‘milk teeth’ Edinburgh Fringe review
‘I came away from it feeling a level of reflection that I have not experienced so far this Fringe. ‘
milk teeth tells the story of Zenab who, following the advice of her (hot) therapist, buys a baby doll to reconnect with her inner child, and ultimately follows her losing her grasp on reality. milk teeth will drive you to question your relationships, your perception of reality and leave you in emotional shock.
Main character Zenab, played by Iqra Khadiza, is a compelling and complicated character who presents an endearing and melancholy front that slowly breaks down as she fails to keep a grip on what is real, and what she has created to overcome her trauma. Khadiza is a phenomenally talented actress who perfectly captures the character. The emotional shifts and confident delivery to the audience was piercing. As the audience member picked to hold her baby doll, I felt some of Zenab’s connection to the baby doll emanating from Khadiza. When she looked me in the eye and asked if I was laughing at her, my blood ran cold, because yes, I was laughing. In that moment I questioned societal perceptions of people suffering with mental illnesses and how different perspectives can deeply affect people.
Khadiza also had an electric on-stage partnership with Jo Price playing her so-called ‘hot’ therapist. They had wonderful chemistry that worked well to show the change in how Zenab felt about her sessions from the beginning of the play, to the end. Price’s character initially appeared charming and caring, but underneath there was a patronising energy that slowly became too intense, and somewhat sexually perversive. Price played this character with a smoothness and ease that was admirable; while the therapist may be pretty terrible at his job, Price was far from it and is another demonstrable talent.
Chemistry was rife within this cast, not only between Price and Khadiza but also between Khadiza and Penny Cairney-Leeming as Bryn, Zenab’s best friend. Cairney-Leeiming was the sassy and iconic best friend: very relatable and hugely personable. I cannot stress enough how talented this cast was and Cairney-Leeiming was no exception (and not just because she called me fit during the show).
A play about motherhood cannot be complete with a character who thinks it's their business to tell people how to parent and this took the form of a ‘yummy mummy’ support group leader played by Molly Bell. Bell is a true comedic powerhouse. She managed to make an incredibly irritating and overbearing character one of the funniest characters in the play, towing the line between light and funny, and invasive and intense. Talking about comedy in this performance cannot be done without mentioning Horatio Holloway who played the apathetic and lethargic minimum wage worker, the most relatable character in this show. The way he swivelled his chair to turn it into a checkout counter was so well timed that I couldn't help but laugh every time.
There is no doubt that this cast were very talented but they wouldn't be anywhere without the phenomenal writing of Maariya Khalid. For such a mature and emotional play you’d expect the writer to have years of writing experience. The fact Khalid is already writing at this level tells you something about her emotional intelligence. I was moved, shocked, and blown away. The story moved with a flow that was so smooth and in places intentionally jarring, mirroring Zenab’s slow descent in her declining mental health. milk teeth is a well written and beautiful piece of theatre and Khalid has done an excellent job: she should be very proud of both her cast, and her own work.
On top of this Khalid also managed to be co-director and co-producer. The direction by Khalid and Iris Varla, assisted by Paloma Hoyos, and shadowed by Emily Sanderson was wonderful. There were scenes towards the end where it's unclear how much of it is real and how much is imagined by Zenab. These scenes were so well directed as the confusion and the chaos was palpable but also subtle enough that the audience were not overwhelmed and could still make up their own minds about how much was real.
Of course, Edinburgh Fringe cannot be done without producers; Khalid and co-producer Maria Erazo did a wonderful job at facilitating the show. The technical aspects of this show also worked really well. The lighting was subtle but effective and mirrored Zenab’s mental state as well as the other characters' feelings towards her and how she perceives them. I believe there may have been a couple of sound faults but for a first night this was hardly surprising and did not detract from the overall essence of the show. Aaron Lo and Molly Knox should be commended for their technical programming and operating respectively as they were a vital part to the overall vibe of the show. For the first night of their fringe run milk teeth performed spectacularly well. There were a few moments among the cast where diction was slightly lost, as well as a couple of prop mishaps, but on the whole these were minimal and moved on from very smoothly and easily.
If you have a complicated relationship with your mother, a horrible ex-boyfriend, or you love butterflies, then milk teeth is an absolute must see this week. I knew very little of what to expect going into it and I came away from it feeling a level of reflection that I have not experienced so far this Fringe.
By Bethan Avery.
milk teeth is running until the 23rd August, at 22:40, at The Space Triplex Big