Allergic to Water, created by Jacqueline Russell and performed in collaboration with musician Jeremy Gignoux, tells the story of Melusina, a mermaid trapped in a human body. Melusina develops a mysterious chronic illness that leaves her unable to work or function. As she attempts to navigate the medical system to find answers, her attempts to be a credible witness for her body are dismissed, ignored and pathologized. The show explores the gendered implications of chronic illness, and the ways in which women struggle to be heard and believed by the medical system.  Allergic to Water explores how humour, parody, and ridiculousness can deconstruct expectations about the often-unwitnessed experience of chronic pain and tell a different story.

Mature Content Warnings: Top half nudity with “pasties”, foul language
Trigger Warnings: Discussion of chronic illness and medical trauma