Review: The Pigeons
THEATRE Review: Amy Nicholas
The Pigeons
3 stars
The Blue Room Theatre
"Alright I'll tell you…but you can't tell anyone," said everyone you've ever known.
The Blue Room houses a lot of intrigue this week as emerging Perth theatre company The Big Never present their debut work The Pigeons as part of Summer Nights.
People keep secrets on average for 32 minutes. As a public service, three chirpy women will listen to your secrets and file them away somewhere in between dance-related confessions and murder.
As the plot thickens, filing cabinets begin to overflow and the third floor begins to whisper.
We are warned of the addictive and potentially dangerous nature of secrets as an affair blossoms between pigeon and unlikely lover. Although this plot development did test the audience's suspension of disbelief, the actors' earnest delivery reeled in many laughs.
The women gossip like professional school girls. In matching outfits, the women seem to have recycled their Catholic school uniforms for their call centre job. Obsessed, seduced and excited by the secrets they collect, it begs the question - do we ever really grow out of it? Should we? I left wanting to have this question begged more.
As a comedy, The Pigeons was tight. But it was too clever an idea to be taken just on amusement value. Walking into the Blue Room intrigued after reading writer/director/performer Natalie Holmwood's interview, I was expecting the piece to be grounded in a question or message.
Littered throughout the dialogue was evidence of a thoroughly-researched and well thought out concept. However, when delivered as punch line after punch line with such choreographed (and highly amusing) movement, it lost a little credibility. While there were some honest moments, at points the ideas felt suffocated by comedy.
That said, The Pigeons is quirky, clever and lot of fun. Cross my heart and swear to die.
The clearly well rehearsed production is a tribute to its collaborative development process, written and directed by Natalie Holmwood, Oda Aunan fellow performer Michelle Robin Anderson on board with the creative process.
The Pigeons runs until February 8.
