Creators: Katie Mitchell, Nina Segal and Melanie Wilson
First, we had slow TV, when, for an evening on BBC4, you could watch the scenery from a barge as it travelled unhurriedly along a canal or go on a silent tour of the National Gallery. Now we have slow theatre at the Royal Court, and, although fortunately, Cow| Deer only lasts 60 minutes, this representation of the English countryside is better suited for radio.
Four performers using Foley sound effects – cheerleader-style pompoms for the rustling of leaves stirred in the breeze, ripped apart bok choy for grass as it’s pulled out of the earth by a cow – conjure up the noises of a farm located near a wood where deer patter around on their delicate hooves. Some of the sound effects are ingenious, bringing soft, satisfied responses from the audience.
But strangely, in Katie Mitchell, Nina Segal and Melanie Wilson’s production, not all the sounds are made in front of us. There is another soundtrack, full of bird song, and, occasionally, the distant sound of traffic or of a dog barking unsettles the bucolic scene. While these audio inserts act as cues for the performers to move from the cow barn to the woods, it raises the question of why everything isn’t prerecorded and do away with the performers altogether.
Even though you’re invited to close your eyes and listen to the sounds of rain on leaves or a cowpat plopping onto the ground, it’s difficult to stop watching the performers. Pandora Colin, Tom Espiner, Tatenda Matsvai and Ruth Sullivan are all very earnest and perhaps a little too reverent, making their soft symphonies. As a listening experiment, the performers listen for each other and to the soundtrack, as the animals they make noise for listen for predators and slight changes in the environment, like the flap of a bird’s wings or an insect’s buzz.
However, there is little drama here. There is a slender story – the cow is pregnant, the deer ventures onto a road – but these scenes don’t really help us understand an animal’s consciousness. For all their efforts, the creators still invest in a linear narrative so extolled by humankind.
Mitchell has always pushed the boundaries of what theatre can be since The Waves in 2006, but Cow |Deer sees her chewing the cud with limited results.
Runs until 11 October 2025
