Comedy double act Norris & Parker (aka Katie Norris & Sinead Parker) have announced four dates at London’s Soho Theatre from 11th – 14th January with their critically acclaimed Edinburgh show ‘Sirens’. The pair performed the show only 11 times at the Fringe’s Monkey Barrel before Sinead sadly got Covid and the rest of the run was cancelled. Now in good health, the pair are excited to bring their fifth show to London. The show features original new songs composed by the talented Edinburgh Festival Newcomer Nominated Huge Davies.
Fearless performers Katie and Sinead promise to lure you into their web of dark and surreal comedy like two black widows in Lycra with ‘Sirens’. **Siren: in Greek mythology, a creature half bird and half woman who lured sailors to destruction by the sweetness of their song.
Their last show in 2018, Burn the Witch, had a sellout run at the Edinburgh Festival’s Pleasance Courtyard and a top pick in The Guardian, Evening Standard and Independent. It went on to have a sellout run at the Soho Theatre and is available to stream on ‘Next Up.’ Their 2016 show, See You at The Gallows, also enjoyed a sellout run at The Pleasance Courtyard accruing numerous 4 and 5-star reviews, a sellout run at Soho Theatre and selected in The Guardian’s Top 10 Best Comedy Shows of the Year.
The new show features a whole host of oddball characters, sketches and songs including Norris’s mini play, a two-act coastal thriller, The Lighthouse, inspired by Hitchcock, Gilbert & Sullivan and The Lighthouse (film). Written in a lockdown delirium, the play reflects Norris’ mental state at the time as well as her deep lack of respect for Parker as an actress; forcing her to play a sexy squid and a half pig, ingenue Veronica Ham, who arrives in Kent searching for her missing sister.
Along the way we meet local shrew Gillian McKeith, proprietor of The Hag’s Bed B&B, who specialises in backstreet abortions, and faints uncontrollably whilst having questionable hallucinations. We are also introduced to Sir Joncey Emperor of Dover, a war veteran confined to room 26, who’s passionate about his family heritage.
The history of Norris & Parker’s 12-year friendship features heavily, taking the audience back in time to when they first met. Katie & Sinead in fact met at Manchester Met School of Theatre in 2009, shackled together by a shared birthday (26th February), a shared flat and a shared infatuation for Kate Bush. They are inspired by Julia Davis, Brass Eye, The League of Gentleman, Twin Peaks and Corrie.
Piscean comedy duo Norris & Parker will drag you screaming into the murky depths of their wild, nautical sketches. Tie yourself to the mast and sail past Soho Theatre for some debauched late night comedy for lovers of the strange, the sordid, the musical and the dark.
Katie is a comedian, actress, singer and regular voice on Newsjack & The Now Show (BBC Radio 4). Sinead is a comedian, actress and writer. Most recently, she wrote and performed in Huge Davie’s new channel 4 show, ‘The Artists’, a brand new sitcom about a group of deluded street performers who mistakenly think they are artistic pioneers.
The girls are in the process of filming a web series called ‘Murder For Dummies’, written by LA based writer James Hamilton from sketch group Casual Violence. They are playing a Police cop duo called 'Plank and Octagon'. Murder For Dummies is an absurd comedy whodunnit, cunningly disguised as a true crime documentary Gareth Marenghi ‘s Dark place meets Agatha Christie.
‘SIRENS’ SOHO THEATRE , WEDNESDAY 11TH – SATURDAY 14TH JANUARY 2023 @ 10pm TICKETS: https://sohotheatre.com/shows/norris-and-parker-sirens/
