It starts with a woman in a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, tropical pineapple juice in hand, hiding behind some pot plants on the roof of the Hibernian House. After about five minutes of standing still, she emerges, picks up the top to her pineapple, drops it on the floor, and the lights fade out. Entering the theatre, a mysterious figure in a silver wig and dark glasses presents us with a video apology from Kay herself, conveying her regrets that she won’t be able to make it to the performance herself but she hopes that we enjoy ourselves. Thus begins An Hour With Kay.
It’s quite difficult to describe exactly what the show is about, but the performance is abrupt. Kay Armstrong flits from one erratic performance to the next, one moment inviting the audience to assemble a puzzle of the world, the next issuing nonsensical commands as she rings a bell, the next writhing on the floor while barking out spasmodic stand-up. The sudden changes left this scribe feeling bewildered and constantly unsure as to what could come next. In this sense, Kay keeps the audience transfixed as they try to predict her next move.
Unfortunately, this absurdity had the tendency to backfire too when the audience got a little too lost to accompany Kay on her hour-long ride.
