WHAT IF THEY ATE THE BABY? - REVIEW

What If They Ate The Baby? is an absurdist two-hander created and performed by duo Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland. A ‘queer take on the American 1950s cannibal housewife’, that explores the dark undertones of American Suburban life.

Shirley (Roland) and neighbour Dotty (Rice) are dressed as stereotypical 1950s housewives, but there are fluorescent green stains over them; the costuming is one of our first clues that everything isn’t as it seems.

The use of physicality and movement elevates this piece. All of the movement and choreography are delivered with precision and are used to show the audience the unsaid. This is starkly contrasted with some of the dialogue which emphasises the fake politeness of society. All of the choreography and movement is well executed and the pair deliver everything with intention and drive.

The structure is complex and exciting, they’re seemingly stuck in a cycle that never ends, and there is the repetition of dialogue which is delivered in different ways. In the beginning scenes, they use stiff, doll-like precise movements that often mirror each other. We then see intermittent scenes of them dancing, fighting or kissing, which use an array of music from vaudeville to rap, incorporating lighting and strobe. As the play develops the nature of those scenes seep into the rest of the play.

There is a sense that something is off throughout, Shirley is always on edge, there is mistrust mixed with the sexual tension between the two, noises in the attic, discussions of missing neighbours, husbands nowhere to be seen, the stains on their dresses, and matching green spaghetti. There is purposefully room for the audience’s intrigue about what is going on. This is a show that forces the audience to work it out and conclude for themselves, leaving you with questions and theories as to what has actually gone on.

It is hard to describe What If They Ate The Baby? which is why you should just go and watch it. This intricate concept is executed brilliantly. Xhloe and Natasha are phenomenal actors, you can tell they have put so much thought and work into this show. What If They Ate The Baby? is a funny, sensual, and jarring piece that leaves much to the audience’s interpretation.

Find all our Ed Fringe 2023 content here!

Click here to find tickets and info for all Edinburgh Show!

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

PACIFIC OVERTURES – REVIEW – MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY
by Mailí Ní Ghormáin
Since its Broadway premiere in 1976, Pacific Overtures has become a surprising addition to the musical theatre canon. Telling the story of Japan’s isolationist foreign policy transformed in 1853 by the arrival of American forces was and is not traditional musical theatre fare. Nor is the manner of telling; writers Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, coupled with original director Hal Prince, sought to tell this as a Japanese story with techniques borrowed from kabuki and with music structured around fourths, rather than Western triads. Although relatively little known within Sondheim’s body of work, it is one of his most ambitious … More PACIFIC OVERTURES – REVIEW – MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY
CHRISKIRKPATRICKMAS – REVIEW – SEVEN DIALS PLAYHOUSE
by Amy Rye
Following on from a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe, this boy band Christmas music has made its way to the Seven Dials Playhouse. With an obvious influence from Dickens’ classic Christmas story, Chris Kirkpatrick is visited by an Angel – Marky Mark and is allowed to make a wish. What follows is an hour of boy band fun. Yes, this plot might sound crazy… but it ain’t no lie. The plot is rather thin on the ground, and whilst at times the production really leans into the weird and hilarious, so much about it could be made bigger. The … More CHRISKIRKPATRICKMAS – REVIEW – SEVEN DIALS PLAYHOUSE
A PISSEDMAS CAROL – REVIEW – LEICESTER SQUARE
by Amy Rye
The infamous Sh!t Faced Showtime are back in London with a festive edition, they have taken Dickens’ classic and put a drunken spin on it. The formula is the same as other iterations of the Shi!t Faced shows, one member of the cast has been boozing, and this time it is John Milton who plays Scrooge. Before the show, half a bottle of Jim Beam, some wine, and beer have been consumed in the previous 4 hours. The rest of the cast, try to keep the show on track, also aided by James Murfitt as the compere, Charles Dickens. The … More A PISSEDMAS CAROL – REVIEW – LEICESTER SQUARE
A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
by Ellie Preston
Spine-tingling yet heart-warming, Mark Gatiss’s retelling of A Christmas Carol truly encapsulates the haunting atmosphere of a Victorian ghost story, balanced out with enough humour so as to capture the festive season. Led by Keith Allen as Scrooge, with Peter Forbes as Marley, this show is perfect for Christmas viewing. The set design by Paul Wills is instantly captivating, containing stacks of metal cabinets towering over the theatre, moveable by the cast to allow space for other central props like doors, beds and tables. In addition to this, the puppetry design by Matthew Forbes is incredibly clever, adding creepy elements to the show such … More A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
by Tom Carrao
The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much affable, satirical back-and-forth commentary on the accepted myths & stereotypes of the Russian spirit & soul. Beset by the indignities of age, opportunism, graft, fatigue, the characters orbit one another, doomed to play out their roles in an unjust, predatory and saturnine universe. The play opens … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503