Simon Ward reviews Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It at the Soho Theatre

Fresh from a triumphant run in Edinburgh and prior to an extended residency in their home town of New York, Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland bring their latest high-energy clown-inspired offering to Soho. They are the writers and performers and they share directing duties with Tom Costello. They are clowns, but not likely to trigger anyone’s latent coulrophobia – their makeup is minimal but it does allow them the freedom to inhabit and expertly skewer the many characters that populate a small Southern Appalachian town in the 1990s. Their clowning also extends to multiple feats of acrobatic ingenuity, all the better to evoke the madcap escapades that they wish to share.

The title lets us know that there is hysteria in the air – it’s the gabbled reaction of a terrified onlooker to a horror they themselves have summoned up. Relayed under a set of Brechtian questions and sub-headings which frame each scene, the pair lift up a mirror to a world that is all too familiar to us today. In a small town with its fair share of problems, such as a recent flood which has left the tap-water undrinkable, a mayor usually found in a drunken slumber in his office, and too few jobs to keep the young folk occupied, a minor traffic mishap can suddenly blow up out of all proportion. Two bored local teenagers, who have been driving without a licence, crash their borrowed truck into a stop sign. The police do not seem to be overly concerned – nevertheless, the teens are desperate to cover their tracks and share a story about the legendary Bigfoot appearing out of nowhere and causing them to swerve. Before long this story has developed a life of its own, and the whole town ends up implicated. For one thing it is a bit of excitement in an otherwise dull place. For another, this is hillbilly country where superstition is never far away. We see how simple word-of-mouth gossip can spread and exaggerate a rumour, just as effectively on the internet today.

At first the gullibility of the townsfolk is very funny indeed. Our heroines work hard to maintain their story by creating what could more or less plausibly be considered Bigfoot-inflicted mayhem. But it doesn’t take long before they are consumed with worry about the monster they have literally created. The real-world flood is folded in to all manner of narratives about the imaginary Bigfoot. How quickly the lies and misinformation can take root and spread is more terrifying than any of the stunts ascribed to him. This is the fertile ground in which the multiplying conspiracy theorists of today propagate. It is chilling to realise that once the people are so heavily invested in the myth-making there is no turning back, and even the authorities have to nod along. This is a masterful piece of storytelling.

Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It is running at the Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE until Saturday 26th September