly why does White regard herself as such a shitty carer? What was the catalyst that made her quit? How did Leigh react to her departure? We never find out.
Yet for all its elisions and non-sequiturs, Nellie White is the Shitty Carer is a hilarious and moving work with a uniquely skewed take on the world. White explores some very dark territory without flinching, and her honesty and bravery add up to a show that, like its narrator, more than makes up in heart what it lacks in technical prowess.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Nellie White is the Shitty Carer
Created by Nellie White
Produced by Emily Sweeney
The Imperial Hotel, Melbourne
29 September – 6 October
Melbourne Fringe Festival 2013
www.melbournefringe.com.au
18 September – 6 October
