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.