Reviews + Interviews
 

“Watching Blood/Sugar could save your life … An actor, dancer, and vivid storyteller, she weaves the experience from her body, voice, and soul … In an hour, those of us who don’t live with a chronic deadly disease come as close as humanly possible to understanding how it feels. Those of us who do wrestle daily with mortal illness feel, 'Ah! Someone knows what we suffer.'” 

Mark Hein

Theatre Ghost 

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“RECOMMENDED – A fascinating mixed-media approach to raising awareness … Diana Wyenn’s descriptions of the autoimmune disease she has been battling for 15 years are haunting … Her show is a political stance against insulin’s rising prices.”

Lara J. Altunian

Stage Raw 

“Through Wyenn’s fine acting and expert writing, I feel as though I’ve learned a tremendous amount. I will look at my own afflicted family members now in a new light. What better compliment can I give except I think I need to get checked."

Waeza Jagirdar

Drama Queens Review 

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“Talk about visceral theater! ... Blood/Sugar is half lecture, half performance, half college class, half call to action. Yes, that adds up to four halves, all of which she packs into her one intensely compelling hour of recitation, self filming, dancing, unloading, educating, reliving — and taking her rapt audience along for the ride.”

Debra Levine

artsmeme 

Audience Reflections
 

“As someone who’s lived with, battled, come to peace with, battled, and finally accepted a life with type one diabetes, Diana Wyenn’s show was like a bomb going off in my heart and my head. It’s a wonderful and artistic look at a bewildering disease. Blood/Sugar was like many things diabetes: funny, complicated, frightening, sad, and ultimately… rewarding.”

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Jim Turner

Actor and Diabetes Advocate​

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“As a type 2 diabetic I received more info on diabetes from Diana Wyenn's Blood/Sugar than I have from any doctor I've seen in the 3 years since my diagnosis. I (finally) have more clarity now which is saying a lot because diabetes is truly confusing & overwhelming on many levels. It was healing for me to see that people of all sizes struggle with this illness.” 

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Anonymous

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“Blood/Sugar is part TED Talk and part performance art and features the best of both. I’m always touched when I hear audience members during talk-backs after a show say, ‘This is the first time I’ve seen my story on a stage.’ I heard a number of audience members with diabetes in L.A. say just those words. I was entertained while learning more about the personal issues of being a person with diabetes.  I talked to medical researchers afterward who confirmed that the field is only now coming to grips with the psychological impact of the disease. We all can benefit from seeing this play.”

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Michael Alexander

Interim Director of Campus Programs, Caltech

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“A smart, gripping show that truly leaves you thinking about what it is to have this particular chronic disease and about the very human struggle to cope/not cope/transcend/not transcend illness.”

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Anonymous

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​“Diana, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your show (and support) broke through my denial and defiance and is helping to save my life. In three months time, I have dropped my A1C from 9 to 6.1; tri/cholesterol from 447 to 170; lost 18.3 lbs lost; and BP is now normal (It was dangerously high). These stats were directly motivated by your show.”

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Anonymous

Audience Member w/ Type 2

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“A very inspiring performance, not to mention educational in the best possible way.” 

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Anonymous

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“What I loved about it was it perfectly expressed how I KNOW my patients feel, but don’t always have the words to use to articulate it. I’m always so humbled when one of my patients shares something private with me, it’s an honor.”

Lauren Decker

Medtronic Diabetes Clinical Manager

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