Funeral Teeth, Drayton Arms Theatre Review
Written by Becky K for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Following their debut show, ‘NASTY: ‘Big’ girls being gross, mean and sexy’, Succulent Theatre Company’s latest production, Funeral Teeth, continues to interrogate sensitive topics through their latest feel-good, autobiographical tragicomedy.
What would you hate to lose? Funeral Teeth explores themes of grief and loss in its many forms through a collection of raw memories from its three narrators; Amy, Rio and Kat. From family members to moon cups, the show guides you through nostalgic snippets of their losses through a variety of different styles including monologue, dance and audience interaction. The shifting of narrative styles helped shape a brilliant journey throughout the 70 minutes, creating as many laugh-out-loud moments as poignant ones, and all with a deeply personal touch.
Movement was used to transition between each memory, scaling from slick physical theatre pieces to freestyle dancing. The moments I thought were more successful were the less choreographed ones, which felt very true to their personas on stage. A special mention goes to the flashback to their childhood “high art” dance to ‘Black and Gold’, which unlocked all kinds of nostalgia!
I particularly enjoyed how the performers involved the audience, inviting us to reflect on our own losses, and what we fear to lose in a non-pressuring way. The interactions created a lovely sense of connection between the performance and the audience, leaving a sense of community and support. Likewise, the smaller auditorium worked perfectly, I think the show could work with an audience of one or a hundred due to the safe space they create.
Overall, Funeral Teeth addresses difficult issues like grief and sexuality with empowerment and love, and rape and suicide with sensitivity and humility. It’s not often that you feel like you’re making friends when watching theatre, but Succulent Theatre does just that. Funeral Teeth will be travelling to Bristol and Cambridge in the new year, and this show deserves to have full audiences to experience their warmth and joy.
★★★★
