Written and Performed by Elle Dillon-Reams

Walking into the space as, quite literally a piece of meat, and entirely self-aware fo this, writer and performer Elle Dillon-Reams’ MEAT drifts a tour-de-force production of intricacy and intimacy from the Bunker One of the Pleasance Courtyard. And even amidst the laughter, revelry, and shrieks of the other Festival Fringe participants the gentle power of MEAT punctuates with grace, humour, and the damn fine guttural howl of a wolf (or a King Penguin, your choice).  

And while an array of conceptual themes is up for discussion or traversed in Dillon-Ream’s script (gender, identity, power dynamics), MEAT turns its harrowing and painful moments into an echoing self-awareness and unexpected and very welcome humour. Covering growing up as a young girl, into adolescence and the dangers of a walk home in the dark, MEAT captures the look men have when gazing at a woman – it’s right there in the title, and always has been.  

Coaxing, Dillon-Reams’ particularly effective skill comes from their ability to draw the audience into the show without raising hackles over participation – so gifted and beautifully constructed and performed, that the audience doesn’t even realise they may as well be sitting on the stage with Dillon-Reams. This is every woman in the audience’s tale, it’s also a safe space for anyone else who echoes what they’ve experienced as Dillon-Reams makes individuals feel seen, secure, and important with her infectious humour and comforting presence.

Their movement stretches from the comedic realms to the interpretive, dipping the show into more dark (though harrowingly true) moments as the lighting shifts, and the audio intensifies. Conversational styled-theatre, Dillon-Reams, humbly, and rightly comments that MEAT won’t change the world. No singular show can. But it’s a damn fine addition to the building voice of people who are tired, so very tired of just looking to survive. Culminating in one of the most collectively therapeutic, eye-opening and welcoming environments the Festival Fringe has to offer.