In Manchester’s Spinningfields district, there is a wall-sized display of (artificial) flowers spelling out the word Buzzin’. Presumably this is intended to suggest a dynamic, industrious area instead of the yuppie theme park for which it is often mistaken. Through the customs checkpoint and into Salford, the Kings Arms hosts a show which uses the same word in the title but has a very different subject.
Author and sole performer Debbie Bird addresses the audience in the superficially jolly manner of a headmistress on sports day. This is disconcerting, as Julie, the character played by Bird, is describing the pros and cons (mainly pros) of sex toys. Buzzing features props the like of which are rarely seen on stage.
Julie, having gone through a divorce after experiencing a marriage which went off the boil, is determined to make up for lost time and has compiled a list of men she’d like to shag. However, being of a certain age, Julie is not sure she will be able to cope with the contemporary dating scene and is examining a range of options.
There is a high level of audience interaction in Buzzing. Julie is anxious to test the theory the best way of determining the effectiveness of a vibrator is on the tip of the nose. Who knew?
Most of the humour in Buzzing comes from Bird’s self-deprecating observations. The play is not, however, as radical as might be imagined. The idea mature women remain sexually active cannot be disputed after shows like Sex and the City, and the menopause is an unmentionable subject which, at present, everyone is mentioning and is the subject of books by TV celebrities.
Although most of the humour is verbal, director Mark Farrelly ensures a varied show with wordless sequences of Bird attempting to squeeze into a leather miniskirt or relive her glory days at a 1980s disco. However, the need to ensure Buzzing is a theatre show and not stand-up necessitates several costume changes which leave the audience looking at an empty stage for several minutes and disrupts the comic momentum of the show.
Buzzing is an adult show in that it tackles saucy themes in a grown-up manner. While comedic, the overall atmosphere is reflective as Julie ruefully tries to work out when the passion left her marriage and assesses how someone might find her attractive despite what she sees as obvious defects. Julie sliding into a possible affair with a married man develops organically and is mutual, but falls apart agonisingly as those concerned are mature enough to recognise the consequences for themselves and, more significantly, others.
The play reaches what seems like a logical conclusion with Julie recognising there a might be other non-sexual things she could investigate, when suddenly Buzzing switches into what seems very like a lecture on the benefits of self-affirmation / self-love. It is well-delivered and sincere, but a bit like inserting an author’s message or word from the sponsor.
Despite an occasionally uneven structure, Buzzing is an original approach to a challenging subject.