Society’s brutal pecking order is given a bizarrely literal interpretation in this tale of two young men imprisoned for months as kids in a chicken pen.
As a result, Danny (Alfred Enoch) and Lyle (Joel Samuels) are still scared by the ordeal, existing in a world of agoraphobia and codependency, unhealthily relying on Pru (Josie Taylor), the TV presenter who first interviewed them, as support in the ‘real’ world.
Blackly comic, this UK premiere of Cowell’s 2004 play hatches numerous themes using the pen and chickens as a metaphor for Australia and national identity, encased in a hard shell of sharp dialogue.
Intriguing to start with we soon become prisoners of the unrelenting, self-consciously showy verbosity and a plot of interesting ideas that never quite run together into a satisfying whole.
Still, the acting is cracking with Enoch and Samuels subtly suggesting their fowl history - a bobbed head here, a bent knee there - in performances which build to almost fanatical-like fervour.
Meanwhile, Taylor enters in fiery, breathless fashion spouting dialogue too fast for my shorthand, but then acts as a cool and necessary counterpoint to the clucking madness around her.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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