Farm Fatale – Southbank Centre, London

Concept and Director: Philippe Quesne

Farm Fatale is an absurdist parable about a future we are all sleepwalking into, or it’s eco-propaganda through the medium of clowning, or it’s a semi-scary kid’s show for adults, or it’s continental philosophy live. In Farm Fatale, a group of scarecrows run a radio show from a farm, or not a farm (it might be imagined by the group). Farm Fatale is the kind of show that knows what it is, even if the audience has no clue. It almost lets them in on the secret, but just as a semblance of logic feels like it’s coalescing, something profoundly impossible happens.

Playing as part of the Southbank’s 75th anniversary celebrations, Farm Fatale is never not engaging, even through the first 10 minutes of scarecrows standing still, blithely commenting on the fake birdsong. When the text does lack some drive, the masks (Brigitte Frank), costumes (Nora Stocker), and set (Philippe Quesne) are so thoroughly odd that there is always something unique to discover. Once the original four scarecrows are joined by their fifth member, there is suddenly a political impetus to their action. Their false outside world becomes real, and the undercurrent of a dystopian future takes centre stage.

In switching between sign-making, musical performance, and journalistic vox-pops, the action of Farm Fatale often feels akin to schoolyard imaginative play. While each character has their own passion, the others give time and space to play with it generously. And yet, the audience is given little sense of why they transition from one activity to the next. The influence of surrealist theatre-making is clear to see. Given this, particularly the illogical nature of Farm Fatale’s world, the conclusion is that it is, in fact, perfectly logical to tackle the slow and inevitable crawl towards climate death in this way.

Because of their masks, performers Léo Gobin, Sébastien Jacobs, Nuno Lucas, Anne Steffens, and Gaëtan Vourc’h hobble hypnotically around the stage, harmonised by unsettling second voices. In fact, by creating limits on their performance, they unlock unexpected ways to generate comedy. Laughter is sparse and often born of discomfort. But it is impossible to witness the entirety of Farm Fatale without at some point entering a fit of giggles at how totally bizarre it is.

Farm Fatale is certainly not a straightforward watch, but for anyone with a taste for something leftfield, it is sure to linger in the mind for weeks as one tries to figure out what one has seen.

Runs until 16 May 2026