Chicken
Don Murphy is a proud Irish man, a drug addict, and an Oscar-winning actor. He’s also a chicken. This is a one-bird show, their story from egg to a live action Chicken Run sequel, and it’s an exciting if bizarre ride from Kerry to Hollywood.
Eva O’Connor is Don Murphy, the Kerry cock. Dressed as a chicken, the costume is strikingly detailed – with impressive tail feathers, modest wings, even goosebumps (chickenbumps?), and a superb red cockscomb. O’Connor has all the mannerisms of the bird: its sudden, jerking movements from head and body, the fidgeting in the wings, the hard stares that captures the eyes of a member of the audience.
Don’s story takes us from Ireland to New York, where he makes friends with a pigeon and humans as he tries to make it as an actor, until he freaks out at an art installation created by a silky hen.
Co-authored by O’Connor and long-time collaborator Hildegard Ryan (the award-winning team behind Mustard in 2023’s Adelaide Fringe), it is genius writing that manages to create a parallel universe which intersects with ours: theirs one where chickens can have acting careers and art installations, but can also act in Hollywood movies with the best actors to come out of the Emerald Isle.
The audience is enthralled by stories of drugs and celebrity name-dropping, but its real intelligence is in how the monologue can raise ethical questions of what we eat and how we farm, whilst injecting a ridiculous amount of hilarity into chicken-related situations that are somehow relatable!
It’s an extraordinary performance from O’Connor in the red, green and gold feathers, the character of Don perfectly defined and performed, and it’s a cracking Fringe show, a perfect example of brilliant absurdity.
Review by Mark Wickett
Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.