DIGS is a play which is refreshing, powerful and full of the energy and drive that people in their 20s possess
This is a well-timed, darkly comic piece. Lucy and Jess (played by Lucy Bairstow & Jess Murrain), as they jump from flat to flat having no time to settle anywhere, use repetition both to hammer home points and outline key themes. In repeating a scene about a morning routine which has since changed, for example, we see how this loss of security and friendship has left them feeling alone. Though they both play a couple of roles, they resonate with each character, making this an extremely intimate theatrical experience.
Though comic, DIGS is also deeply sad, a merit to its honesty in portraying a way of life experienced by many young people. It depicts a number of events to which you can relate; attempting to convince yourself you’re having fun on a night out, unable to sleep because of a party or a couple having sex upstairs, missing your family but still letting your mum ring through to voicemail so you don’t have to hear about her allotment. These are relatively universal experiences which Bairstow and Murrain effectively convey.
Theatre with Legs, as a new company, have devised a piece which is energetic but so fast paced it can lose the audience, or they can lose the run of themselves. Though this idea, conceptually, is original and relevant, their performance technique and means of conveying ideas could benefit from fine tuning.
DIGS is a play which is refreshing, powerful and full of the energy and drive that people in their 20s possess. Though it could do with some refinement, Theatre with Legs is a company to watch.
