Chicken

First of all, a huge NODA welcome to Soup Productions! As part of Warrington Pride, Mike Pirks (creative director of Soup Productions) was commissioned to write a play exploring LGBTQ+ issues, resulting in the one-act play, ‘Chicken’. Mike could see the opportunity to share more LGBTQ+ stories, which resulted in four short monologues being added, creating a full evening of drama.

The set was static and used for all the monologues and ‘Chicken’. Set in the traverse, it created an intimate atmosphere that really worked for the production. Primarily set for ‘Chicken’, there was a sofa and side tables representing the living room at one end of the playing space, with tables symbolising the kitchen on the other. Costumes were appropriate throughout, from Craig’s work uniform to his night out attire.

Technical elements were simple, but appropriate throughout. Lighting was naturalistic, covering the playing area. There were some lovely moments where the characters were just lit in a spotlight, drawing the audience into their conversation. The disco lights at the conclusion of the play created the atmosphere that was needed, with the light at the end of the tunnel adding to the abstract ending. Sound was good throughout, with a good playlist of songs used.

The first monologue came from Michelle Drinkwater, and was about the process of accepting a child who is transgender. Michelle displayed a raw honesty, as she tackled this sensitive issue head on.

Jayne Dittrich performed next as a checkout worker, describing how she fell in love with another woman. There was some lovely humour in Jayne’s performance. Jayne’s performance was engaging and totally truthful.

Michelle Dean’s monologue was an older person looking back at her first love, who came out to her as gay at their school prom, which they were attending together. Michelle got across the teenage confusion well, and the love and acceptance of her first love at the end of the piece.

Michael Ridd’s monologue was a particular highlight. It was full of raw emotion, as the audience found out about a dad whose daughter, who had come out as gay, died by suicide after being bullied. This was definitely a rollercoaster of emotion, and Michael created a great image of the daughter.

After a short interval, ‘Chicken’ was performed. ‘Chicken’ was written by Mike Pirks, and explored an inter-generational friendship between two gay men. Although the exploration of LGBTQ+ themes was at the forefront, the inter-generational friendship was what particularly stood out.

Ian Gant played the older character, Daniel. This was an enjoyable performance from Ian, as the acerbic Daniel. Ian totally embodied the character, showing his age using his physicality, such as shuffling across the space. His facial expressions really added to the character, especially when delivering his scathing one-liners! As the outer-shell of Daniel was broken, Ian was able to display a softer side as he was able to trust Craig more. This allowed a more well-rounded character to appear, with Daniel having experienced love and loss through his life, which Ian brought to life very well.

Lewis Canning impressed as the youthful Craig. He created a truthful and believable relationship with Ian’s Daniel. Similarly to Ian’s character, we went on a journey with Craig as we found out more about his life through his conversations. Lewis was able to display a range of emotions very well indeed, as we found out about Craig’s home life and love life. Lewis absolutely nailed the final moments, never breaking character and totally in the moment. This was a strong performance from Lewis.

Overall, this was a very good production. The original piece of writing was thought-provoking, the intimate staging created a real sense of community, and the performances were totally truthful.

This piece of original writing has got legs and it’ll be a real shame if it is not produced again!

A big thank you to everyone at Soup Productions for their kind invite and their hospitality.

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