Audible’s original new disability drama Shaky tells the story of a young woman adjustimng to life … More
Audible
Released exclusively on Amazon’s Audible platform earlier this month, Katherine Craft’s audio drama Shaky explores the unique mixture of grief, hope, acceptance and adaptation that comes with living with a diagnosis of Young-Onset Parkinson’s Disease.
Although much remains to be done, on-screen disability-focused narratives have thankfully become more prevalent in recent years, with the likes of Ezra, directed by Tony Goldwyn (2023), Disney’s Out of My Mind (2024), and Netflix’s Tyson’s Run (2022) all receiving critical acclaim. These productions feature kids born with disabilities discovering that the world they are learning to navigate hasn’t necessarily been built with them in mind. However, what is missing are stories that focus on the unique disruption, dislocation and psychological isolation that come from being diagnosed with so-called prime of life diseases like Young-Onset Parkinson’s Disease or multiple sclerosis, which is typically diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.
Though such a journey can be dark and complex, Shaky takes an approach that is raw, grounded, fun and zany throughout. At the centre of the story is 30-year-old, uninhibited rock chick Nicole Tomkins, voiced by Rosa Salazar, who, following a diagnosis of YOPD, has moved back home to Plano, Texas, to live with her mom, Grace (Roselyn Sanchez), and her prissy but kind-hearted younger sister, Brianna (Mayan Lopez).
Nicole finds herself in an all too familiar place for those who have experienced the early phase of young-onset neurological disease, a netherworld between acceptance and denial. She takes her meds and makes lifestyle changes to adjust to her new reality, but is equally determined to resume her musical career post haste as the drummer in the two-piece rock band Golden Braid and head out on tour.
Despite her admirable capacity to sideline a devastating diagnosis and get back to doing what she loves, the misfortune of her prime of life predicament is neatly encapsulated in an exchange with an older lady with Parkinson’s at the doctor’s office, who, upon learning of Nicole’s diagnosis, says, “You’re a patient? But you’re so young. What a shame. At least I had a good run before I got diagnosed.”
Meanwhile, even the usually blithe and irrepressible Nicole is pushed to her emotional limits when her neurological deficits ruin an impromptu date she has in a bar. “This is too much. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore. Who I’m supposed to be anymore? What is my life now?” an anguished Nicole laments to her mom and sister.
Craft, whose writing credits include the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ series Best Foot Forward and the Snap Original Series Kappa Crypto, in addition to teaching a course on screenwriting at the University of Austin, has first-hand experience of being a young person with a disability. She was born with a condition causing low vision, which significantly worsened in her twenties after surgery to fix the issue failed. She also has ADHD and was recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Addressing her disabilities during an interview, Craft jokes, “I just keep racking them up!”
Reflecting on her youth, Craft says, “I grew up visiting eyecare specialists. Once I stopped going to paediatric specialists and started attending adult services, I was always the youngest person in the waiting room.”
Her experience of Parkinson’s comes from her father, who was not diagnosed with the young-onset form.
At its heart, Shaky is a story about fighting to retain a youthful identity when faced with the diagnosis of a progressive illness and the physiological changes that accompany it. Nicole wants to be recognized as a musician in her own right. She has concerns about being pigeon-holed as the media construct and vessel of inspiration porn she calls “Parkinson’s Girl,” even though it might help her career if she plays along.
Meanwhile, anybody who has experienced a young-onset diagnosis of a chronic condition will note several other familiar themes. There is the often dicey arena of patient support groups. Nicole attends a Young-Onset Parkinson’s Music Therapy Group, but as is so often the case, a shared diagnosis at a similar age never guarantees genuine chemistry and the same outlook amongst attendees.
“I want to be in spaces where other people get it,” explains the group’s leader, Cosmo, but Nicole isn’t so sure and simply retorts, “Well, I don’t.”
Though maintained as more of an undertone, there is an aspect of infantilization associated with Nicole’s return home. This, too, is something young-onset patients may identify with. When a disease comes crashing into one’s life at just the moment when true independence is being discovered, the natural resources to turn to are parental support and the safety of the childhood home. This can foster a sense of discord that makes it feel that life is moving in reverse, whilst the life of one’s peers continues with unyielding forward momentum.
There is what Nicole terms the “Ghost Of Parkinson’s Future,” where younger patients, as opposed to their elderly counterparts, are forced to confront the reality of potentially living for decades with an incurable and degenerative condition. “I keep trying to go backwards because the future… I don’t want to think about the future,” remarks Nicole in one chapter.
For those who have experienced or are currently experiencing young-onset neurological disease, Shaky represents comforting and familiar ground. For the uninitiated, too, some aspects of the story will prove truly eye-opening.
In media disability discourse, “inspiration” has become such a loaded term due to decades of insensitive treatment from Hollywood. In reality, inspiration is important to folks of all ages with disabilities, but not within the prevailing model of them being used to make non-disabled people feel more thankful for their lot in life. The inspiration comes from knowing that others navigate that same complex, sometimes treacherous road that you do, and that, even if your body is changing, there’s nothing wrong with still bringing your hopes, dreams, identity, and perhaps most important of all, your sense of humor along for the ride.
