Crocodile Fever by Meghan Taylor. The Arcola, Studio 1, 24 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E8 until 22 November 2025, 5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit: Ikin Yum.

Crocodile Fever by Meghan Taylor. The Arcola, Studio 1, 24 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E8 until 22 November 2025,

5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Brilliant black comedy splendidly performed and directed.”

The blackest of black comedies this story of two sisters, house proud and devout Alannah, played by Rachael Rooney, and IRA fighter Fianna, played by the author, is set in Armagh sometime in the 1980s. Alannah, who is insanely devoted to cleaning the house, cares for their father, who is confined upstairs partially disabled and is clearly, from the noises off, someone to fear. A photograph of their mother hangs over the mantlepiece looking as if it was part of a shrine to her memory. What follows will take you breath away. Directed by Mehment Ergen the play flows at top speed and keeps changing into something else so that when you get to Act Two you realise that anything can happen, and it does – some of it quite blood curdlingly awful, some of it bizarre in the extreme especially once you discover just what the crocodile of the title has to do with it all. The only quibble for me, and as events gory and bizarre hurtle onwards one's ear becomes attuned, was that the Irish accents were difficult to follow at first. But relish how Alannah, devoutly telling her rosary and cleaning imaginary dirt, prowls the living room in a world of her own shattered when Fianna bursts in through the window, having been denied access through the front door. She splendidly untidy, hair all over the place, sporting a gun and bickering with her sister until they start sharing drinks, going on a binge to end all binges. When eventually Da, monstrous creature, played by Stephen Kennedy arrives the gun has been used, and battle commences. It is one to relish but when, after leaving, Fianna returns carrying a chain saw you are left expecting the worst is yet to come – and it does. The performances are pitch perfect, the pace never slackens, and the result is both funny and frightening and as good as it could possibly be.

Cast

Meghan Taylor – Fianna

Rachael Rooney – Alannah

Stephen Kennedy – Da

James Pedley-Holden – British soldier

Creatives

Director – Mehmet Ergen

Lighting Designer – Merve Yoruk

Sound Designer – Begamin Grant

Costume Designer – Gul Sager

Puppet Designer – Rachael Canning

Fight Director - Austin Spangler