Is it possible to peak too early at the Edinburgh Fringe? Newcomer Lorna Rose Treen has created the biggest buzz so far, with rave reviews from critics, and word-of-mouth plaudits from the public. The question now is, like the golfer who shoots an opening round course record, can she retain her lead to the end?
This 28-year-old from Redditch certainly makes a strong case for domination. Skin Pigeon is an oddball character-based comedy like no other. Treen emerges from a mound of old clothes like something out of Beckett’s Happy Days and proceeds to deliver some of the most hilariously idiosyncratic creations you will ever encounter.
One recurring figure is a Brownie who is trying to complete a record haul of badges. A badge for doing unspeakable things to dogs. Another for stalking Hugh Grant. She is not, it soon becomes clear, your typical Brownie. She might only be nine but she is quietly terrifying way beyond her years.
Treen dives back into her mountain of cast-offs to resurface as a vampish, black-clad femme fatale, who rattles through her torrid love life while chewing on cigarettes. Imagine a film noir penned by Alan Bennett: “I took a midnight train to nowhere. But it was cancelled, so I took a bus replacement service to somewhere."
And just when you think things cannot get any more unhinged, they do just that. Treen plays writer Sally Rooney giving us an exclusive reading from her latest novel; a dolphin; and a cowboy with guns for digits. Not so much Edward Scissorhands as Edwina Pistolfingers.
Inspired surprises pepper a performance that never misses a chance to upend expectations. One particularly brilliant coup de theatre elicited what-did-I-just-see? gasps from the audience.
The audience participation is engagingly benign. Everyone takes part in a game of netball while one volunteer is invited to strap a skateboard across Treen’s chest so that she can ‘swim’ across the stage.
Treen is relatively unknown, but has been building up considerable momentum recently. She was the winner of two Funny Women awards last year, the Stage Award for her live performance and the Comedy Shorts Award for her film My Entertainment Badge.
Unless something else even more brilliant comes along, which is not out of the question given the high standard of the Fringe this year, she must be a favourite for another nod when the festival ends later this month.
The only dilemma the judges may have is whether to consider her for the Best Newcomer prize or the Best Show prize. Sadly for Treen, you cannot win both.
