Dirty Birds is a debut absurdist play from Hayley McElhinney and Mandy McElhinney, it also marks the first time the two sisters have performed together on stage and is the final production from Black Swan State Theatre Company for 2023. This tight 70-minute work is packed with stunning theatrical imagery, polished writing and A-grade performances.
As one might expect from the McElhinney sisters, Dirty Birds delivers some exemplary performances. In particular, the vocal work from both actors is superb, nuanced, and delicate. Each bring with them a stage presence that fills the auditorium during some of the work’s slow moving and quiet scenes but effortlessly gliding into energetic moments of whimsy. As for their offer as playwrights it truly is a work of art. There is enough of a story to keep the audience excited and engaged but a level of restraint throughout the work that withdraws a curiosity and contemplation from their spectators that allows you to sit in the unknown of big ideas being unearthed in the writing. This is a delicate and sensitive balance that won’t be perfect for every viewer, and there are some scenes with explicit narrative development I could have done without. But overall, I left deeply satisfied.
Dirty Birds. Photography by Daniel J Grant.
The marketing copy doesn’t do much to prepare you for viewing this work so I will do my best so summarise and inspire you here. At times it’s a contemporary End Game, and in another moment an episode of ABC’s Bluey. Absurd, playful, poetic and full of heart. The story moves slowly; it’s one of those plays where not much happens, but a lot goes on. With that in mind there isn’t precisely a clear narrative either- it’s more of an emotional journey. There are two family members in a house that only one of them ever leaves. The one who leaves is responsible for collecting eviction notices from the mailbox, which go ignored, and the one who stays is responsible for everything else. At the same time, one who stays is responsible making the tea and the one who leaves is responsible for everything else. There’s a cyclical nature to their relationship and the question of who takes care of whom is aroused time and time again. As the family members mature it becomes clearer that they are sisters, roleplaying as families and relationships they have seen either from their own life or perhaps on T.V. Here, they evoke Genet’s The Maids in which the characters play a cruel game of impersonating their ‘madame’. Finally, they accept that their game has an expiration date, and they need to leave the proverbial nest.
Dirty Birds. Photography by Daniel J Grant.
One strength of Dirty Birds is the multiple entry points for making meaning. Is this play about isolation? Family? Migration? Co-dependence? All of that or none of that? There is no single answer. While this level of ambiguity may frustrate some audience members I am personally enthralled by the invitation from the McElhinney’s to lean into a work of theatre and digest each of its gifts as I see fit. There are layers to the writing, performance and production of the play that sing together in harmony. At several points I felt like I was watching a Beckett play, but if Beckett was actually enjoyable.
Bruce McKinven’s set seems at first glance to be peppered with secrets, but his grand gesture at the end of the work was a total delightful and wonderous surprise. Paul Jackson and Matthew Erren are masterful in their lighting design. In one instance the small home shared by the McElhinney’s exists in complete isolation, floating in an expansive abyss. The next, their home is the entire world.
Of course, Rachel Dease absolutely nails the sound design- she’s Rachel Dease.
I will not spoil the work for you with my blow-by-blow interpretation of every symbol, line, and gesture. What I will say is that Dirty Birds is one of the strongest WA theatre offerings I’ve seen in a while. It leaves not a smudge nor a stain, but an impression.
Dirty Birds is in the Heah Ledger Theatre and runs until Sunday 10 December.