Performances run at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Blether, 31 Jul - 26 Aug 2024.
Set in a house on the very, very outskirts of London, five housemates; an art student, dancer, writer, climate activist and parliamentary assistant are living in the strange liminal post-university years waiting for their lives to really begin. While they attempt to have as much as fun as possible during what they've been told are the best times of their lives, the impending pressures of adulthood loom large and they start to question whether the connections they've made will last. Originally written by Albie Marber whilst at university, Barbies and Drillas draws from his own experiences providing an alternative, humorous insight into the student experience and life after studying, and askis if it's possible to embrace the not knowing and revel in the uncertainty of youth.
Albie Marber said, "The show started as a one act play back in 2020 when I'd just started uni and I was living in a ten-bedroom house share during Covid. I found that because of lockdown, I made friends with a lot of people I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. When you live together as a household and spend that amount of time together you become such a family and the saying friends are the family you choose really hit home for me. It became like cabin fever living in each other's pockets and you begin to have your own speech patterns, rhythms, and rules. At the time, we all felt these friendships would last forever and there were the best of times, and we'd leave uni and life would magically click into place, which just isn't the reality for many people who usually feel a bit lost after graduating. I wanted to capture that which I hadn't seen before''
'Hey, we're not students anymore - who the f*ck stole my avocado?!' In a heartfelt comedy, five housemates gloriously waste their youth as they try to avoid the hell of growing up. They bicker, wail, dance and endlessly mock. They reluctantly go to their terrible jobs, fall furiously in and out of love, and fail to write their masterpieces but will they learn to appreciate that the connection between them is lifelong?
Albie Marber is a writer and performer, he studied at university in Bristol where he began writing the original concept of Barbies and Drillas. He has previously starred in Tolkein (2019), The Beast Must Die (2020), and can be seen in the upcoming feature film The Critic (2024). He is represented by United Agents.
Barbies and Drillas is at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Blether, 31 Jul - 26 Aug 2024 (not 13), 13.40 (14.40). For tickets go to https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/barbies-and-drillas
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