BITCH is a one-person show that will tear your heart out without you even knowing it. Marty Breen’s show is a meticulously crafted piece of theatre with fully realised yet obscured characters that will draw you into their worlds; before coming together in genuinely surprising and shocking ways.
It is hard to surmise Breen’s creation into a genre or synopsis as it is never put on a plate (or dog bowl) for the audience. This is a cabaret/open-mic/stand-up show/character study you are forced to work for, a show where you have to confront your own insecurities and prejudices around personhood, autonomy and sex.
We watch Breen move between two characters, a stand-up comedy ‘boy’ and a more feminine character who performs original songs on the piano – perhaps the highlight being a song about boobs. The transition between the two is such a simple yet effective use of a character and stage design that feels wholly original and effective. We are unsure of the relationship between these characters (Parent/tweenager? Lovers? Breen’s own psyche?) until it is too late to miss the gut-punch Breen delivers in the show’s final act.
The highlight really is the original songs, full of wit and sadness. Breen’s musicality is something that is rare, their Wicklow accent buried amongst a melee of influences and allusions from Liza Minelli in Cabaret and Victoria Wood, to the anguished trill of Dolores O’Riordan. Breen must be one of the most committed and acerbic performers at this year’s festival.
BITCH, Pleasance Dome, until 25 Aug (not 4, 11, 18), 2.45pm