Queerdos and their performances are all the rage these days – the weirder and queerer the better. London’s King’s Head Theatre presents two fabulous shows this month and next, What If They Ate The Baby? and a re-run of last year’s hit And Then The Rodeo Burnt Down, both by New York based duo Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland.
What If They Ate The Baby? is a wildly absurd story of American Cannibal Housewives It’s is a queer theatrical dystopia, dissecting the relationship of two all-American housewives, trapped in their shared liminal space of the household and their own love affair.
There are three rules every good housewife knows: never return a dish empty; always have dinner ready by the time he gets home; and some things are best kept under the table. After all, you never know who might be listening…
With double entendre, tightly choreographed physical theatre, and a soundtrack packed from Vaudeville to Rap, What If They Ate The Baby? repeatedly explores the same menial conversation between neighbours in the context of surveillance, cannibalism, and queerness, all during an idealised period in American history that was marked by paranoia.
Winner of the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe First Award, What If They Ate The Baby? was created by Xhloe and Natasha in a political response to the changing laws surrounding reproductive rights in America, placing the audience right in the middle of the action. Absent husbands? Missing children? All questions are uncovered in this witty, absurd and wild interpretation of 1950s America.
Xhloe and Natasha Roland are a writer/performer company of two that has been in collaboration for nearly a decade. After making their Edinburgh Festival Fringe Debut in August 2022 they were awarded a coveted Fringe First Award by The Scotsman for And Then The Rodeo Burned Down. In August 2023 they returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and picked up a second Fringe First award for What If They Ate The Baby.
These two girls are great – I highly recommend these shows.
Both shows are at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington, London N1 for a limited 2 week run from 24 March-7 April.
Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah
