Showing @ King’s Theatre, Edinburgh until Sat 13 Apr

Richard Briers’ recent death could perhaps be seen as a sign that the sitcoms of yesteryear have had their time in the limelight and are now better remembered in the glory of their hey day. Regretfully Simon James Green’s theatrical reanimation of the once popular television show Birds of a Feather, has awakened a monster best left in slumber.

When sisters Sharon (Pauline Quirke) and Tracey (Linda Robson) receive a letter from their long out of touch friend Dorien (Lesley Joseph), they decide to rekindle their friendship. After meeting their distanced companion they fall into her employ running an elderly care home, however it’s not long before the police have been called putting the rambunctious trio in an awkward situation.

If the unrelenting tirade of bawdy, predictable and lazy one-liners isn’t enough to dispel your hopes of being entertained then the hammy, melodramatic over-acting will be. There are attempts to appear modern, the banal script mentions the horse meat scandal and Michael Jackson’s death and at one point Sharon wears a Gangnam Style T-Shirt, but largely due to the unimaginative set, it still feels confusingly embedded in the 90s. The bizarre decision to mic the cast results in an unsettling robotic tin like sound being brought to the dialogue.

“Oohs” and “Aahs” from the audience combined with the way the actors seem to play to the crowd (Dorien’s open legs flash) give this the appearance of pantomime, unfortunately it lacks the trimmings essential to panto to carry it; exaggerated acting, grandeur set design and overstated costumes. The plot is frequently sidelined for the spectacle of the three actors ridiculing themselves either through innuendo or physical movements; at times this is taken too far (Dorien’s repeated jogging exits to make her bosom bounce) and a sense of demeaning pity feels more appropriate than comedy. This sadly is a production that smacks of desperation rather than any artistic craft.

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