Paul T Davies reviews Parakeet presented by Boundless Theatre and Boom Shakalaka Productions at Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Fringe 2019.
Photo: Jane Hobson Parakeet Summerhall, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
9 August 2019
4 Stars
Gig theatre is getting stronger and very much in evidence this Fringe. Pulsing with a punky best, Parakeet flies in with a vibrancy and youthfulness that is hard to resist. Originating from Margate, the piece has a strong environmental message that never preaches and gives hope for the future. When a tree, home to the Parakeets of Thanet, is threatened with being cut down, three friends come together and find empowerment through music to fight the developers.
Photo: Jane Hobson
The company, Lula Mebrahtu, Isabel Oliver, Michelle Tiwo, Brigitte Aphrodite and Quiet Boy are a fantastic plumage, working as one unit of sound and fury- and fun! I particularly enjoyed Graham in his pants! In places, the writing is a little naive, but that's a minor quibble as the production soars with life and optimism, Tom Allen even does the voice over!
Boundless Theatre and Boom Shakalaka Productions have created a piece that is bringing a young, active crowd into the theatre, and that's brilliant to see. The music is pretty damn good too!
Paul is a playwright, director, actor, academic, (he has a PhD from the University of East Anglia), teacher and theatre reviewer! His plays include Living with Luke, (UK tour 2016), Play Something, (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Drayton Arms Theatre, London 2018), , (2019), and now The Miner’s Crow, which won the inaugural Artist’s Pick of the Fringe Award at the first ever Colchester Fringe Festival 2021. In lockdown 2020 he created the audio series Isolation Alan, available on Youtube, and performed online in the Voice Box Festival. He is the founder member of Stage Write, a Colchester based theatre company, and his acting roles include Rupert in How We Love by Annette Brook, first performed at the Vaults Festival 2020 and revived at the Arcola and at Theatre Peckham in 2021. Follow: @stagewrite_
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