“Am I the only one who thinks being a human is quite complicated?”, begins Ruth Berkoff’s Hannah, in a jarringly deep beginning to a piece of theatre. But little are audiences prepared for the high-energy, introspective frolic into our psyches that characterises The Beauty of Being Herd, a unique but entertaining journey into the life of the woman who wishes to live as a sheep.
Beginning with an unassuming figure entering from behind and ending with an entire room of grown adults bleating like sheep and singing ‘One Herd’ in unison, The Beauty of Being Herd explores what it means to not fit in, with an effective blend of self-consideration, group therapy and comedy combining in the unassuming Crookes Social Club. Berkoff’s writing is witty, measured and simply a joy to sit through as we are each brought into Hannah’s life, before the messages are lodged into our own consciousness.
Berkoff’s embodiment of the species-questioning Hannah is no less than side-splittingly funny and so fundamentally relatable, as she explains the untold rules of social gatherings, trying to fit in and an unwanted encounter in a sex club. The awkwardness she is able to portray connects with viewers implicitly, teasing insecurities to the surface and helping us to discard them, even under the veneer of living a sheep’s life. And all the while, she is blending in comedic lines and interesting factoids, demonstrating how sheep eat twice, resulting in me not wanting to eat once.
A selling point of this production is the simple sheep’s costume constructed by Berkoff herself, which is a charming touch that sells her honesty from the moment she finishes dressing. Tiny touches from black heels that sound like hooves on the stage, to the eyeliner-drawn nose that she was careful to avoid making her look like a certain German leader, combined with her lack of inhibition warms the audience to her antics within seconds, and goes a long way to bringing this production, which is technically a musical, home.
This play, in its own words, is “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” – unassuming and bashful from the outside, but powerful and fierce theatre lurking just below. Berkoff’s characterisation is surprising and captivating, telling a story that connects to audiences in a way I have rarely experienced before, and leaves you with much to consider as you head home, vocalising your thoughts before your very eyes. “Maybe it doesn’t have to be goodbye”, and I can only hope that The Beauty of Being Herd goes further, because both this production and its writer have a bright future ahead of them, and as opening nights go, this was one that should have people flocking to the box office in their herds!
Rating: ★★★★☆
The Beauty of Being Herd played at Crookes Social Club on September 5th & is touring the U.K. until September 28th
