Review: Almost The Birthday Party, Old Red Lion Theatre

GrimFest

It’s tricky to quite put a label on Paul Kalburgi’s Almost The Birthday Party. At times it has a nostalgic feel to it as elderly duo Bernard O’Sullivan and John Rayment recount a rather unfortunate incident that occurred whilst trying to put on a production of Pinter’s The Birthday Party. But as their story unfolds, the gossip-like tones of their delivery are in stark contrast to the direction the story goes. Suddenly that old fashioned feel isn’t quite the right description. As we switch from act one to two, it takes on an even stranger feel, just getting more outrageous, with the laughs coming thick and fast as we try to unpick just what madness this is.  

What never changes is the strength of both the script and the performances. Fringe theatre regulars know it’s rather unusual to see two older actors on the stage, so this really is a rare treat to watch performers with plenty of years’ experience under their belts having a blast with a script that calls for utter absurdity and the hammiest of deliveries! Their experience comes in handy when mistakes occur, covering for one another so well you are left wondering if the errors were of their own making or actually in the script.

Almost The Birthday Party has been around for some years, but until now was a short of just 25 minutes. Kalburgi finally decided it was time to change that and develop it into a full hour with the addition of a whole second act. What’s remarkable is how naturally the two halves fit together, as if that was always the intention. Act one sees the pair as a gossiping older male couple, recounting their plans for the play, casually dropping in how they asked the local vicar to perform an exorcism in their basement and the euthanasia of the pet cat, because yes, that’s just a normal day. But if those revelations stop you in your tracks, what follows is even more surreal. And with it all being told so matter-of-factly, it really does make you question for a moment if you’ve heard it right.

The smooth transition into the second act sees the pair transform into Pauline and Pat, two unseen characters at the heart of act one, and takes the story into even more bizarre territory that involves ancient rituals, missing jewels and a sinister game of blindman’s buff. The first act may have been funny but the second takes it up another level, with O’Sullivan’s Pauline surely fashioned on The League of Gentlemen’s Tubbs, she of the ‘local shop for local people’ fame. Her cries of “I want to play a game” take her from manipulating bitter woman to a small child instantly.

Scott Le Crass does a marvellous job in directing proceedings. Considering nearly the whole hour consists of the pair sitting on their sofa talking, it’s amazing how active it all feels, as he has the two literally bouncing to interrupt or berate each other’s actions. It shows that sometimes the subtlest movement is all you need.

Pinter’s The Birthday Party has been described as a comedy of menace, and maybe that’s an apt description for Kalburgi’s homage to the work. It’s certainly a comedy of the finest order, and the menace comes from the most unexpected direction in the most bizarre fashion. It will keep you laughing until the very end as this strange tale of tragic misfortune plays out to the last death.

Written by: Paul Kalburgi
Directed by: Scott Le Crass

Almost The Birthday Party plays until 20 October as part of GrimFest at Old Red Lion Theatre. Further information and tickets available here.