The Pigeons

Billing The Pigeons as a “fierce, black Christmas comedy” understates the play and certainly the direction of this strange comedy. “Fierce” it is, and certainly “black”, but it’s also loud and furiously fast. Some scenes are so fast that they appear chaotic. Nine actors rushing around the stage, shouting at each other, weaving around each other, passing slips of paper that are held for a moment then passed overhead to be caught by someone else. It is chaos that is impeccably timed and meticulously rehearsed.

The play is a farcical satire set at an office Christmas party. The characters include a long serving but jaded manager, (Mark Lanham) his strident Italophile wife, (Kath Gordon), their Scrabble-loving son (Jackson Hurwood), his horny date, (Micaela Ellis), the office bully (Kandice Joy), the assistant manager dealing with the bullying (Andrew Lindquist), his angry, loud-mouthed, ambitious wife (Lib Campbell), a psychiatrist who preys on his patients (Tel Benjamin) and a Phone/singer/priest (Dominic Lui).They argue, accuse, shout, and move with an intensity that is exhausting – for them and the audience.

But why Pigeons? Perhaps playwright David Gieselmann saw his characters as caged birds unable to move freely, or a flock of feeding birds suddenly disturbed and taking off in a mad flutter of wings. If so, then Director Eugene Lynch and choreographer/movement director Cassidy McDermott-Smith have realised that image in the manic first scene of this production – and the tense agitation and bickering of the scenes that follow.

Lynch has kept the action tight, the timing and the blocking exacting. The characters are distinctly defined despite quick rapid-fire dialogue and short intertwining scenes. Every member of this cast is totally committed. They must be, because they are dependent upon each other to sustain the pace of movement and dialogue that Lynch requires – and the intricate patterns of the choreography that McDermott-Smith has prescribed.

Singling out cast members would take away from the power of their collaborative unity and the different ways in which they relate to each other. Some scenes are intense. Others are weirdly, gently funny. Whether involved in a short scene or frozen trance-like, each actor is in every moment, ready to move or react or shout – or hide in a cupboard. No one can afford to relax or lose concentration in this production.

Designer Lochie Odgers has contained the action between two office wall. As the atmosphere  becomes even more fraught and intense in the final scenes, the walls move in, forcing the action into an increasingly claustrophobic space where the actors are forced even more closely together.

Eugene Lynch has brought Gieselmann’s comic farce even further into the growing tenseness of life in the twenty-first century, at work, at home, even at the office Christmas party! His production is a wild ride that’s noisy, confusing, precipitous, fast – and a lot of riotous fun!

Carol Wimmer

Photographer: Justin Cueno