A PLAY that began life at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe, where it won awards and critical acclaim, comes to Bath Theatre Royal’s Ustinov Studio from Thursday 20th to Saturday 22nd March. Described as “folk horror”, Birdwatching is a drama about the female experience.

Black Bright Theatre Company present Madeleine Farnhill’s play which places female, queer and neurodivergent perspectives centre stage. School friends Amelia, Poppy and Lauren are wild camping in the Northumberland forest. As the woods darken around them and tensions flare, a watchful presence takes hold of the camp. A perfect boiling pot of paranoia, superstition and adolescent insecurity ensues that hangs on a chilling question: who is watching whom?

Birdwatching aims to provoke conversations around street harassment, LGBTQIA+ issues, neurodiversity and the cultural voyeurism of female identifying and presenting people. Directed by Chantell Walker, the cast features Madeleine Farnhill as Poppy, Ellen Trevaskiss as Lauren and Mimi Millmore as Amelia.

Birdwatching won the Best New Writing Award at The Spookies at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. It was also selected by the Chengdu-Chongqing International Theatre Festival for the 2024 programme and received a nomination for the Birds of Paradise Exceptional Theatre Award in the Neurodiverse Review Awards 2024.

Black Bright Theatre Company champions female voices in theatre-making with new writing which taps into post-apocalypticism, psychological horror and the female experience with a distinct, naturalistic grit. Based in Sheffield, the company was founded in 2021 by Madeleine Farnhill, who is artistic director and writer, and Helen Denning, producer and company manager. The company’s first play The Hunger debuted in 2021 before touring in 2022 and garnering critical acclaim at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Photograph by Al Narapol