1000 Tiny Birds

Sikisa - Words In Progress (preview)

ARGCOMFEST, 2023-07-01

Sikisa seems to have exploded onto the scene recently, storming Edinburgh last year and making a name for herself. Here we are a year later with her second show, and having admittedly not seen her first, it seems like she hasn’t stepped backwards. There’s a lot of good stuff about unexpectedly enjoying emo music (which almost but not quite returns as a callback later in the show), an interrogation of the various uses of the Single Ladies dance, and a fascinatingly pitched bit about having paid off her student loans and being debt - straddling with a deft touch the line of establishing credibility and status on stage whilst still remaining relatable. This is helped by her absolutely ebullient personality - it’s hard not to enjoy her presence. She navigates pulling the room in, integrating different audience members without ever feeling like bullying or even just time filling. It veers towards the former a little towards the end, but she has some game volunteers and it all works a treat. At the end of the show, I dare to give her a couple of suggestions (knowing full well she has a director), for which she high fives me, and as I walk away I hear her exclaim how lovely a man I am. Well there you have it.