Thirsty: Remember those drunken nights?

3^rd February 2012

Katherine Alexander

Katherine Alexander

3 February 2012

Unconventional, hysterical, yet oddly poignant, Thirsty has it all. Produced by The Paper Birds, this hilarious play is the result of a blog, questionnaire and drunken hotline. It promised to deliver an answer to the question: “Why as a nation are we so thirsty?”

And deliver, it did.

It began rather explosively with the actors singing and dancing to Beyoncé, displaying every single one of those desperately hilarious stereotypically drunken behaviors, the play started with a bang and only got better. With a small cast of two actresses, Jemma McDonnell and Kylie Walsh and the musical accompanist Shane Durrant, the show achieved a personal quality.

Framed with an unusual set, involving three bathroom stalls and many, many (many) glasses of alcohol and an interactive quality emphasized by the use of a digital camera – with which the audience and actors alike took pictures throughout the show – the performance grabbed the audience’s attention and refused to let go.

Delivering lines composed from verbatim text and real-life confessions, the actors did not merely act, they told a story. A story of their own personal experiences, a story of the experiences of those who replied to the surveys and hotlines and a story of the sobering consequences of going a bit too far. The intensely personal, often hilarious, confessions from ages ranging from older couples to university students, twenty-something to teenagers are so easily relatable that the spectators could almost think they had made the confession themselves.

The drunken antics, horrific photos and hilarious phone calls are all set perfectly to music, as Durrant sits quietly in the third stall of the bathroom set tinkering with his piano and laptop, only occasionally interjecting comments of his own.

Balancing the humor with the serious subject of the consequences of overindulgence, Thirsty tugs on the emotions. Easy to relate to, the show balances come-uppance with enough humour that the more sobering message does not become overwhelming.

Thirsty set out to answer the question of why drinking is such an important part of our culture. Not only did it accomplish that, but also it provided a night of hilarity, laughter and thought-provoking performances. It most certainly deserves a glass raised in recognition of its resounding success.

Katherine Alexander

Thirsty near you:

3^rd Feb The Brewhouse, Taunton | 01823 283244

4^th Feb Bath Theatre Royal | 01225 448844

6^th Feb Hunt Theatre, Felstead | 01371 822620

7^th Feb Winchester Theatre Royal | 01962 840 440

9^th Feb MAC, Birmingham | 0121 446 3232

10^th Feb Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham | 0115 846 7777

21^st Feb The Garage, Norfolk |  01603 283382

22^nd – 25^th Feb New Wimbledon Theatre, London | 0844 871 7646

27^th Feb Stage@Leeds | 0113 343 8730

28^th Feb Harrogate Theatre | 01423 502 116

29^th Feb Ashcroft Arts Centre, Kent | 01329 223100

1^st March Riverhead Theatre, Louth | 01507 600350

3^rd March Trestle Theatre, St Albans | 01727 850950

12^th March Richard Whitely Theatre, Giggleswick | 01729 893180

13^th March Live Theatre, Newcastle | 0191 232 1232

14^th March Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham | 01476 406158

15^th March Lincoln Drill Hall | 01522 873894

16^th March South Holland Centre, Spalding | 01775 764777

17^th March Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond | 01748 825252

20^th – 21^st March The Carriageworks, Leeds | 0113 224 3801

22^nd – 24^th March Hull Truck Theatre | 01482 323 638

26^th March The Junction, Cambridge | 01223 511 511

28^th March Unity Theatre, Liverpool | 0844 873 2888

29^th March The Civic Barnsley | 01226 327 000

2^nd April Stephen Joseph Theatre | 01723 370 541