EdFringe Review – 30 days of Blood at CAquila Venue

30 Days of Blood by Eva Ditzelmüller is a visceral cabaret exploration of womanhood. As the company describes it, it’s a punk piece that rebels against the rules of classical theatre. It is indeed a unique piece of theatre, that tends to absurdist, experimental theatre. If you’re looking for a traditional show, you would not enjoy this production.

The premise is to describe a woman’s life through her period, and what happens to her hormones during those 30 days. The performance I saw was lacking the projections that were supposed to go with some of the scenes and this might be one of the reasons why the show didn’t seem to quite explain itself clearly. It was difficult to grasp what point was being made, especially with the sudden mention of veganism, that felt out of place.

It’s a show that wants to be theatre, but tends towards performing art, and a merging of the two could be interesting with a sharp concept to support it. 30 Days of Blood relies too much on stereotypes and cliches without digging deep into a woman’s life or her period. Some of the symbolism works very well, but some stays on the surface. It’s a theatre piece that has potential, and it would be interesting to see what would happen if a clearer choice was made on the play’s message and the symbolism used to convey it.

The actors do a great job in keeping the text alive and their performances are the most interesting part of this play. Cailin Denegre has a great stage presence and is fully committed to her character, Simonas Mozura’s portray of the alpha male is spot on, and is able to convey a wide array of emotions and subtext. Eduardo Almeida and Nia Vasileva are brilliant in supporting the performances of the two leading actors, and in giving a comic relief with their cabaret acts.

30 days of blood is a show that takes many risks, and Theatre Peregrine proves to be a young company who’s not afraid to work against the traditional theatre rules. It’s a show that aspire to be highly conceptualised art, but is not quite there yet. The ideas, the innovations and the passions are all there, and are the ingredients needed to create powerful work in the future.

Company’s website: https://www.theatreperegrine.com/

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