Review: ‘The Birds and the Bees’ is the funniest show you’ll see on stage in 2023
Photo credit: Pamela Haig Bartley (left) and Cavan Cunningham (right) feature in ‘The Birds and the Bees’ at Persephone Theatre from March 29 to April 23, 2023. (Supplied / Photo courtesy of Persephone Theatre)
Yes, it’s only April. Yes, there are almost nine full months left in the year. And yes, it feels right calling it now, and with confidence — you won’t experience a wittier, funnier, more literally laugh-out-loud show than Persephone Theatre’s The Birds and the Bees this year.
It started off slow Friday night, and a little awkward. There were a couple stumbles, and some awkward attempts to feel things out. But faster than any of the overactive-libido characters can jump into bed, Persephone Theatre’s final show of the main stage season reaches a climax of hilarity and incredibly-timed sex jokes.
The Birds and the Bees follows 38-year-old Sarah (Jenna-Lee Hyde) immediately following a separation from her husband. Sarah returns to her childhood home for a brief respite from her woes and must contend with her tightly-wound mother Gail (Pamela Haig Bartley), who is dealing with her own issues in the form of her declining honeybee population. Coupled with the blunt, long-time next-door neighbour Earl (Cavan Cunningham) and Ben, the hot young university student studying the bees (Ray Jacildo), the two women must learn to deal with each other as they deal with their personal struggles around intimacy and relationships.
And again — there are a lot of sex jokes. It’s impossible to over-emphasize this.
