An autobiographical dark comedy about grief and vulnerability
Inspired by a book of letters and stories left to him by his late father, titled ‘For Jacob’, Stop Trying To Look At My D**k! is an autobiographical dark comedy of Jacob Grunberger’s adolescence. Through anecdotes and rap music, Jacob tells the story of the sudden death of his Jewish father when he was a child and a peripatetic childhood through Scotland and Essex as he and his mother struggled to keep afloat. Exploring challenges and encounters with drugs and mental darkness as an adult student, Jacob discusses how conversations around his father's death have always taken place in a context that he hasn’t designed. As a reflection of life, Jacob creates a space to honor his father and his experience of grief, identity, and vulnerability.
Writer and performer Jacob Grunberger said, “The inspiration for my piece comes from a desire to unpack elements of my own experience that define me as a performer. At the age of five my father died of cancer and that has always been something I have felt has been a taboo. Discussions around his death have always taken place in a context I haven’t designed, I wanted to own the space with which I can discuss the death of my dad and how it affected me. The piece is a show that explores the very core of who I am.”
Company information
Director Noel Wallace; Writer Jacob Grunberger; Set & sound designer Jacob Grunberger; Lighting designer Noel Wallace & Jacob Grunberger.
Cast; Jacob Grunberger
Stop Trying To Look At My D**k! : 13 May – 1 June 2024
Venue: Canal Cafe Theatre, Delamere Terrace, Little Venice, London, W2 6NG
Tickets: Canal Cafe Theatre