Nov 30

Nov 30 THEATRE REVIEW: "Dirty Birds" is an absurdist and claustrophobic sister comedy

Dirty Birds is the new play from Australian sisters Hayley and Mandy McElhinney, best known for their work on Australian television and stage. Combining their performance and writing skills together for the first time, Dirty Birds is a work of intense importance to the sisters, using influences from their Irish heritage and Australian upbringing to create something truly unique.

Beginning with some incredible lighting on the fantastic set design (designed by Bruce McKinven) to illustrate their loneliness and despair, the McElhinney’s seemingly Irish sisters natter back and forth within the walls of their home, oblivious to seemingly anything but each other. The sisters’ lack of food and possessions draws attention to the outside world but never shows it; are they children playing in a game of hide and seek or are they playing characters in a post-apocalyptic world? Even the sisters’ accents and characters wander constantly, making one wonder what is reality and what is not.

The universe they create for their characters drifts between real and surreal constantly, telling stories from their childhood that spill into the present, with sequences involving dead birds, WD40 and drowning. Inspired by childhood stories from their Irish father juxtaposed with their lonely days in country Western Australia, the McIlheneys twist together threads of existential dread and isolation brought on by the COVID pandemic. The mood and feeling of this is ultimately the main character rather than the sisters themselves. We begin knowing nothing about them or their situation and leave knowing nothing about where they are or where they’re going, which is maybe the point they were trying to make.

Dirty Birds unfortunately asks more questions than it ultimately answers; What is the difference between the stories we tell ourselves and the truth? Is there any importance to the distinction? While the sisters’ story builds to a reasonably satisfying conclusion, the lack of clarity leaves one wanting more.