Elf and Duffy: Heist review

The residents of Murder City are quaking with fear, as a terrifying threat to the populace has entered the solar system. Aliens are coming to steal testicles from unsuspecting men and the guinea-pig population has been eradicated from the planet. Elf and Duffy are on a mission to steal back Duffy’s testicles from the Evil Alien Nonce and release the guinea-pig king and his subjects back into the wild.

Welcome to the curiously abstract world of Visual Vernacular – a form of physical theatre primarily used by deaf artists. Of course, it’s not about the plot of the heist, which is so random that it defies definition. The backstory here is that Elf, who is not deaf, fancies the pants off Duffy, even though he’s obviously exploitative as a partner and isn’t above using his deafness to manipulate their working relationship. Duffy signs and uses an interpreter (Erin Siobhan Hutching) – she’s convinced him that she has a Scottish accent – while Elf’s BSL is basic at best. The result is an hour of madness and mayhem, lampooning everything from performance art to allies.

The comedy is born of a real friendship and explores the chaos of a signer and a non-signer trying to connect. It’s heightened by the fact that Duffy is a respected improviser with television and theatre credits, and Elf Lyons is an award-winning comedian. The absurdist mime coupled with Elf’s often ham-fisted attempts at BSL provides a big part of the comedy here, along with some nightmarish live foley effects.