Writers and Directors: Beth Wilson and Daniella Finch
Bob’s Bistro, to an innocent passerby, is one of London’s many overpriced eateries offering countless variations of coffee and American-centric food. However, for its two waitresses this cafe is their second home. It’s where they while away the hours, listen to podcasts together, unpack their various anxieties and dreams. They also bring the audience into their fold, asking questions that range from the inane (‘fuck, marry, kill…?’) to the existential (‘what makes you happy?’).
This duo (played by the Five Pigeons Pecking a Bin Bag theatre company’s Artistic Directors, Beth Wilson and Daniella Finch) navigates being 20-somethings working in the service industry together. And yet, on paper (a phrase popularised by British dating game show, Love Island), the unnamed women could not be further apart: one is tall and lazy, the other is short and hyperactive; both are dissatisfied with their jobs but while one doesn’t really have any ambition, the other dreams of being salaried.
Unafraid to get ugly and uncomfortable, Finch and Wilson flirt between ribbing and squabbling. Their underlying competition between the two of them is slightly derivative of Miranda’s Miranda and Stevie, although here Woman 1 and Woman 2 are years younger and far more jaded. The duo’s heightened awareness of their eccentricities and moral failings make for witty and dynamic dialogue. Throughout the play, Woman 1 and Woman 2 flit between their inner unfiltered thoughts (highlighted by green lighting design) and their deadpan hospitality personas. At points, however, the co-dependent dynamic goes further than the characters. Neither actor, when alone onstage, garners the same level of laughter that they get when both are on stage.
Piss and Bile ambitiously juggles a multitude of different comedic scenarios in these women’s lives. However, the play, fundamentally, suffers from being too long, with crudely plotted sketches – often with no relation to main characters at all – in an attempt to pad out the pretty simple central conflict between the two women. A lot of the jokes and plot-points are dragged out ad nauseam, and a lot of the punchlines more often than not miss the mark, over the two hour-long run time.
Ted Marriott admirably handles the swift transitions between the various patrons of the cafe which he multi-roles. However, because the physical comedy is taken to the max, these minor characters detract from the main narrative arc. Due to the bloated second act, the end feels rushed and the plot barely developed.
When there is space for the friends to bounce off each other, Wilson and Finch are magnetic. Piss and Bile, were it an hour shorter and more focused, has the potential to offer something new and absurd to the well-trodden portrayals of 20-something year old girlfriends going through existential crises.
Runs until 26 March 2022
