Why I'm Doing This: Adam

As well as fundraising for the MS Society, and the chance to spend quality time doing something silly with Andy and Tom, I am taking part in this trek from London to Norwich as part of my PhD research. Here’s a little bit about my research.

In the 1590s Will Kemp was the most famous fool on the London stage performing in plays such as Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 1600 he morris danced from London to Norwich. When he wrote about this he described himself as a “mad morris dancer” who had spent his life doing “mad jigs and merry jests”. It was common in this period for madness and fools to be linked together. Some fools were mad, and would nowadays be diagnosed with a mental disorder, and others like Kemp were sane people who did and said mad things as part of performing their role.

I am diagnosed with a mental disorder. If I imitate Kemp and take part in a mad journey between London and Norwich how does that relate to Kemp’s performed identity as a “mad morris dancer”? This is my starting point for writing a collection of poems which will explore the identity of being labelled as mad and mentally ill and the ways in which it is culturally constructed. Whenever we take a break along the route I will be scribbling in a notebook.