Search

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Pigs Fly Easy Ryan

 
Lily Crooke Review by Lily Crooke 5 Published: 3 Aug 2025 Underbelly, Cowgate Show Dates: 31 Jul 2025-24 Aug 2025

Imagine scrolling through the internet – past memes, videos of shocking brutality, porn and animals doing stupid things – but put it on 10x speed and then feed it amphetamines. That’s a bit like what watching Pigs Fly Easy Ryan feels like. Strap in and brace yourselves for one hour of absolute insanity.

Unhinged, chaotic and strangely heartfelt piece of physical theatre forces us to check in to the world right now

Pigs Fly Easy Ryan, a recipient of the 2025 Untapped Award, was dreamt up and brought to life by transatlantic theatre company NONSTOP. On paper, it’s a story about two pigs trying to fulfil a lifelong fantasy of impersonating air hostesses to secretly fly a plane to the land of Freedom. Watching as all the rituals of air travel are subverted into sexually deviant routines, it’s not surprising to learn that the first kernel of inspiration for this play came from a fever dream. From checking in your bag to airline safety demonstrations, every ritual of air travel is fair game for these little piggies and their voraciously violent sex drives. Be warned: you will probably never experience air travel the same way again.

Lou Doyle and Trevor White inhabit their roles with a surprising amount of empathy. They get creative with some pieces of fluff and a shower curtain, and the audience could almost forget they weren’t really flying if it weren’t for the constant reminders that this is, in fact, a play. “The plane is actually a planet,” one of the pigs informs us. You leave feeling like you’ve just woken up from a feral night out, but also somehow more aware of the fact that we are on a burning plane ourselves as the Earth crashes towards climate catastrophe.

Jumping from high to low culture at a speed almost invisible to the human eye, there is a moment where one of the pigs takes too much melatonin and delivers a deliriously bimbofied Shakespearean soliloquy. But is there meaning behind the madness, or is this just another hour of spectacular, raunchy fun? Pigs Fly Easy Ryan may not offer up any easy answers, but between a lot of aggressive humping, fluorescent garters and baby oil, the show poses serious, real-world questions about climate disaster, the rise of global fascism and the fetishisation of freedom.

This unhinged, chaotic and strangely heartfelt piece of physical theatre forces us to check in to the world right now – if you have the stomach for it.

Related to this article:

Location:

Performances

The Blurb:

An aviation bimbofication transubstantiation ritual for big-boy audiences 18 and over. Two flamin’ hot crash fetishists illegally impersonate flight attendants to sneaky-weeky onto a plane and live their ultimate fantasy – total destruction. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll attempt to feel something, anything, as we erotically cute-ify freedom in the face of climate collapse and rising global fascism. Rip off your own oxygen mask before furiously making out with the person next to you, and brace for landing; Pigs Fly Easy Ryan is checking you out. It’s time to check in.