There are sundry accounts of performers’ gender journeys on offer at this year’s Fringe, from the military grade camp of Dylan Mulvany to the ironic snippets buried amidst Patti Harrison’s hysterically toxic weirdness.
I’d be surprised if any of them were as puppyishly likeable as Sarah Keyworth’s ‘My Eyes are Up Here’, though. Ostensibly a guide to their coming out as non-binary and having accompanying top surgery, the fairly heavy subtext to it all is how great it has to have a supportive family. The show is really a happy rundown of Keyworth’s relationship with their parents and brother over the years. Which could obviously be fairly weak sauce as stand up but Keyworth is an expert storyteller who revels in muddying the journey with digressions, whimsy, perverse thoughts and an amusing recurring bit about them wanting to stalk their brother.
Although Keyworth is an irresistibly wholesome presence on the stage, they’re also not exactly a sweet naif and they take great pleasure in launching into a discussion of the logistics of a lesbian foursome that some of their friends had, or observing that outrage traffic from transphobia instagram users is really great for engagement.
It’s an extremely watchable hour, and I suppose Keyworth is both a wonderful ambassador for non-binary people - they explain their journey and the terminology etc with the lucid, friendly elan of a CBeebies presenter - and also the simple joys of being part of a loving family.
I think its heart lies in a slight contrivance insofar as it sets up the surgery etc if there might be some sort of pushback from their family or wider complication and no, it’s a story of lovely people being lovely to each other, and Keyworth is having a lovely time now they’ve had the surgery. It’s not that any of this rankles, rather that it’s all ultimately a bit of a frictionless set and a bit of grit might have made it more memorable. But they’re an extremely pleasurable person to spend an hour with.