Xhloe and Natasha's latest show, Bigfoot Ripped My Dog in Half I Saw It, is every bit as breathless as its title, stoked by bursts of high-energy 90s chart hits and delivered slickly by the duo. Their physical precision is such that it's almost as if these camo clowns with rosy cheeks and tearstained eyes are executing a mission.
A Familiar Duo, Expanded Horizons
The duo have previously portrayed confused cowboys (And Then the Rodeo Burned Down), spiralling housewives (What If They Ate the Baby?) and spit-promise scouts (A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First). Here the terrain is recognisable from those shows yet so much more expansive as they play numerous locals, from the corner shop to the highest office, in an Appalachian town. It gives more chance to showcase their vocal, as well as physical, agilities.
Misinformation and Scapegoating
Mostly they're in character as a couple of teenagers who wind up in trouble until a scapegoat arrives in the unlikely form of Bigfoot. Soon other townspeople are saddling Sasquatch with assorted crimes. Like their previous shows it works on several levels, capturing a specific locale and era while remaining timeless and giving a state of the union address that is bang up to date. Misinformation, misdirection and flagrant cover-ups create a daisy chain of lies. The environment is treated like dirt. Division and suspicion are actively encouraged and enthusiastically embraced. Official statements from on top are meaninglessly empty. The Stop sign that looms in the background seems to call for nothing less than a complete reset for the US.
Minimal Props, Maximum Impact
In a production co-directed by Tom Costello, the pair use minimal props and that sign is adorned with Bigfoot's furry mitts, clawed shoes and a mask with its mouth agape – all detachable and wielded to schlocky effect. There is some of the duo's signature off-kilter wordplay and bamboozling tactics. It is sometimes slightly too on the nose, and I missed the emotional hit of the friendship in their LBJ story. But what's again almightily impressive, from a show punctuated with floor-trembling thuds, is the duo's light touch in handling heavy subject matter.
The show runs at Summerhall, Edinburgh, until 30 August, then at Soho Theatre, London, from 7 to 26 September.
