by Diana Miranda
Forrest Gump’s mama said it best: “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” Featuring ten short pieces that delve into the tapestry of human experiences, LIFE: The Beginning, the End, and Everything in Between reflects precisely that variety. Produced by Northern Spirit, this eclectic evening of new writing at The Lion and Unicorn Theatre has the creative energy of a poetry slam and a scratch night put together.
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By Diana Miranda
As the glorified theatre addict that I am, I’ve caught Akimbo Theatre’s NO ONE multiple times. First, at Brighton Fringe 2022, with a clean slate and wide eyes. Later that year I aimed to relive the experience at Edinburgh Fringe, which I did/n’t. Tweaks had been made. It was like re-reading a book you anticipate enjoying, but finding new chapters that you didn’t expect. This is not surprising since it’s a new piece by a physical theatre company, but it took a tiny while for my stubborn mind to re-adjust. This was a reminder of an obvious yet overlooked truth: theatre is a dynamic and ever-evolving art form that transcends the boundaries of a single performance.
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by Laura Kressly
Many of us crave the escape from mundane routine that a holiday abroad gives us. Sun, sand, great food and immersion in different cultures are all wonderful experiences – usually. There absolutely can be downsides. Using clowning and mime, David Hoskin presents the annoying (sunburn and fellow travellers), the uncertain (whether or not a dubious-looking meal will hurt you), and the down-right strange and terrible (getting stranded in the woods and threatened by wild animals). Hoskin’s physical performance is exceptional, though the narrative’s shift into the surreal is less effectively conveyed than other parts of the story.
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by Laura Kressly
When one of their friends died, theatre company Ugly Bucket navigated their grief the only way they knew how – by making a show. Using clowning and physical comedy, an ensemble of five flit between a dying man and his family, an afterlife of jagged pink gravestones where they playact a life cycle, various ways people die and depictions of people dealing with death. It’s both funny and immensely sad, as well as a sophisticated reflection on how we process loss and our own mortality.
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by Laura Kressly
As writer and performer Kim Scopes points out, bisexual representation on our stages and screens is limited. When a bisexual character appears at all, they are usually defined by their sexual activity and reduced to shallow, biphobic stereotypes. So a whole show about being attracted to more than one gender, made by a bisexual/queer person, is hugely exciting. Unfortunately, despite many great ideas and individual moments of excellent execution, this production feels like a disjointed work-in-progress with sections that only tenuously connect to each other.
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by Zahid Fayyaz
It’s third time lucky for this performance piece at the Pleasance Theatre, having been previously programmed and then postponed twice due to the UK’s two lockdowns. It very much turns out to be worth the wait however, as this is a fascinating and thought provoking show.
By Zahid Fayaz
This is the first preview performance of a one-man show following Jacob, a young man trying to turn over a new leaf away from his previous life as a hard-living and loving party animal. He’s doing this through Jesus and focusing on his education. He is, however, finding this difficult due to constant interruptions from his friends and ex-girlfriends whilst he is trying to finish an assignment.
By Bryony Rae Taylor
Expert storyteller Osama Al Azza conducts a tour of his home, Palestine’s smallest refugee camp Al Azza, within the city of Bethlehem. A short, sharp, site-specific show which imaginatively blends fun into a personal tale about the brutal reality of living under military occupation.
A review in five vignettes.
by Joanna Trainor
I love an illuminated umbrella. All shows could be improved by a light-up umbrella.
Somewhere beyond the sea, Emma waits on the shoreline by the Golden Gate Bridge, and PJ looks out from some of England’s slightly less famous white cliff faces. At face value this is a story about a long-distance relationship and the struggles you face when you’re in one. But more than that it’s about isolation, dependence and the ties we have to other people. There are sections that are a little obscure, and the performance takes a while to warm up, but the underlying theme will always pull you back in.
by Zahid Fayyaz
This is a new two-hander from Clown Funeral, a West Midlands based company who are also associates artists of the New Diorama Theatre, a hotbed for new work. It tells a slightly twisted tale of two strangers who meet, fight, and then form a friendship. This companionship is one based on a connection which neither quite seems to be able to express into words, but rather by attacking each other.
The Play's The Thing UK 