Type: Chaotic & Beautiful, Festival
If You Liked: Emma Holland, Hot Department
Heading to this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival after an acclaimed Fringe run last year, Alex Hines & Sarah Stafford’s Birds is a beautifully chaotic case study into the wealthy and mentally insane…and they’re also at a beach!
Hines and Stafford play two suburban divas, Shayna and Beverley, who find themselves together on a beach that has been closed due to catastrophic weather conditions. Unbothered by these warnings and the likely consequences, what follows is both unhinged and hilarious thanks to the outstanding writing and performances of the show’s leading ladies. Perfectly encompassing every small detail of the type of loudmouthed Aussie almost everyone can think of, an example of the level of dedication in Hines and Stafford’s portrayals should be studied. Shayna and Beverly are not just rich monetarily; they have been written with the level of backstory and character traits that leave us, as an audience, convinced that they are actually in front of us.
The initial set dressing is minimalistic but effective, with our attention being drawn to smaller details over the timeline that the show takes place. In the second segment, for example, as the two ladies remain on the beach, mountains of cigarette butts appear either side of their deck chairs, signifying it has been quite some time since we last saw them. However, the lighting design of Birds proves to be the most effective (and horrific) method that Hines and Stafford use to retell Shayna and Beverley’s bizarrely resilient quest to stay at the beach. No spoilers in this review, but instead an assurance that every aspect of this show’s design has been designed to add to a show that leaves audiences screaming.
The insanely over-the-top caricatures of higher Australian society that exist in the forms of Shayna and Beverly are well worth a visit at this year’s comedy festival. Hilarious, demented, and a visible tribute to the work of two very funny theatre makers.
See our other reviews from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in the link below
Tickets and Practical Info for Birds at MICF 🎟️
The Malthouse-Beckett Theatre
Season: 7th -19th of April
Tickets: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/birds/
Ticket Prices – $25 – $38
Time – 6.15pm| 5.15pm
Venue – The Malthouse – Beckett Theatre
Duration – 50 minutes
