by Laura Kressly
Between Ben Yeoh and David Finnegan, there’s an impressive array of interests, knowledge and skills. Theatre, economics and climate change are among them. Their lecture-performance amalgamates these three topics into an engaging, informative and interactive presentation that gives a wide-angle view on what we can do to save the planet.
by Euan Vincent
This is Tim Crouch’s retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night through the eyes of the
blighted and picked-upon puritan, Malvolio. It’s the fourth time Crouch has written such an adaptation, which he hopes will “unlock Shakespeare for young audiences”.
by Bryony Rae Taylor
A Faustian farce, Get Fit With Bruce Willis stars Chris Brannick as Mike, an ageing Jimmy Somerville impersonator, on a quest to find fame and fortune. His wife (Karen Kirkup) is looking outside of their marriage for lust and excitement. After figuring out he’s more Harry Hill than Jimmy Somerville in the looks department, he decides to re-brand himself somewhere in the middle – as Bruce Willis.
by Dora Bodrogi
Lockdown-schmockdown, the show must go on! While live shows and immediate feedback are usually at the heart of stand-up, comedians have had great successes through DVD sales and streaming services such as Netflix or YouTube. Edinburgh’s The Stand Comedy Club is still standing even without a live audience, as yesterday’s broadcast has shown, one of the first of its kind. Live comedy in the time of COVID-19. Can it work?
by Bryony Rae Taylor
Notflix is performed by an all-women musical improv troupe. They ask audiences to suggest a film which has not yet been made into a musical, so that they can make it into a musical – and then they make it into a musical.
The film on the night I am there is The Holiday, the one where Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz house swap and LOVE HAPPENS. You know the one.
By Evangeline Cullingworth
Hidden away in a soundproofed studio, two moustached men defy Mother Nature. Foley art is shrouded in a sexy mystery. I hear fire crackling, but I see Greggs wrapper. I hear glaciers melting, but I see pinecone. It doesn’t make sense and if I think about it for too long I get sweaty and nervous.
By Evangeline Cullingworth
Humans stuck in the horrors of a customer-facing job can rest safe in the knowledge that they are being protected by a fleet of pigeons. What did you think they were doing perched out there on the windowsill all day? They are obviously keeping watch over us. In their time, these pigeons have seen a lot. And what an honour it is to spend an evening with Prue and Priscilla, two talented nest-mates, as they dramatized the thrills of their espionage.
By Zahid Fayyaz
Here’s a slice of history from Out of the Forest Theatre, set during World War Two. It follows the story of King Boris the Third, who allied with Nazi Germany for geopolitical reasons, but wanted to keep Bulgaria out of the fighting and his Jewish citizens safe as much as possible. This story is told with the use of dramatic recreations of what we are told are true events, with Bulgarian Folk tunes peppered throughout the performance.
by Zahid Fayyaz
As the audience enters the venue, a band is onstage waiting. The five-piece, all-woman band stays there the whole time, playing punk rock in between performing the play’s scenes. They tell the story of eight years from a girl’s life spent growing up, falling in love, making a mistake, and her life falling apart due to horrific things happening to her. She then attempts the long road to recovery, with the help of her mother and therapist.
by Amber Pathak
Is money everything? This is the topic of this Girl Code, a stand-up panel show hosted by the amazing Sikisa. Each show features hilarious up-and-coming women comedians, doing a warm-up set and then moving straight on to the debate. It’s like the Wright stuff, except it has jokes. All of the acts on the bill absolutely smashed their sets; the thin midday crowd roar with laughter at every other line.
The Play's The Thing UK 