Soon to be 22-year-old Kit is a clerk in a post office. She might be busy with administrative tasks and phone calls, but this is no ordinary office. This is the hub of the pigeon postal service at Dovecoat Parva. There’s a reminder board telling her to ‘Keep Coo…’ – the village debate on the future of the service is 10 days away and from here the avian jokes pile up thick and fast.
Royal Pigeon Mail is student theatre in its purest form. It’s naive, wholly accessible and has a beautifully playful tone. Likeable characters and witty use of puns make it a universal and easily relatable watch with the added bonus; it’s really funny and doesn’t try hard to be so.
Kit is the impartial referee in the office. Timid and softly spoken, she is a perfect foil to her colleagues and does her best to placate rival posties ‘PI’ Jean and Cooper as they battle it out for the attention of her and dominance in the forthcoming debate. Jean wants the service disbanded. Cooper, a pigeon fancier since his teenage years, knows nothing else but this job and complete with garish feather patterned shirt, adores his Columbidae more than anyone. Yes, I looked up that reference, but the delight of this play comes from the consistent little avian anecdotes that keep the humour flowing and the silliness in overdrive. The actors are clearly having fun with this play and that vibe roosts in the audience.
This play works because in present day, pigeon post is such a brilliantly absurd idea. The pigeons deliver the mail but don’t always come back. Jean’s job is collecting them. Cooper’s job is nurturing the pigeon loft and caring for the birds. Kit orders bird feed and keeps track of the applications from households requesting new pigeons to deliver because the old ones have flown away or got injured. The job is never ending. There’s always a bird missing somewhere. Cooper’s favourite pigeon, Jemima is rescued by Jean. A broken wing will keep her out of action for weeks and the big debate looms.
Behind the birds, Kit’s presence roots the performance with humanity. Portrayed with sensitivity and humility, the character is one of life’s innocent and the subtle performance on show makes her incredibly charming. Her vulnerability against the alpha/beta conflict between Jean and Cooper splits the relationship triangle perfectly. When Jean mocks Cooper with indication he will have Squab for dinner, Kit heads to her dictionary. Shocked, she realizes how mean Jean is to Cooper. It’s minor but it’s important insight into Kit’s abused benevolence at the hands of her girlfriend Paloma, who has strung her along for months. She doesn’t know what to do in this situation and although brief, sections such as this offer a smart diversion from the bickering antics of Cooper and Jean as it makes the play broader and whole.
Compered by Kit, the audience become part of the debate. Cooper’s arguments struggle to take-off. Jean’s land. The back and forth continues until the audience have their say; pigeon post will remain! There isn’t much more the play can deliver after this denouement; it wraps up with brevity and flies.
Reviewer: Al Carretta
Reviewed: 20th August 2025
North West End UK Rating: