Birthday

by A & C Black Publishers Ltd (Digital) (contributor)

The birth of their daughter should be one of the happiest days of Ed and Lisa's life. An NHS maternity ward and their somewhat unusual circumstances make for an unsettling and satisfyingly comic sequence of events that tests their relationship to the core, and raises intrinsic questions about the nature of birth and renewal, fear and isolation.Subverting the received gender roles to darkly comic and disturbing effect, the play charts Ed and Lisa's personally fraught experience at the behest of an NHS labour ward. Penhall expertly weaves an acutely funny and emotionally charged sequence of he pitches wryly observed gender perceptions of a quite literal life and death situation against an indictment of the NHS system. The beautifully observed writing is at once vicious and searingly tender.Birthday achieves an intensely comic counterpoint to teh visceral domestic drama sutured to bigger issues of aspiration, sacrifice, who we are, how we communicate, the triumph of tolerance, nature and ultimately love.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Fiction

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting premise, but it doesn't make the most of the set up. Mostly, it falls back on cliches.

[Carla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting concept but bad execution. The characters were all annoying. I get that the play tried to be funny by playing with stereotypical gender roles but by god did it not work well

[Sarah Coles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silllyyyy

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think of this play as more 2.5, but I rounded up because I love the idea of it and I love a few of the monologues at the end. Overall, I found the satire to be under-developed. However, I loved the metaphor of having one's guts ripped out. For what it's worth, I thought it was poetic and accurate.

[Marybeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a farce, with the premise being that men in contemporary English society can also give birth, in a highly medicalized and invasive way. It's meant to shine a light on the politics and failures of the NHS while providing some laughs and gross-out humor. This would probably have more impact if the health system in the U.S. wasn't so terrible in terms of access and cost.