Nine teenagers and one baritone saxophone invite you to a surreal cabaret of a play. As our plucky young cast struggle to make sense of their lives, their relationships, their place in an unfathomable universe; they find themselves in an hilariously pointless search for a theme for their own creative expression, only to discover that one of them may in fact be the actual great-grandchild of eponymous narcissist Dorian Gray. This life-imitating-art play about growing up asks lots of important questions about what it means to be human and, in fine absurdist fashion, offers absolutely no answers whatsoever.

Paper Swans draws on absurdist theatre, visual symbolism and the playwright's personal experience, as a woman from a post-Soviet country coming to the UK.
A one act play set in a closed park at night.

A security guard finds a young woman in a ballet dress sitting on a bench making paper swans.

As he tries to find out what she is doing and why, he locks them in a continuous never-ending loop of having to encounter each other again and again. However, each time they meet, there is a slight change in the situation from the one before.

This work draws on absurdist theatre, visual symbolism and the playwright’s personal experience, as a woman from a post-Soviet country (Lithuania) coming to the UK.

Reviews
★★★★★ – BOUQUETS AND BRICKBATS

“As soon as we note that Paper Swans is a Flabbergast production, we know we need to see it. We know that – whatever else – Paper Swans is sure to be both experimental and innovative. We’re not wrong… it’s gloriously done. I love it…[The] choreography is so precise and disciplined that every moment is intense, heightened to the nth degree. There is no let-up here. The hour flashes by and, as the actors take their bows, I realise that I’ve been holding my breath. I don’t know for how long

★★★★☆ – THREE WEEKS

"Balletic, intelligent, elusive and sometimes funny, with fine supporting music, this is great theatre for those who love the art form"

★★★★☆ – EDFEST

"This absurdist play is confident in what it is and sits neatly in the world of “Waiting for Godot,” “Zoo Story,” and “No Exit,” with its mix of the surreal, the human, the nightmarish, and the inevitable." "...two confident professionals skilled in their artistry weaving a tale that dips unexpectedly into horror…It is off-kilter and discomforting, thought-provoking and compelling, intelligent and complicated, as the audience searches for sense in the senseless."

★★★★☆ – LOTHIAN LIFE

"an extraordinary piece of theatre that’s a gut punch to the senses and will have the viewer thinking about its implications for a long time afterwards"

★★★★☆ – FLORA GOSLING

"Paper Swans is dark and unusual but really sucks you in...it calls for the freedom to act unexplainably, something you don’t realise you long for until you see a show like this."

TOTAL THEATRE (DOES NOT GIVE STARS)

"The play is an open book... It is a great text, carefully staged, visually beautiful, and performed with great gusto. No, we don’t need to have all the answers…"