“A lady never lights her own cigarette.” Hilarious, absurdist, dark, camp, and bouffant-ly brilliant.
As fate would have it, five time divorcee Shayna and mother-of-twelve Beverly find their “naughty” selves parked up next to each other on a catastrophically sweltering beach. From cancer-eating birds of prey, heat-stroke hallucinations, and tsunami warnings, it was impossible to figure out what this performance was up to next. In looking for an escape from their uniquely tedious lives the pair began to bond amongst the chaos. And to melt…
Colourful and camp Shayna and Beverly sit willingly chained to their deck chairs, chain-smoking an immeasurable amount of time away, confessing their sins and secrets of the past. These secrets so shocking you could not help but laugh and ponder. Ponder until the next line, even more absurd than the last. Blimps and pedophiles. Jelly-fish fucking and Papua New Guinea. The way in which Alex and Sarah delivered such absurdity whilst unflinchingly remaining in character is truly commendable. Only to then break from this with scripted, hilariously uncomfortable scenes of laughter. My attention did not waver for a single second!
One thing I particularly enjoyed about BIRDS, besides its inherently random funny nature, was the episodic way it was performed, with lighting changes cleverly framing and moving along the narrative of the performance. These brief intervals –”changes in episode”– helped the pair adjust set and costume with raunchy peeks at wiggling bums that still had the entire audience giggling even when not in active dialogue.
Comedically in sync and seamlessly together, Alex and Sarah masterfully performed a comedy that had the people around me (and myself included!) genuinely stomping their feet with laughter. Once the performance was over someone yelled: “this is what The Fringe is fucking about!” And I honestly could not agree more. It left me excited to explore more shows with similar intriguingly weird descriptions and especially eager to follow what this pair of performers would do next. This is a must, must see!
BIRDS: Alex Hines and Sarah Stafford is running until 30 August (excluding 19 and 26) in 8, The Box at Assembly George Square. Buy tickets here.
Photo credits to Michelle Mangan
