Maybe I Should Freeze My Eggs is part of the Illuminate Festival at New Wimbledon Studio Theatre. It is an emotional devised show that uses clowning, humour, music and physical theatre to tackle verbatim issues about love, friendship and London living. Their stimulus was taken directly from the lives of performers Lucy Bairstow and Jess Murrain, who form the theatre company Theatre With Legs.

For a piece that didn’t have that much text it was very succinct in its messages, and left me with a lot to take home and think about. Luckily it was also incredibly funny, which resulted in post-show ponderings such as the true ratio of a good night out to the nightmare that is London night buses. Simultaneously I couldn’t stop chuckling at some very quotable lines. The series of scenes were really great and stuck with you, such as when Murrain pulled out a wild array of flags from her backpack, because she lost her phone- a simple and effective representation of that annoying modern day plight. There were many more vivid scenes that gave a physical voice to the inner workings of these women, resulting in a vast spectrum of emotion that seemed to turn as quickly as the mind can.

Both of the performers had their own bursts of humour, but hats off to Bairstow who can make an audience laugh with a single look. The clowning elements were really well played, and this performance style was a nice through line between the scenes. There was enough of a contrast between the two performers to make for some very interesting work; they are definitely a good devising and performance match.

The text that was chosen had resonating messages, such as the repeated line, “I sit in my garden, enjoy the fresh air, I have twenty-two pounds in the bank”, which you could almost hear echoing back from the audience’s own memories. This piece truly reaches out and empathises with you. The studio contained a group of people mostly in their 20s and 30s, presumably some of whom live in London and are also trying to make theatre or performance work. I would say the majority of Maybe I Should Freeze My Eggs is directly targeted to this demographic.

Musically Murrain and Bairstow have really strong and complementary voices, and the music elements from the covers of popular songs to the mastery of the loop pedal showed a fine selection of skill. After seeing Maybe I Should Freeze My Eggs I am left with a sense that this 45 minute show has the beginnings of a unique performance style, as Theatre With Legs mashes together multiple practices alongside its own personalities. I look forward to finding out how this duo develops this promising brand of performance.

Maybe I Should Freeze My Eggs played at New Wimbledon Studio Theatre. For more information see the ATG tickets website.