Bestiality is funny. Just ask David Cameron.
First Love is the Revolution is fundamentally about lust for the kill and sexual lust, and what happens when the two collide. The story follows the dysfunctional love between a boy called Basti and a young female fox called Rdeca (Roe-dee-cha) that spirals completely out of control – because of course it was totally stable to begin with. The young lovers embark on a forbidden relationship that leaves a (real and metaphorical) trail of blood in its wake.
Raw, animalistic love in all its forms is laid bare. From fierce maternal instinct to the boisterous bond between Rdeca and her siblings, physicality is used in a very sensual yet energetic way to evoke the deep undercurrents of feeling between the characters. The line between love and death is blurred from the start. This is demonstrated beautifully when the foxes hunt, as hunter and prey understand each other’s language and form a primal bond in the moments before the fatal bite.
Basti’s home life with his father Simon and their neighbour Gemma provides a banal counterpoint to the madcap events happening outside their window. The contrast grows ever starker as 14-year-old Basti’s teenage rebellion goes further than most. After he draws Rdeca into his world and ‘tames’ her, she leads him into hers and teaches him to hunt.
Rita Kalnejais’s bitingly witty script is full of punchy lines that jar deliciously against the fluidity of the staging. Outrageously funny moments punctuate every scene, making the horrendously uncomfortable events of the story compelling to watch. The language is playful and poetic as it explores what it is to be wild and what it is to be tame. Physical comedy is also used to great effect; the gentle and inquisitive clucking of the chickens, blissfully unaware of their inevitable death, is particularly hysterical.
First Love is the Revolution is shocking and dangerously, breathlessly funny. Suspend your disbelief and just go with it, and you’ll be rewarded with a dizzyingly messed-up but entertaining evening.
For tickets and more information click here!
