Urashimo Taro audio review

Video Review- Landscape and Monologue

Blog Video

Bronte

Shite. Complete waste of my time and life, how dare they.

Claymoore

bored bored bored. usually have some sort of reflection for the pieces i watch but nothing seems to jump out at me at this moment in time. rough and under-rehearsed in parts, not one to write home about.

Fiddler on the roof

the musicality of this play was excellent and some of the singers were brilliant, however actors forgetting lines and bumping into eachother is inexcusable and the fault of the director as well as the cast.

The Others

Innovative and a fresh approach to theatre, the ‘Paper Birds’ theatre company try in this piece, ‘The Others’ show differing perspectives of what it means to be a woman in today’s society, The first character we are introduced to is an Iranian housewife played by Shani Erez, where the other two actresses Kylie Walsh and Jemma McDonnell make many common stereotypes that western people may have of an Iranian wife. Highly stylised and physical, this scene shows Erez reacting to punches her fictitious husband throws at her, and ducking for cover from impending bombs before rejecting these ridiculous notions and challenging the other two actresses, and the audiences’ prejudices.
Next we see life through the lens of a female prison inmate who we later find out was convicted of murdering her husband. We see the bleak reality of domestic violence and the emotional distress it has upon this vulnerable woman, turning her from a normal woman to a woman serving a life sentence for murder.
In complete juxtaposition we are then introduced to Heather Mills, famous divorcee of Beatle George McCartney, and through a clever and entertaining use of media in which former GMTV hostess Fiona Phillips interviews Heather Mills, the words are dubbed which is entertaining and humorous but maintains poignancy.
Questioning their own ability to relate to women from different backgrounds and circumstances as well as ours- the audiences, the concept that ‘Paper Birds’ attempt is bold and novel. Although much to the dismay of my peers I struggle to see the appeal that others have within the piece as parts felt forced and under rehearsed but still an enjoyable evening nonetheless.

Clockwork Orange

Moments of inventiveness and entertaining acting, although these were very few and far between. The piece lacked fulidity, clarity and for a script as incredible as the clockwork orange this piece was an epic fail.

Under Milkwood

A thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours. the vocal prowess displayed by the two voice actors throughout was mesmerising and highly engaging as were the vast array of tales they told. the lyricism of dylan thomas's writing was portrayed perfectly and the introduction of polly the sound effects artist created hilarious moments, as did the subplot of her emotional breakdown. a definite must see, really great entertainment

Lear: A Trail of Tears

The arrangement of this piece was wrong, the movement of the play into civil war america was durastically wrong. However the actor playing Lear was remarkable to the point that his performance overshadowed other actors and exposed the frailties amongst the play.

Monologue and Landscape

two enjoyable pieces with excellent moments. however these moments were sadly too few and far between. the actress in the second piece 'landscape' was horrendously boring and nearly ruined the piece for me, shame on you maggie henderson.

Avenue Q

I wish i had these puppets instead of the muppets when i was younger, i would be the ultimate unpolitically correct person ever! Smashing taboos whilst celebrating the wonderful term 'schadenfreude', avenue q really is a must see

Merry Wives Of Windsor

I thoroughly enjoyed this show, the playful nature displayed by the cast kept a smile fixed firmly on my gormless face for the plays entirity. Doctor Cauis in particular was hilarious with his euphemistic language and flamboyance, whilst the live music by the tudor band gave me the play authenticity and credibility. My only criticism of the play was Gerard McCarthy as Fenton, his foppish attitude and incessant adjusting of his ridiculous fringe was incredibly annoying.

Urashimo Taro after show talk

The after show talk was helpful as it opened my my mind to the amount of workshopping a piece undertakes before actress and director both consider it a final product, in the case of this performance it was three years. The talk also confirmed questions i had regarding plot and dramatical intentions for the piece and helped me fully appreciate what i had just seen.

Urashimo Taro

Rouge28's take on a Japanese folktale opened my eyes to the interesting nature of puppetry in theatre. Given my intense loathing of the Thunderbirds i seem to unfairly have a damning view of puppetry. However the actress Aya Nakamura's relationship with her puppets really showed me how when utilised effectively puppetry adds a new dimension to some pieces of theatre.

Hamlet

As a confirmed fan of Shakespeare i was intrigued to see how 'Two Gents' (thats a pun, bill would be proud) could present one of his finest plays with all of its plot intricacies. Tonderai Munyevu and Denton Chikura, the actors, blew me away with their performances. Their stage presence and idiosyncrasy was mesmerising and engaged and entertained me throughout. The use of gesture to portray character, the script benig based on the first or 'bad' quarto of Hamlet and the live music/ song that was influenced by the actors Zimbabwean heritage gave the play a contemporary edge and revitalised the play.

Blithe Spirit

I was expecting alot from this play, my Grandma Val had assured me it was hilarious and with Alison Steadman as Madame Arcati i thought this was going to be a shoe in for a bundle of laughs. Sadly i was mistaken. Much of the humour was more relevant to the geriatric audience that surrounded us and the other portion of the humour just wasn't humourous. Sadly my personal highlights of the play were: the actress that played Elvira and the elderly gentleman that was blocking a light with his balding head as he leant out from the balcony where he was sitting from.

Lilly Through The Dark

The River People implemented puppetry and live acting effectively when portraying the macabre tale of the young girl Lilly and her suicide attempt to be reunited with her father. The lyricism of the script coupled live music througout created the appropriate supernatural atmosphere of the underworld. The use of Harry and Brian the Bristolian corpses evoked raucous laughter and broke up what was a dark and often depressing plot.

Late Noon Sun

The fusion of three different art forms: sound, live performance and animation/filmwork offered a unique treat for the senses. The fragmented narrative throughout sought to engage the audience and the use of 'ambisonic' sound art and the cubic arrangement of projections embodied the pieces desire to immerse the audience within the narrative.