Eva O’Connor serves up Chicken in the current feast / biography about Irish actor and activist Don Murphy.
Playwright / performer O’Connor in collaboration with Hildegard Ryan performs Chicken in the Former Women’s Locker Room at Summerhall. She has outfitted herself in a beautifully elaborate chicken costume in order to parallel the lives of Murphy and chickens.
Those unaware of Murphy are hobbled somewhat trying to follow and absorb all this information which has been packed into the hour. The performer struts and squawks this biographical menu in the oven-sized, hot room in the basement of Summerhall.
There is little doubt in O’Connor’s ability to carry off this much gruelling physical material and non-stop, rapid-fire dialogue. At times, she is funny, at times uncomfortably chicken. She has packed an overabundance of historical stuffing into this production. O’Connor and Ryan have mastered their subject.
But there is so much meat in the script that this leaves little room for the meal. Chickens we know. The well-schooled O’Connor provides a wealth of details about Murphy which might make it easy for the knowledgeable to follow. We might wish for the recipe in advance. But it is not clear in the relating what she is trying to tell us about ourselves and the human condition.
We feel for O’Connor, moving non-stop in her multi-layered chicken suit in this steamy room. She is mesmerizing to watch; no doubt. Along with massive amounts of research, she comes with accolades of past successes (Mustard Scotsman Fringe First Winner 2019, Adelaide Critic's Circle Winner 2023).