The Room Of Piss
22 June 2025
Hen and Chickens Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
I have previously reviewed this show during its stint at the Voila Festival in 2024. This review is an amalgamation of my previous review and updated opinions due to its further development by the company.
The Room Of Piss has undergone some development since its last staging, treating audiences to a new version at the Hen and Chickens Theatre last weekend. This absurd comedy tackles themes of uncertainty in the face of change, and living with chronic illness.
Starting with a fairy tale like story on the creation of the Room of Piss, we see one character live the same day over and over, steadily growing more frantic while following the same routine, get up, exercise, drink 4 litres of water, take your medicine 15 times a day, make sure your pee is yellow. The very physical routine repeats again and again, until suddenly, everything changes when they discover that their pee is no longer yellow, it is blue. From here, the show becomes a whirlwind of absurd hilarity, including audience interactions from frenzied doctors trying to cure random patients.
Wild, chaotic, funny, and deeply weird, it’s unlike anything you’ll have seen before. A feral physical clowning show utterly destroying the stage and descending into chaos while constantly questioning routines and perceptions, begging for the acceptance of change and embracing of uncertainty while critiquing the medical establishment and its handling of chronic illness. The addition of a third actor really aids the narrative, driving the absurdity in new and unexpected ways.
While the show is quite something to behold, and very entertaining in its weirdness, it is a very short show that could use more in-depth scenes to bring across its topics more fully, more rounded. The connection to chronic illness is not deeply explored though it is a very clear presence in the show. The Room of Piss could easily double its running time and introduce further madness into the action while perhaps looking at what it is trying to achieve with a more detailed lens.
The absurdity and physical comedy work extremely well for this chaotic a show, an absurd delight full of energy and life!
