9/11 The Birds and The Bees at West Port Oracle Bar (PBH Free Fringe) Review

The West Port Oracle Bar offers the quintessential Fringe experience that we are all familiar with.  I was reminded of Fringe nights gone by as I joined the queue heading down the many stairs to the basement venue.  Drinks in hand, the expectant audience trooped carefully down each steep step. I fear that without the railing, there would have been a near-death experience, and we would all end up in a pile of shoes and broken glass. 

Thankfully, we made it downstairs unscathed, and as we lined up in dangerously close proximity to the toilets, the performer popped her head out to ask if we had tickets. It seemed a strange request until I remembered this was Free Fringe. Booking in advance meant that ticket holders had voluntarily parted with £5, which gave them VIP status. Status verified, we were led into an odd-shaped cavern that was to serve as tonight’s venue. The low ceiling and black floor and walls felt instantly ominous. One side of the room was fitted out like an aeroplane, with proper full-size seats and windows. Watching people decide on whether to sit in these impressive seats or the fold-down metal ones on the opposite side was quite entertaining.  

One thing that became apparent before Sofia even started her show was the oppressive heat. In the absence of a fan or any air conditioning (Free Fringe, remember), it made for a very long and claustrophobic hour. 

Now for the show: would it ever begin? More and more people were allowed into the cavern of heat, with some resorting to sitting on the floor. I tried not to worry too much about health and safety. If there was suddenly a fire, this would collectively be the last Fringe show we ever saw, which in itself would be a tragedy.

Not that it’s a bad show; it just seems unclear about what it wants to be. Sofia clearly has talent and can hold the attention of an audience (even under those challenging conditions), but it’s confusing in parts. The main collective audience experience was of strangers all dripping with sweat like it was some kind of endurance test, wondering what would happen next.

There were lots of dark humour jokes, some of which landed with the audience, but seemed to be inserted for shock value alone. The main story is that Sofia was in the school nearest the World Trade Centre on that fateful day of 9/11. Her school was evacuated and soon after, was just a pile of rubble and debris. 

She shares with us that her memories of that day have become more like cartoon memories which have replaced the actual moments that she lived through. That is a huge and unique trauma for any child to experience, but the gravity of it is reduced in the way she seems obsessed with the lack of coverage her school got compared to a rival school in the same area. They even had an HBO documentary made about them, but nobody had heard of her school! 

This was very much the perspective from the child she had been at the time it happened, she was only 12 years old in the middle of a science class that day.

However, I felt that by focusing on the pettiness of school rivalry and on who’s dad was the real hero, it took away from the real heart of her story when it could have been so much more. It was difficult to relate to this adult speaking to us as if she were still a child in middle school reliving the trauma of 9/11.

There is such rich material to draw from. How has that experience affected her as an adult? Does she have any wisdom or insights to share? I felt like she missed an opportunity to connect on a very real level with her audience. 

Most people have suffered a trauma at some point in their lives, she could have found a way to expand on her own experience and make it relatable to everyone in the room. There is so much potential in this material, I would love to see her write a different show without the comedy label, as I think it could be a powerful piece of work. 

9/11 Birds and the Bees plays at Flight Club at Laughing Horse @ West Port Oracle on select dates until 30 August.

★★★

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Written by Sharon for Theatre and Tonic, August 2026.