Review: BUTCHERED, Old Rep Theatre - Hysteria Festival

After working in a basement kitchen for as long as they can remember, Master Sausage lives by one rule only: Eat, Sleep, Sausage, Repeat. Satisfying the greed of their faceless employers, working relentlessly with no concept of life beyond the butchery.

That is until a fresh-faced apprentice appears and their daily routine is disrupted. Rising tensions, sinister questions and harsh realities commence.

What if there was more to life than this? What does it mean to be happy? What exactly is in those sausages?

Nic Lawton and Ezre Holland are simply perfection in this piece. Their mix of physical theatre and dark comedy is just golden. Moving as one throughout, it’s difficult to see where one starts and the other ends as everything is so seamlessly put together. The soundtrack and lighting design adds to the blood-thirsty mood, with some particularly clever torch work included.

At one point, the horrific tale of an egg and spoon race is both hilarious and disturbing. The audience never really know where the story is going next; nothing is unimaginable, literally anything could happen.

This is a clever, macabre tale of survival, splattered with humour and absurdism.

A wonderfully gory story!

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin

Hysteria is a women-led theatre and arts festival taking place at The Old Rep Theatre in Birmingham until 30 July. Celebrating the power and diversity of female-identifying playwrights, directors, actors, comedians, creatives and designers.