It was a Thursday night like any other… before you knew Figs in Wigs were in town.
You’re wedged in next to another theatre-buff in a sold-out show, propping up a dying industry by battling the Manchester rain to watch a very meta play that is about to tell you who you are – in a very meta way.
And who you are – is the last hope for theatre companies like Figs in Wigs.
At least – that’s the message of ‘Big Finish’ at HOME theatre.
This play is a play for people who like plays – and they’re not shy about telling you that.
The 90-minute avante-garde perfectly choreographed chaos explores the end of the world whilst writing a love letter to everyone in the room for bothering to turn up.
If you are partial to breaking the fourth wall and you like your theatre very meta then you are in the right place to experience Big Finish – but even the most well-travelled thespian would struggle to predict what lies ahead.
Split up into chapters rather than acts the spectacle – as you’d struggle to call it a story – is well paced and conscious of not sitting in one bizarre metaphor for too long before moving on to the next.
One chapter consists entirely of an empty stage and a foam machine – another a synchronised crab dance which I’d argue was the most impressive visual of the night.
There are deeper messages peppered throughout in case someone who had never visited a theatre before happened to sneak in here too.
Essentially the members who make up the Figs in Wigs theatre company want you to know that for creatives it does very much feel like the apocalypse and that a ‘big finish’ for the art world feels inescapable.
When not dressed in bright pink boiler suits or as giant neon crabs Figs in Wigs are Ray Gammon, Suzanna Hurst, Sarah Moore, Rachel Porter and Alice Roots.
They have a 10-year career in winding audiences’ minds around their finger just enough to create some tension – before releasing and catapulting your expectation back at you.
If you haven’t been to a Figs in Wigs production before and if you don’t ever intend to then take this message to heart at least – go to the theatre.
Because it’s dying on its backside.
Big Finish at HOME is set to sell out tonight (Friday) and tomorrow: https://homemcr.org/production/big-finish-its-the-end-of-the-world-but-not-now
Photos by mcrjourno
