Review: EUTC's Immaculate

EUTC, Immaculate

Rating: ★★★★

The second coming of Christ came to Bedlam Theatre this Halloweekend, and it was so very fun. 

Having premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 20 years ago, Immaculate is about Mia (Eve Nugent), a young woman who wakes up six months pregnant. Mia is someone who finds everyday life banal, so she instead became a dominatrix/mistress/sex-worker – whatever you’d like to call it. The catch is, she doesn’t have sex with any of her clients; in fact, she hasn’t had sex since she broke up with her laddish boyfriend, Michael (Theo Riviere), over 11 months ago. 

The play follows Mia as first the archangel Gabriel (Andrew More) arrives at her doorstep to tell her that the baby was immaculately conceived, and is God's second child. Michael then shows up to claim the baby as his; then a gender-reversed Lucifer – affectionately referred to by Gabriel as Luci, played flirtatiously by Imogen Gage – arrives to declare she possessed the body of a human man to sleep with Mia. Then comes Mia’s best friend, Rebecca (Orla Kinniburgh) who admits to her secret relationship with Michael; she’s followed by Gary Goodman (Max Middleton), the doofus who was possessed by Lucifer, having tracked down Mia, revealing that he himself was a virgin. Strong-willed Mia eventually comes to the realisation that no matter whose baby it is, no outcome is good as she’s lost control over her own body, and life. 

This is a troubling note for what would be an otherwise lighthearted play to end on – especially in this day and age, when women’s bodily autonomy is still being threatened. However, the play is not trying to take a stance or provide some sort of social commentary, which makes this observation feel a bit out of place and despondent. The ending is also otherwise a bit convoluted, lacking any sort of satisfactory conclusion about whose baby it actually is. To this point, the script occasionally can drag a bit; each character has a moment where they monologue to the audience, providing some sort of confession, but in many cases this fails to further the plot in any sort of substantial way. Realistically, it could’ve been a one-act play. However, this is not to the fault of the cast or creative team – they succeed in providing us, an audience in need of respite from early sunsets and midterm essays, with an indulgent and clever piece of theatre, keeping the energy high even when the material has some pitfalls. 

The show is perfectly cast, with the standouts being Nugent as Mia and More as Gabriel. Nugent, in her recurring monologues to the audience, is able to break the fourth wall very endearingly. More hits all of his marks exceptionally well, and provides highly amusing comic relief during some of the slower moments. All the actors master their use of physical comedy, much to the credit of Fiona Forster’s direction, with the assistance of Callen Love. A recurring highlight of the show were the narration scenes, where all the actors except for Nugent adorn white eye masks and gauzy capes to perform rhyming couplets and hilarious choreography as a Greek chorus. The technical aspects of the show enhance these scenes, well executed by Emma Bland and Lily Goodchild. 

EUTC brought a great bit of amusement to Bedlam Theatre: crude at points in the best way, brimming with hilarity, and skillfully acted and directed throughout. The team behind Immaculate conceived an altogether very enjoyable show.