Eggs

Anna Sokolova

Oct 27

3 min read

Old Fitz Theatre Sydney, 24-30 October 2026

The review

The play is a chain of intense events in which Girl’s 1 (@maddieflood) and Girl’s 2 (@madeleine.wilson) lives collide; they need each other before being separated again. Closer to thirty, each is getting more grasping and desperate for a dream of getting life in order, while that means nearly opposite arrangements. Set-up on a small space, in a tradition to build space on top of that for the main season show, designers of lighting, music and props are mastering their skills in this theatre. Visually divided into several parts, each with a couple of items defining the character of the spot - a messy room with a deep, low chair, a couple of boring hospital seats, a tidy corner with nicely arranged hanging clothes and a row of shoes, leaving an empty spot becoming a park or a nightclub- this floor (not even a stage as such) fits this all proficiently.

Girl 1 is animated, agile, funny, touch selfish, lost, lonely, desperate for proper sex, not daring to mention love. Her small light gestures reflect every move of the mood - quick shift of a hat, rearranging legs curling on a chair, snapping fingers, making funny faces. Declaring herself as Frankenstein, being a product of IVF, she is the opposite of a stereotypical “good girl”. Girl 2 is her opposite. She is reserved, if not self-suppressed, convinced to be prim and proper, climbing a corporate ladder, dreaming to become a society-approved wife and a mother, whispering words that her friend is ready to call out loud without worry that it is intimate or not appropriate.

The fast-paced scenes nearly always follow the linear flow of time, filling up nearly a year. They are separated by semi-blackouts, when the young women change their appearance. These pauses are welcome to give a moment to let a wave of emotions and empathy settle and, at times, to calm down a heart that trembles facing something so closely related.

While Girl 1 is floating in a flow of life like an autumn leaf in the wind, Girl 2 tries to see her life as fully controlled and satisfying. Opposite to one another, they are not a sweet couple bound by gracious chatter; they are more like constantly challenging each other, sparring partners trapped in skirmishes suddenly replaced by genuine tender encounters.

The story is charming till it gets under the skin and there it burns because it is so deeply familiar, and even being happening in the past, is apparently still alive being well sealed do not be reminded of.

Eggs is a smart name, a play has a proper fun with all possible meanings of the word and references and associations it holds. It is a raw, feminine work, a bit fragmented in structure, with not enough space to build up an extended story but perfect to snapshot multiple sides of womanhood. The complexity of women's friendship, women's struggle, and finding a way to compromise, to support, to get through is made without any labeling or pathos, acted naturalistically and weightlessly.

It mixes a seemingly light but truly strong cocktail full of silliness, laughs, rawness, bravery, rejection, anger, false expectations, and a beautiful ability to get the hell out of the mess and find courage to hold each other's hands.