Dr Andy Ashworth rethinks the treatment of anxiety, anger and stress in a show that focusses on physical therapy rather than medicinal.
[star rating =4/5]
The Anxiety Experiment aims to educate people about newly developed techniques to combat stress, anxiety and anger.
Dr Ashworth begins the show by giving the audience some background on himself and why he is working to develop techniques to combat these mental struggles – which around 500,000 people deal with daily, he explains.
He walks the audience through his methods in a clear and well formulated way that meant both academics, doctors and people with no medical experience could understand the show.
His talk is in depth and is aided by visual props such as a big clock on a white board that helps him explain neural connections in the brain so the audience can understand their own anatomy better.
The greatness of Dr Ashworth’s show is that, it is highly interactive. But it does not put anyone on the spot to answer questions or perform on stage. This is perfect for those who may struggle with anxiety to go to a Fringe show and feel as relaxed as possible.
The combination of, verbal, physical and visual information means the show is highly accessible for anyone wanting to learn about how to control their issues.
The only downside, and it is no fault of Dr Ashworth’s, was that the room was lacking younger audience member. Dr Ashworth’s talk has the real potential and ability to help a lot of people struggling to manage their issues.
I was the youngest in the audience by some margin, but I cannot recommend the show highly enough to teenagers and young adults.
The response to his show was brilliant. Audience members were already hailing his techniques and were even able to have a discussion with the man himself at the end.
Speaking to Dr Ashworth himself, he explained that the inspiration from the show came from him finding out about how rife performance anxiety was at the Fringe, and that he simply wanted to take a different approach to this type of treatment.
The show is brilliant, even if you don’t have day to day problems with anxiety, stress and anger it is a useful show to go to. It provides you with the tools necessary to combat these issues should they ever cross your path.
