By guest critic Jo Trainor

“Beans, beans good for the heart, the more you eat the more you…”

Adam Scott-Rowley packs an almighty punch with his one man show This is Not Culturally Significant. Twelve characters struggling with the every day, are pieced together in this brutal, beautiful, brilliant performance. 

Scott-Rowley often moves between his characters as if he’s going through an X-Men-esque transformation. The transition can look incredibly painful but he also moves seamlessly between storylines. His range of personalities and the little connections that bind them prove what a clever piece of theatre This is Not Culturally Significant is. Each of Scott-Rowley’s creations feel entirely developed even if they’re only on stage for a few minutes, and he has perfected the unique grotesque and outrageous physicality and facial expressions that define each of them.  

Continue reading →

By guest critic Jo Trainor

No words, no set, one man and one chair. Using soundscape, lighting and actor James Cross’ elastic limbs, Theatre Imaginers have created an innovative physical performance of a man’s disorientating journey through an overwhelming city. 

Cross has perfected physical comedy. From literally losing his head during an altercation on a busy train, to creating the tallest clean glassware pyramid in record time, Cross’ sound effects and cartoonish expressions and gestures will have you laughing out loud. 
Continue reading →

Since he was little, John Spartan has been obsessed with outer space. His whole existence revolves around being an astronaut so as a young man, he enrolls in Space Base in order to fulfill his life’s purpose. Turns out that John’s course mates and wife find his constant prattling rather tiresome, so they take matters into their own hands – John is given a fake commission and loaded solo onto a shuttle. Three years later, he’s still singing his story to the on-board computer to pass the time until his ship will plummets into a far away star. 

Continue reading →

Locked away in a convent in Calais, a mad Beau Brummel and his valet bide their time until the visiting Prince of Wales passes. Disgraced by debts acquired from living well beyond his means, Brummel escaped to France – but his past eventually caught up with him. Will the prince catch sight of his old friend and rescue him? Or will Beau be consigned to life’s scrap heap, forever forgotten, fallen from the pinnacle of London’s social elites?

Continue reading →

Last year, Elon Musk suggested it’s likely that our entire existence is a computer simulation made by some highly evolved species. The simulation might be programmed randomly, or might not. Max Gill’s La Ronde gives credence to the idea that our lives are dictated by a power higher than ourselves. This production is bravely dictated by randomness, with a large wheel choosing the order of the scenes and which characters encounter each other. With such a prominent feature, the unknown is thrilling but the end result is one of cold machination, much like a game show. This modern update often feels stilted, restrained by some clumsy dialogue and overly stereotypical characters, though the chance encounters with little emotional connection bear an unsettling resemblance to casual sex in the digital world. 

Continue reading →

By guest critic Alistair Wilkinson (@alistairwilks)

Is there a choice you wouldn’t have made, if you had known how that decision would have turned out? That is the question asked in Villain. Written and directed by Martin Murphy, this hour-long solo performance is intensely moving, satisfyingly upsetting, but with just the right amount of humour to make it upbeat.

Continue reading →

What with the worst moments in human history threatening to repeat themselves in the western world, it’s to be expected that theatre will have a lot to say about it. Bernie C Byrnes seeks to comment directly on this cycle by incorporating modern Tory speeches into the volatile, tyrannical reign of Queen Mary I, with a focus on her determination to protect her country and its faith. She picks up on the strong parallels with the contemporary religious/fascist right.

Continue reading →

Smoking used to be a sexy, glamorous thing that doctors recommended for good health and vitality. Even with modern regulations and acceptance that smoking kills, some people still puff with pride like people did back then. The Yorkshire town where Ash is set loves smoking, and the residents aren’t set to quit anytime soon – George Crozier certainly isn’t planning to. Juxtaposing the salt-of-the-earth, working class town with vintage cigarette adverts and rock n’ roll, Ash chronicles one man’s life through his smoking. Witty and clever with a good dose of playful physicality, it’s a multi-level critique of the tobacco industry executed with plenty of inventiveness.

Continue reading →

By guest critic Tom Brocklehurst

Any review of Pina Bausch’s work should begin with a mention of her whole body of work just in case you, dear reader, are coming to her for the first time. Bausch was an influential modern choreographer, working with the company Tanztheater (literally ‘dance-theatre’) Wuppertal from 1973 until her death in 2009. She created a great number of dance pieces, which the company now continue to tour after her death. The shows normally consist of short scenes – switching between passionate dance pieces and small comic vignettes. The tone often fluctuates wildly from piece to piece throughout the show.

Continue reading →