Charmingly chaotic, but with a great deal of heart and nuance, Gannet both wets the comedy appetite and leaves you greedy for more.
Following a sold out run at the Camden Fringe in 2025, Fat Crow Productions returns with a work in progress showing at Playhouse East. Described as a black comedy “for anyone who has ever struggled to fit in”, Gannet is a part clowning, part monologue piece in which performer/writer Daisy Day, alongside co-writer/director Peggy Pollard, weave a meandering and hilariously convoluted tale of a young bird struggling to make his way in the world. The bird, a gannet, finds himself cast adrift from his family and thrown into the throngs of corporate life, encountering a menagerie of different characters, from middle management stooges and eccentric eco warriors to dungeon dwelling I.T cretins and hapless help-desk operators.
The piece is brilliantly realised by Day, who excels in the multi-rolling aspect of the performance. She really stretches her wings (so to speak), seamlessly transitioning from one character to another and it’s very refreshing to see the mechanics of the physical journey between them. For example, each time we return to the character of gannet, Day takes her time, finding the character once again with care, letting the moment hang. The clowning is similarly well executed, and Day’s facial expressions and sheer commitment to the absurdity are perfectly realised.
She is able to hold the audience and keep them onside, and the light crowd work she implements towards the beginning of the piece cements our complicity in this strange narrative. The laughs tumble thick and fast, and gags are built on, crafted with clever wordplay or exaggerated movements, often accompanied by a well-chosen needle-drop or sound cue.
But there is heart here too. The best clowning performances speak of deeper experiences, and the themes that run alongside the silliness in Gannet are universal. The climate crisis, toxic masculinity, bullying, animal rights but to name a few, are all touchstones here. However, no theme lingers for too long, and the satirical moments of the play are well balanced. For example, the piece is eco-critical with a clear environmental message, but one of the characters seems to lampoon the glue-sticking culture of eco-radicalism. It’s a credit to both Day and Pollard that these themes never take away from the humour on display, and although these are well trodden areas, Gannet catches the zeitgeist from an unexpected angle.
This is of course still a work in progress, and there are elements which seem underdeveloped. The last sequence, although funny feels a little dragged in places, and there are issues with some of the technical elements throughout. However, there is real talent and pernach on display here, and once tightened and refined, Gannet will be a force to reckoned with, a witty, thought-provoking and frenzied fifty minutes of fun.