Sugar Baby at Summerhall. Photo: Kirsten McTernan. With pooch on a post Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh has its own tradition of rub-my-nose-for-good-luck animal statues although not any more, please.
Purportedly caught in trawler nets whilst they fished in the Irish sea, Billy arrived in the Welsh Capital in and lived out his days in the Victoria park pond. Providing enough fish for the animal during the First World War was a bit of an issue and there was even talk of returning Billy to the wild ocean.
Luckily, he remained in the park and, arguably, more than paid his way. Memories of Billy include the clever creature performing backwards summersaults in exchange for fish heads. Local details are always a nice addition to a play, I think. Sugar Baby by Alan Harris has Cardiff-specific details in spades.
The best of these however, is the starring role of Billy the Seal. Far from being the static sack of bones in a glass box, the Billy in Sugar Baby is the resplendent golden statue commemorating his life in Victoria Park. And its his nose, most of all, that really sets the action going.
Performing in the empty space, Griffin-Griffiths is particularly adept at the endless little bits of mime he uses to add detail to the story. A public bus crawls along the street, an armadillo appears from the ether, pockets are zip-zipped up and down, and the Baddie tries to look hard with a two-flake Mr Whippy. Along with all the extra-dry additions β cracks about a commemorative bench plaque and the like β are a few lines that catch you with their sudden poetry.
