THE BIRD: ERUPTION till 26 July
Birmingham
Sex and God - presents
THE BIRD: Mo Murrie ERUPTION: Martin Drury
Crescent Theatre: Birmingham Fringe Festival
Two Performances: Tues 22 and Saturday 26 July
Review: Rod Dungate, 26 July 2003
Two plays: contrasting pieces explore what we're here for and what we mean to each other
Two short plays examining the nature of life, love and reality: very different in styles but both showing how hard it is to make sense of where we are and where we're going to (if anywhere!)
Mo Murrie's THE BIRD is a cerebral piece.
It opens darkly with Mother, Father and daughter getting ready to go out in their car daughter to school, father to Nuneaton. The people relate only on the most superficial of levels while they let us in on their thoughts the script is full of 'hopeless' and 'useless'. During the car journey the father hits a bird and the characters reassess themselves and their relationships. The play concludes with a gentle and fragile optimism.
THE BIRD itself is very much in two sections, the turning point being the death of the bird. The first half is less satisfactory in that writer and director (Ellie Parker) haven't quite solved the problems behind lines not spoken between characters. Who are they people talking to? Themselves or us? On focusing on the lines as internal conversations, the actors' focus is turned inwards and we feel shut out. So the language, while extremely effective is a rather dry debate. In the second half, when characters communicate or at least try to communicate we are allowed into their shared distress and the play blossoms.
Murrie shows skill in manipulating words. There is a marvellous section towards the end where characters begin to recognise each other and themselves: words are repeated or near-repeated to hypnotic effect.
Martin Drury's ERUPTION is a complete theatrical contrast. Three young people (late teens/ early twenties) work out their friendships, sexual relationships and notions of themselves.
Drury captures both the intensity of this exploration and the language used. His dialogue is sharp, witty and no-holds-barred 'What's this? A sad fuckers twosome!' It's also tightly controlled and at times effectively stylised.
Characters speak in twos and threes and each scene, intriguingly, has a different music-style backing. Characters have to speak differently according to the volume of the music: this manifestation of modern-world noise is a barrier to communication. It adds an additional layer to the play. I was sorry to see this not carried through into the final scene (a late night street). It would be worthwhile Drury considering a sound layer here even if it's traffic sound that becomes the 'music'.
THE BIRD: Mo Murrie
Father: Bob Traynor
Mother: Erica Grant
Frances: Lucy Maslen
Director: Ellie Parker
ERUPTION: Martin Drury
Angie: Melanie Dykes
Paula: Lucy Holtom
Steve: Paul Edwards
Director: J P Cherrington
2003-07-27 12:24:42