THEATRE: THE PIGEONS

For one reason or another, we delight in squirming at somebody else’s discomfort (at least when it’s not doing any real harm), especially when it comes wrapped in extravagantly dark humour. Far from a story merely about the endearingly termed ‘rats of the sky,’ David Gieselmann’s black comedy is here guided by a protagonist who is dying to disappear from his own party. Sounds like something you couldn’t look away from right? The English language premier of The Pigeons was translated by Maja Zade who couldn’t say no to the proposition of working on Gieselmann’s play. She explains, “I love his sense of humour, and I also love the fluid structure and time jumps. Comedies are often conventional in form and his [Gieselmann’s] isn’t, which I think is a real achievement.” A guaranteed laugh at ourselves, the middle classes, and the tragedy we evoke.

Oct 6-30, Griffin Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross, $23-30, 8002 4772, griffintheatre.com.au