The fourth of Graeae’s weekly series of monologues written in isolation by deaf and disabled writers, like the others, has both captions and audio description and lasts about seven minutes plus a brief introduction. It differs, however, in the way Adam Fenton interprets the commission.
The quirky character whom Jack Hunter performs so convincingly declares he is in isolation and maybe there is a virus out there, but for him there is a different threat out there, "a grey menace, feathery Satans". He’d call them rats with wings if that weren’t a disservice to rats. He’s paranoid and funny and made real as he describes his encounter with Jeff, one of the enemy.
Have you had a seagull steal your ice cream, found a flurry of feathers in your face? I’ve known people with real ornithophobia—Tippi Hedren had nothing on them—but this guy's problem seems to be species specific.
This isn’t a horror story and doesn't set itself up as a metaphor, but it's a sharp piece of comic writing that sparks a lively performance.