Review: A Costume Drama, ZOO Playground

Ella’s (Claudia Fielding) dad is longing for his firstborn son to take over his role as Eddie the Egg, mascot for Yolkestone FC – the only problem is that she’s “not a boy. Not only not a boy: she’s a girl.” 

Working as a marketing lead for arch-rival club Arsenal, Ella feels all her life she’s been left out of the joy of the game, a binding force for all of her family and community – the male members, at least. But now, with her father unable to compete in the Mascot Grand National, she has the opportunity to achieve her destiny at last. 

The script offers some interesting themes about gender, generation, family, and life priorities, but all explored on a relatively low stakes scale; the main dramatic peril is the possibility of Ella losing her job, but as she hates it anyway, surely this could be an opportunity to find something more adventurous and fulfilling? More enjoyable is Ella’s quest to win back her father’s affection by donning the egg suit, though it would help up the ante if we better understood how they became estranged in the first place and what’s kept them apart; she certainly doesn’t hesitate for very long taking up his wish for her to embody the egg.

Fielding’s understated deadpan performance occasionally works beautifully, as when she describes her father feeling imbued with the spirit of his and her ancestors – “not like that” – or indicating that her childhood football shirt has now become a baby top and “I haven’t shaved my belly button.” But at times it lends a flat, recitative quality to the performance which could use more range of pitch, pacing and energy to build up to the big moment. Additional differentiation between the characters would also help, particularly between Ella and her roommate/best friend/arch-nemesis. Some subtle swift-change costume touches or a wildly different pitch in voice could do wonders here to give these two a bit more specificity.

The energy really amps up when Eddie the Egg – the costume, that is – at last appears with his fixed yet strangely lifelike grin. Eddie radiates a simple, joyous optimism that is only slightly undermined by Eddie’s little felt heart being possessed jointly by the spirits of footballing legend-turned-TV-host Jill Scott and Hetty the chicken (Eddie’s mythical mum.) Jill and Hetty cheer Ella on through her training regime and offer words of encouragement on the big day – words that only Ella can hear, with sometimes hilarious results. Another highlight is the endearing shadow puppet show which lends panoramic scope to the big race – I imagine this is very challenging to do in synthetic felt gloves. 

Does Ella win the big race? Does she win back her dad’s heart? Most importantly, does she develop a love for embodying an anthropomorphic egg? You’ll just have to scramble for tickets to find out.

Written by Claudia Fielding
Directed and composed by Anna Rastelli
Produced by Play the Field Productions

A Costume Drama plays at ZOO Playground as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival until Sunday 30 August.