Bridget Sanders, under the tutelage of Mask Director Beth Twentyman and with Director Roger Sanders, brings Birdlife’s signature style back to BATS with this new work in development. A public park is our only setting, sketched out with a few helpful props and furnishings. In the hands of a profoundly lonely person, other people’s trash becomes a vehicle for expression, whimsy, terror and potentially even a kind of companionship.

Clowning, Puppetry and Mask all have their ways of liberating a performer. It’s great to see a mix of what all three mediums have to offer in one little show. The puppetry is a mainstay of Birdlife shows, but here it is done very selectively. One human body is our real star.

Bridget Sanders has crafted a wickedly clever face for Effy, one that responds well under lighting and endows her with glumness or curiosity depending on clever angles and well-placed body language. Discovering more of Effy is quietly fascinating. She is wearing a shell – not her mask – that’s perfectly expressive. Instead, the more we see her play and the more her character shines through her drab work attire, her ill-fitting boots and her demeaning occupation, we realise that Effy is totally out of step with her mundane setting.

The soundtrack eases in with tidbits of Chopin at moments of emotion, along with a few pops of colour to signal Effy’s flights of fancy. These musical interludes take on a fable-like quality, sometimes poignant or painful to watch, other times delightful or ridiculous. At first the music seems like an odd choice, but it’s clear that Effy is secretly quite the Romantic, so maybe this music has a special meaning for her.

Stormy piano played over a dramatic scene of a battle with a feisty rubbish bag or malevolent waterfowl, voiced by Roger Sanders, is perfect absurdity. Her clowning fugues reflect Effy’s disconnection from objective reality and her earnest emotional intensity.

My absolute favourite moments are when the audience is able to piece together Effy’s inner logic from the clues in the trash around her. We can follow her as she gleans the inspiration for a makeover or makes a decision to try something new. Good clowning is all about that shared journey and emotional experience. One loop of cause and effect is delightful, then revealing, then sweetly funny and then genuinely heartbreaking.

I want to see just a little more in this show, perhaps with one more thread or with a little more play in the timings. Or I want to see the same show in a different setting, with another audience, to see whether comic or tragic beats will land differently. Effy is a great character and there’s so much Bridget can do with her. Hopefully Wellington will see some more of her soon.
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