Review: FUNERAL FOR MY BOOBS, Oran Mor
Funeral For My Boobs tours to Assembly and Ayr Gaiety
Funeral For My Boobs is a new piece of cabaret theatre written by Hannah Howie, directed by Chris Stuart Wilson, in association with Drive Official and co-presented by Assembly Roxy and The Gaiety.
It’s a deeply personal story for Hannah Howie (playing herself) as she leads us into the story behind today’s funeral. After some family research showed that women in Howie’s family were dying young from breast cancer, with her grandmother passing in her early 30s, a screening detected that Howie did have the BRCA2+ gene, giving her an 85% chance of developing breast cancer herself.
Having made the decision to undergo a double mastectomy, she has reduced her risk of breast cancer to 3-5%. Funeral For My Boobs is a celebration for her left boob (Freida, played by Gregor John-Owen), her right boob (Georgia, played by Kirsty Malone) and her grandmother Agnes who she never got the chance to meet. It’s a riotous affair packed with hits from Evanescence, Fleetwood Mac, Celine Dion and some musical theatre highlights. Howie’s voice is exceptional, and the musical numbers are performed with gusto.
The pacing of the piece is also excellent, and it strikes a perfect balance between informative, great storytelling and humour. John-Owen and Malone take on a variety of roles throughout the performance as other patients in the waiting room and healthcare professionals as well as Howie’s breasts.
Heather Grace Currie has also provided potentially the best set and costume design I’ve ever seen at A Play, A Pie and A Pint. The theme is bereavement meets disco goth, and Howie’s adaptable dress is stunning.
The entire creative team have absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one. Funeral For My Boobs is an incredible piece of theatre with a huge impact and Hannah Howie’s writing is as strong as her performance. There's a little bit of panto fun here as well and the audience absolutely lap it up. The final performance at the Oran Mor finished with a full house standing ovation so it's safe to say that there's great demand for this show to have further life.
Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
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