May 10, 2018

Still Life with Chickens

It won the Adam Award for Best New Zealand Play last year so you can be pretty confident that Still Life with Chickens will be good. But how is such a simple set up - a lady in her garden, talking to a chicken good? I don't know what to tell you, it just is.

It's short but it packs a punch. The real grit is hidden in the middle amongst phone calls to granddaughters and feeding the chicken KFC...no, that really happened. Goretti Chadwick plays Mama who uses her passive aggressiveness to hide her loneliness and the skeletons in her closet. It's quite a talent to play to a puppet and a recorded voice.

I wouldn't have believed that a puppet could emote, but it did. The chicken is a character in itself, so much so that, even though the puppeteer is on stage you ignore him.

The play is sweet and well worth a watch but I wish it had more grit, that it explored the dark sides a bit more. Be warned that is only 45 minutes long - just a little over $1 a minute.

Performances: 8 May-2 June, 7:30pm (Tues-Sat), 4:30pm (Sun)
Tickets: $46

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