Funeral Teeth review

Equal parts funny and heartbreaking, Succulent Theatre have devised a unique offering in the form of their play Funeral Teeth. Funeral teeth plays three nights at the Drayton Arms Theatre as part of a nationwide tour.  

I have now visited a number of pub theatres, and the Drayton Arms is the nicest so far. The building facade is beautiful, and the bar is very well kept. After heading upstairs, I was greeted by some delightful cast members, one of whom offers prospective theatre goers a cornucopia of essentials. Sweets, tissues, tampons, and condoms all on offer; other theatre companies take note. Before we even start, the cast fold the audience into their "in-group", allowing a shared sense of trust. They create a convivial, community feeling, with strangers being treated indistinctly from the friends and family in for opening night. Even down to something like the way in which the "trigger warnings" were announced at the start felt right. 

The show itself is deep, and highly autobiographical. That autobiographical nature draws out a lot of emotion from the cast. The show bounces from traumatic event to traumatic event, including but not limited to: suicide, death of loved ones, and abortion. In the case of abortion, this hits like a truck. While watching, I considered it in the context a view of the political right in this country: this idea that abortion is something women do for fun. There is something immensely challenging about listening to someone express such anguish, and I dare say, guilt over making that choice. That total ownership of trauma here is an almost political act, standing in defiance of vulgar myth. That theme of a kind of "guilt" returns: "guilt" over things you could never control, over things that were never your fault.

Funeral teeth is deliberately rough around the edges, with ad lib-ing, fourth-wall breaking, and audience participation (to some extent) encouraged. There is almost a slight sense that the show is almost being created in the moment. This could be aided with staging, like if it were to be staged in the round or with seats spilling onto the stage. Ultimately it is up to the cast here as to what degree they want to blur the lines between audience and performer. 

A number of the choreography sections felt weak, lacking in intensity, especially compared to the severe highs and lows of the body of the play. Even something basic, like having the music louder, would help them have more weight. The scenes that do work: an awkward and funny choregraphed sexual encounter, and the recreation of a dance from childhood. The latter of which, strangely, I found one of the saddest moments of the play. There is something incredibly impactful reminiscing about the good times we will never get to share again with someone when we lose them.

Succulent theatre have approached all the topics contained within the play with real intelligence. Most importantly, they understand the need for light with the shade. The high point for me was the car journey with grandparents. It was totally hilarious, to the point where I was crying and could barely breathe. This scene was more than aided by “grandad", a volunteer from the audience who totally understood the memo.

One can imagine performing Funeral Teeth is a cathartic act, a catharsis which in turn is transferred onto the audience. It is to be commended that the cast have managed to invoke such emotion. The production feels very fringe, and it is hard to judge it against some more high budget shows I have seen. It is a little messy, but it should probably stay that way. ★★★★☆ 

Thank you to Succulent Theatre (Katja, Amy, and Rio) for inviting me. Tickets were provided free of charge and I was given full control over the content of the review.