Review: A DOUBLE BILL from LAMTA is Clever and Hilarious at Theatre On The Bay

For their 2022 acting showcase, LAMTA offered audiences a very clever DOUBLE BILL. In the first half of the evening, we saw Anton Chekov's classic THE SEAGULL. After interval, we were treated to STUPID F@CKING BIRD - a parody of the former written by Aaron Posner. I honestly had such a laugh throughout both one-act plays.

THE SEAGULL is a classic that revolves around the romantic and artistic entanglements of characters from the Russian countryside in the late 19th century. Konstantin (Gianluca Gironi) is trying to win back the affections of Nina (Leah Mari), who has fallen for Trigorin (Austin Tshikosi). Meanwhile, Masha (Naoline Quinsin) is pining for Konstantin and Medvedenko (Tumelo Mogashoa) is madly in love with Masha. It's a funny play but I felt that this production was rushed. The actors pushed forward at a pace that was quite relentless, and I felt myself wanting just a few more pauses. The laughs were definitely there though.

STUPID F@CKING BIRD is a particularly irreverent and clever spoof of THE SEAGULL. It's quite modern and self-reflective, yet still follows the same storyline of pining and unrequited love of its predecessor. I found this production to be a lot better paced, with the actors seeming far more comfortable and aware of their performances.

As a whole, I loved the juxtaposition of the two productions. THE SEAGULL had a beautiful classical setting, with gorgeous costumes. STUPID F@CKING BIRD, on the other hand, used bold, brash colours and graffiti design to completely separate it in look and feel. Craig Leo as production designer and Patrick Curtis as lighting designer did a wonderful job on this.

I do have to say that, aside from the excellent productions, one of the highlights of the night for me was to see a full house at Theatre on the Bay once again. I was actually at the previous LAMTA production - COME TOGETHER - when the lifting of restrictions on gatherings was announced. What a treat to come back to this theatre and see it so full again.

Photo credit: Gustav Klotz

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