By Ron Bingham
There’s an egg on stage. Well, this is going to be interesting. Sure enough Erin Fowler has a cracking show for us. A fascinating and funny look at those big life decisions, women, in particular, have to face, most notably of whether to “settle down” and “start a family”. This was made all the more complicated when the coronavirus struck and saw people forced to re-evaluate their lives.
Egg is Erin’s personal and often moving story of trying to decide a future for herself through dance, physical comedy, some impressive costumes and a number of pretty cool songs (as well as one or two daggy ones – eg It’s Raining Men). The music can be overpowering at times for those in the front, thanks to the rock ‘n’ roll sound system, which does drown out Erin’s little headset mike occasionally.
She opens with an artistic dance showing conception to birth, followed by stories of Erin’s ambivalence over children, the pressure by friends to find the right man and companies to sign up for tests and egg freezing, fears that her eggs are “getting old” and the attendant stress that all of this induces. While there are a number of jokes and comic stories, much of the humour in the show comes through Erin’s dancing and clowning, which she’s very good at, in fact this show unsurprisingly won Best Weekly Dance Award at the 2021 Adelaide Fringe.
The all-ages audience (I spotted a couple of kids who had to be about ten) enjoyed themselves thoroughly. One for the whole family, as long as you’re not squeamish about discussing the birds and the bees with the kids. I get the feeling this might be banned in most states of the USA over it’s fact-based depictions of all matters sexual. Luckily Erin is at the Edinburgh Fringe where such things can be celebrated through shared laughter in a gorgeous room.
Egg is on at The House of Oz
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/egg