ONE man’s two and a half year journey to recovery after paralysis is the subject of a new play, Getter Better Slowly, which is performed at Stockton Arc next week by the sufferer himself.

In the space of three weeks, 26-year old Adam Pownall went from being a dancer and performer to being unable to blink unaided.

The play tells his battle back to health after being struck down by Guillain Barré Syndrome.

Through speech, movement, sound and text from interviews, the show follows him from diagnosis to rehabilitation and asks the audience how they might deal with unexpected illness or accident.

Getting Better Slowly is Pownall's first performance role since his illness was diagnosed in 2009.

“I woke up one morning with what felt like a hangover and my feet were cold, but they never warmed up. I was in hospital for a total of six months," he said.

Weekly dance classes, at first in a wheelchair then using walking aides, helped his recovery. In 2014, he won the Olwen Wymark Award for supporting New Writing within Theatre for the Writers' Guild for his work in opening and running Create Theatre in Mansfield.

Recently he become artistic director of Lincoln Drill Hall after being programme co-ordinator at Derby Theatre.

He said: “It isn’t until you are dealt a life-changing situation that you are truly tested and have to summon the strength to find real positivity."

Getting Better Slowly (suitable for 11+) is at Arc on Thursday, November 3, at 7pm. To book tickets, priced on a Pay What You Decide basis, call 01642 525199 or go to www.arconline.co.uk.