Deborah (Susan Jayne Robinson) and her daughter Megan (Hollie Burgess) live on their pig farm, once an independent and isolated business, now a seemingly last haven in a post-apocalyptic hellscape. Besieged by the mutated and desperate humans outside, inside mother and daughter clash over nostalgia, how to live in this brand new world, and how to behave towards the unseen creatures roaming outside.
As directed by Natalie Simone, Robinson and Burgess are excellent, believable as mother and daughter and intensely realistic in their situation and surroundings. Aided by very well designed and chosen set (corrugated plastic walls that are at times either metal-looking or see-through) and props (the utilitarian food and gun are their own centrepieces at times), the show is effectively gritty in every detail of its family setting and dystopian future.
The script by Madeleine Farnhill, who wrote the excellent Birdwatching (also for Black Bright Theatre Company) works well in its characterisation and realism, though the setups of some of its genre twists can sometimes be overly signposted, while the final scene overeggs its twist past its initial reveal and shock-value. However, despite not quite scaling the heights of the folk horror Birdwatching, the Hunger is still a well-written, well directed and beautifully performed piece of character-based apocalyptic horror that any fan of the genre or the previous work by the same company owes it to themselves to check out.
The Fringe run of this show has concluded.
Reviewer: Oliver Giggins
Reviewed: 22nd August 2026
North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating: