Welcome to Dumfordton. It’s small. It’s boring. And everyone’s old. Only 339 people live in Dumfordton.
(A sharp, sudden scream.) 338 people.
Sisters Jodi and Shannon run a funeral business with the local priest – their father. Jodi sings the dead into the ground, while younger sister, Shannon, dazzles the living with a laser pen show that transforms funerals into a stadium event. (Or, so she believes.) And one day, Jodie’s voice will help them escape Dumfordton forever. (Or, so they plan.)
Every year Shannon predicts the winner of The X-Factor. She’s never been wrong, not once. And this year, the winner’s going to be Jodi. Together they rehearse and rehearse and rehearse: her ‘winning’ face, the single tear, her humble origin story. And for a few brief minutes every evening, they feel free. But freedom is a fickle friend when you’re born in a place that has quietly decided you will never leave.
Bouncing between her sister’s ferocious loyalty and an absent father – who’s never recovered from his wife pulling a Shirley Valentine on a family holiday in Bali – Jodi is caught between two futures: the one she sings for and the one she stands in – a shag-carpeted basement. As reality presses in, her confidence begins to crack and a household that has survived on fantasy quickly starts to come apart.
Devastatingly funny, The Dead Mouse and Peabrain Dreams disguises fear, boredom and loneliness in tightly choreographed dance routines, clowning and character switches that never miss a beat. Tears will form in the final moments because, while you are laughing, Jodi and Shannon will find your heart and quietly tear it apart.
