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One man’s funny story about cancer.

This personal and intimate play challenges the inspirational stories of survivors. Brian Lobel was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2001 at the age of 20. He kept notes about his experience with the disease and eventually produced Ball. Through a series of comedic monologues, audience members will follow one man’s journey through diagnosis, treatment and survival, infusing the ‘cancer story’ with an urgency and humour which is sometimes inappropriate, often salacious and always, above all else, honest and open.

  • Co-production

  • Seated performance

  • Indoor performance

Looking Back

The Lost Boys first and -so far- only one man show. A rather personal venture for one of The Lost Boys. Paul had witnessed loved ones suffer loss and had himself recently lost someone to cancer. "I wanted to do something for the cause. Other than signing up for the London marathon, I also found a play about one mans battle with cancer. The play was a biographical piece about Brian Lobel. An hour long monologue about his trials and tribulations and ultimate survival at the the turn of the millenium in America. I loved it, it really spoke to me and the way Brian handled it with humour and honesty really appealed to me. I then spoke with Brian and we agreed I could have the rights and turn the central character into me, otherwise we felt it would lose the immediate impact it would have If I played him, a character that wasn't myself. With that in mind, the director (Pete Meakin, again) and I played with script and basically created a mythical yet believable history of myself in Brian's shoes. We agreed to do it as part of Stand up to Cancer UK. The show was a tough sell but drew the audiences in and a GP, pathologist and former head of The Royal Derby Hospital spoke to me backstage about the need for this work to be seen by medical profession. I am very proud of that and continue to see if I can make that work."

Cast & Creative Team

  • Paul Broesmith as a version of himself

  • Director - Pete Meakin

  • Deputy Stage Manager - Dave Barton

  • AV Designer - Ben Adwick

Audience Feedback