Frankie Finsbury
Ever had that feeling of being so close to someone you just met that you begin to fuse into some kind of two-headed monster? And also you’re on a beach in stunning headwear? And also the world is ending? BIRDS captures this feeling perfectly.
The show is, on the face of it, plotless: it’s Waiting For Godot with huge (gorgeous) wigs and flowing (polyester) sarongs set on a beach at the end of the world. It exists in a place where time stands still and dreaming and waking merge into one. Where facts become hallucinations become prophecies. It begins with the meeting of Shayna and Beverley, two wealthy housewives with a penchant for lazing on the beach all day and playing candy crush.
As the show progresses, they bond over their shared interests, regaling each other with stories of their various woes; one’s husband went to the mini-golf without her (“a multi-sensory labyrinth of unique holes!”), and the other ran over a boy whilst drunk in her car. The play ends as they melt into one strange being who can’t quite remember where one ends and the other begins. Their skin burns and peels as they too peel away the layers which divide them until they are husks of themselves.
The show is camp, dark, and dreamlike, touching on themes surrounding capitalism’s vapid ignorance against climate disaster and the vanity of the elite, whilst never becoming overstated (unlike the characters which they revolve around). The show is held together by the stunning performances of Alex Hines and Sarah Stafford; their line deliveries of the razor-sharp script are immaculate and often leave the audience in stitches (some favourites include: “my husband’s a pedophile but I stayed for the kids”; and “I’ve got my father’s hooded clit”).
I was particularly impressed with their ability to squeeze every last drop of laughter from the dialogue, with even the pronunciation of ‘Papua New Guinea’ eliciting belly laughs from the packed room. With such simple direction, predominantly holding court from their two deck chairs, Hines and Stafford are able to captivate the audience, inviting them deeper into their apocalyptic, gaudy, desert-world. Their quick back and forths are filled to the brim with camp humour reminiscent of Ab Fab, with each segment of dialogue punctuated by various brilliant visual gags. These range from flying birds, to balding heads, and they become more and more absurd and surreal utilising some beautifully simple and absurd props and costumes to full effect. All of this comes together to create a strange fever-dream of a show which is not to be missed.
Beautiful, ugly; hilarious, horrifying; alluring, dangerous; BIRDS is a show which you just cannot take your eyes off.
RecommendedDdrink: A margarita with one of those little cocktail umbrellas and curly straws.
Catch BIRDS between until 30th August from 19:00 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Hannah Hamilton
Lola Rose Wood
Em Tambree
