Birdwatching @ theSpace at Venue 45

Birdwatching reveals that there is only one thing which is messier than the process of wild camping, and that is the process of wild camping with three angsty teenage girls. As tents are unravelled, so are the girls’ anxieties.

Repression, resentment, and homoerotic insecurity are fuelled by the play’s overarching and omnipresent theme of voyeurism. The characters occasionally refer to eyes watching them from a distance and insinuate that a third party lurks, as they feel vague sensations that cannot be elaborated upon. The clarity of the piece is certainly enhanced when examined through a feminist lens.

The production oozes with tension. Each minute detail, meticulous motion, and flick of the wrist draws viewers in to find symbolic meaning and apprehension throughout the performance. The piece reflects an archetypal mode of building tension through subtlety, using props as delicate as hawk’s eggs and eerie motifs such as quietly whistled melodies.

Birdwatching experiments with dialogue and suspense to feature the double entendre that is the horror of the dark woods versus that of dark misogyny. Misogyny is as internalised and ingrained as the fear of a lurking shadow on a school trip to a distant forest, but what we are not taught is that – unlike the forest – it is structurally more dangerous and completely unnatural. The setting of the woods is the play’s trigger of fear on the surface, particularly when matched with the classically haunting element of voyeurism. Yet to notice the true horror of the moment, viewers are invited to recognise the lingering germ that is misogyny.

The true terror is not merely found in the girls’ shrieks or the play’s tense music. It is found in their hauntingly accurate portrayal of internalised misogyny and self-deprecation that British culture especially encourages.

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Birdwatching, theSpace @ Venue 45, until 24 Aug, 1.45pm (60mins), £9-11