I Am Not Myself These Days is a fast-paced one-man show that is by turns brutal, funny and heart-breaking, a gripping tale of love and self-discovery set amidst the hedonistic excesses of 1990’s New York. A hit with audiences and critics at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2015 it is directed by Everyman & Playhouse Associate Director and is adapted for the stage from Josh Kilmer-Purcell’s New York Times Bestseller. It is a darkly humorous autobiographical story of a young New Yorker’s unconventional journey to self-acceptance while living a daring dual life – advertising art director by day, glitter-dripping drag queen by night. The play runs at the Playhouse Studio from 2nd to 6th February.

At the Edinburgh Fringe the extraordinarily compelling tour-de-force performance of Tom Stuart, in his own adaptation of the best-selling memoir, became one of the talking points of the Festival. Audiences were visibly moved by the story of alcoholic drag queen Aqua desperately trying to make a relationship work with Jack, a high-class rent boy addicted to crack.

Although the characters pride themselves on their unconventionality, their problems are universal. Tom Stuart felt compelled to adapt the novel for the stage to bring the personal journey of a marginalised member of society into a wider context, seeking to help break down the barriers of prejudice:

Tom Stuart said, “It’s such an incredibly honest, open and engaging book. I wanted to see if I could extend that honesty to the stage and make an audience feel how I felt reading the book alone in my bed. I like to think of it as a love story, albeit an unconventional one. Although set in a specific time and place, I think most people will be able to relate to and recognise something of themselves in it, whatever their background or circumstances.”

Director Nick Bagnall is Associate Director at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. Last year Nick directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Odyssey: Missing, Presumed Dead to great acclaim at the Everyman. His other credits include Entertaining Mr. Sloane (Trafalgar Studios), Betrayal (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield) and Henry VI: Parts I, II and III, The Last Days of Troy and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for Shakespeare’s Globe.

Tom Stuart works extensively in theatre around the U.K. and appears frequently at Shakespeare’s Globe. His films include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Michael Winterbottom’s The Look of Love and John Boorman’s Queen & Country. His television work includes Kathy Burke’s Walking and Talking, Psychobitches, Little Crackers and Law & Order.

Tickets for I Am Not Myself These Days are priced at £12-£14*. Tickets are available to purchase from the Box office, by telephone on 0151 7094776 or online at www.everymanplayhouse.com.

*A single transaction fee of £2 applies to all phone, counter and internet bookings. Cash payments are exempt from any transaction fees.