Birdcage Thursdays

This play attempts to address a confronting social issue with freshness and humour. The concept is endearing with a very noble agenda. Helene (Genevieve Picot) is an elderly woman whose tendency for hoarding is placing her independent living at risk. Sophia Constantine plays both her pet cockatoo and her frustrated daughter, who is struggling to convince her mother that her hoarding is becoming unstainable. The author, Sandra Fiona Long, also acts as a playful narrator who highlights the often bizarre nature of the scenarios that are depicted.

The performances are striking and the delivery is often vibrant and energetic. However, the production requires more thinking about the detail of the debilitating nature of the condition under examination. Helene’s world appears too pristine to warrant the various negative assessments of her living conditions. Her pathology requires more delineation in order to justify the levels of exasperation her daughter expresses and the continuous threats to intervene.

The set design alludes to the weight and seriousness of the issue but the text demands more depth and scope. The poetry of the narration is rarely juxtaposed with the predominant structure of realism, and this results in making the tone and register of the performance unclear. There is a great deal of promise in this play but this production tends to rely on the charm and allure of the talented performers.

Patricia Di Risio

Photographer: Peter Casamento.