Pinky Cagebirds - 3½ stars

In an imitate theatre space in the heart of Camden, the audience sits anticipating Victor Sobchak’s provocative brothel-based adaptation of David Campton’s Cagebirds. Becky Wingham kicks things off, with a beautiful rendition of Diamonds Are Forever, which forges the way for the rest of the cast to introduce themselves in song. The show stealer early on is Rebecca Westbury’s operatic outburst, but the songful sequence is let down by the strange decision to not allow certain cast members to join in with the singing and instead to use a soundtrack (which the multitasking producer operates from the back of the room.)

As the performance goes on, the six prostitutes, content with their prison-like brothel, come into contact with Ed Sheridan’s The Wilde One who acts like a cat amongst the cagebirds and tries to entice them to step out from their safety and think for themselves. It becomes apparent early on, that while the players may be talented (and they are- a winning combination of singers, dancers and actors, with the overall stand out being Holly Joan Barker’s indecisive Twitting) a lack of direction leaves their characters slightly distanced and under developed. Whilst the decision to make the cage a brothel and transform the birds into prostitutes is a good one, it feels as though the actors have been given this starting point but have taken their characters along the rest of the journey alone and because of this, the levels of birdlike behaviour and sexual reference are varying. While the bird references that are used, such as the fluttering of feather boars and fans with equal excitement and timidity, are subtle but effective, it is slightly disappointing to see that the duality is not taken further with the use masks and elaborate bird-like but similarly erotic costume design. The sexuality in the original piece has been picked up on very well, with non-stop verbal and visual references, the best being Jessica-Lauren Gardner’s seducing of the audience with talk of turtle soup and suet pudding whilst sucking on a lollipop.

However, under developed themes unfortunately do not end with the dichotomy of birds and women of the night. With Jessica-Lauren Gardner and Nicky Burke (both on excellent form) playing Guzzle and Gazer respectively, obvious nods towards Gluttony and Pride, one could be forgiven for reading that each character encapsulates one of the seven deadly sins. But unfortunately not. Whilst it could be a modern day reimagining of them, with gossiping and hypochondria taking the place of the likes of Wrath and Envy, certain characters are simply not given this string to add to their boa.

Do not get me wrong; this is beautifully performed piece by a very talented and exciting ensemble, but their growth is somewhat stunted by a lack of decision making. Luckily for us, it is the characters, and certainly not the actors, that are happy to stay in their comfort zones and afraid to explore things unaided.