Anna Burnside reviews ‘something satisfying and completely of itself’.
In a papier mache plague mask and cape, Martha Knight explains our mission. The king of all birds has died, and we must name a successor.
So begins a borderline bonkers tale that bounces between folk horror and the picaresque to cover the history of flight in Ireland over the last couple of centuries.
Projected on the wall behind Knight is the framing device: an aerial photograph of her grandmother’s home in County Mayo, the kind hugely popular in the 1980s.
There’s also a linking device, the folk song “Wild Mountain Thyme”, which Knight begins by singing in her pure soprano. As life becomes more complicated and technology changes flight, she adds a mandolin, then an electric guitar and finally a vocoder to produce a distorted, looped version that’s barely recognisable.
Knight is a confident and engaging performer, keeping the audience’s attention as hot air balloons are all the rage in the late 1700s, through to the first successful transatlantic flight in 1919.
Two thirds of the way through there’s a slight change of gear, well orchestrated by director Joy Nesbitt, and the story becomes more personal. Knight’s family connection comes into focus as she cleverly and neatly ties up one of the most singular tales being told this August.
The successor, who is named in the end, is not the one anyone in the room is expecting. Yet it makes perfect sense. The impressive teamwork of performer and director means The King of All Birds ends up as something satisfying and completely of itself.
The King of All Birds performs at Summerhall (Former Gent’s Locker Room) until 31 August 2026 (not the 24th) at 13:40 (60 mins). For further details, go to the venue’s website.
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