Feature | Rehearsing Working Class Hero

by Diana Miranda

Written and co-performed by Bulgarian migrant Theo Hristov, Working Class Hero is an absurdist satire that takes us on a high-speed romp through the British class system via two actors with different backgrounds: a white, privately-educated Posh Actor frustrated by being pigeonholed, and his friend, a migrant Working Class Actor, who writes a script based on lived experience as a vehicle for himself. When Posh Actor lands the role instead, the shift cracks open the tensions beneath their friendship and the British casting ecosystem. Working Class Hero has taken the floor at Baron’s Court Theatre this month as part of VOILÁ Festival 2025. As a multilingual festival that showcases migrant-led productions, VOILÁ Fest seems like an ideal home for Working Class Hero and the questions it raises about the British theatre industry.

Continue reading

Work-in(g)-Progress: Mercurial by Rosaleen Cox

by Diana Miranda

The fringe theatre in the UK takes pride in being a haven for new writing, offering platforms such as R&D workshops, scratch nights and fringe festivals. While the model has its quirks and shortcomings, it remains a space for showcasing and tweaking new work. However, artists navigate a product-oriented landscape that puts pressure to deliver new work.

Continue reading

Feature | Rehearsing Bad Sex

by Diana Miranda

Painting a raw picture of sex and substance addiction, Bad Sex delves into the challenges of a young man spiralling in a hectic acting career while dealing with the emotional strains of showbiz and family conflict. Written and performed by Theo Hristov, this work-in-progress solo show was presented as part of A Pinch of VAULT Festival, a platform for artists to share their newest work onstage to get audiences’ sweet feedback.

Continue reading

Feature | Unveiling Ensemble Not Found

by Diana Miranda

The London-based theatre company that goes by the fitting name Ensemble Not Found is a group of East Asian artists that bend storytelling boundaries and explore unconventional ways to connect with audiences. The company first caught my eye at VAULT Festival 2023 with their debut show Project Atom Boi. The piece is a multi-media insight on existential dread through the perspective of a self-indulgent filmmaker attempting to capture the memories of a young Londoner who grew up in a Chinese nuclear town. It involves audiences through live video and drawing boards, inviting volunteers to doodle words that trigger the protagonist’s memories.

Continue reading

Feature | Encore: NO ONE by Akimbo Theatre

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.

Continue reading

Feature | On connection and safe spaces: Borders ألسياج הגדר in rehearsals

by Diana Miranda

Written by Nimrod Danishman, Borders explores the relationship of two young men who meet on Grindr, one is in Israel, and the other in Lebanon. Although deeply affected by political circumstances, their digital relationship strengthens against all odds. I spent an afternoon in a rehearsal ahead of the run at VAULT Festival 2023, after looking at the show from the sidelines for some years now.

Continue reading

Feature | Building (Hi)stories: Ladyfriends in Rehearsals

by Diana Miranda

Period dramas have become the ultimate weekend watch according to trending British media. And while Ladyfriends, written and directed by Clodagh Chapman, is pretty much suffragettes Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney’s story, this isn’t one of those dramas. Ladyfriends starts from the premise that Annie and Christabel are dating. Though historians dispute this based on ‘lack of scholastic rigour’, Chapman’s take doesn’t engage in these controversies and sees Chris and Annies’ dating as a fact. To her, a more exciting endeavour is to explore how people relate to history, and what lays behind re-visiting it and pursuing new readings.

Continue reading

Feature | Sombreros and Other Stereotypes: rehearsing Playing Latinx

by Diana Miranda

Playing Latinx is a co-production by Guido García Lueches and MarianaMalena Theatre Co. The script is inspired by Guido’s real-life experiences auditioning within the UK theatre and film industries, navigating the exploitation of Latin stereotypes, and the thin line between going harmlessly along and complying with problematic myths. The Latin American theatremakers have devised a one-person show in which they’re doing and saying all the wrong things, Guido tells me, but making sure that people know it’s all wrong.

Continue reading

Feature | Bringing Characters to Life

https://images.cm.archant.co.uk/resource/responsive-image/8290230/article-lead-image/lg/4/image5.jpg

by Laura Kressly

Passion Fruit is very much Dior Clarke’s story, but it’s not a solo performance. Though the first rehearsal I observed consisted of the director Melina Namdar solely working with Clarke, the second included actor Hayden Mampasi, who takes on a varied collection of supporting characters. In this rehearsal, director Melina Namdar uses a range of exercises to develop Mampasi’s characterisations and ensure the people he plays are distinct from each other. It’s an intense day full of work on the details that bring characters to life on stage, showcases Namdar’s expansive director toolkit, and the techniques that actors use to bring characters to life.

Continue reading

Feature | Making Passion Fruit

PASSION FRUIT Tickets, Multiple Dates - London | OutSavvy

by Laura Kressly

Despite the best of intentions, working with friends doesn’t always turn out well. It can lead to crossed boundaries, arguments, and environments that make others uncomfortable. Work can be sidelined by inside jokes and messing about. Additionally, being mates doesn’t mean you have the same creative vision. However, none of this is the case with actor/writer Dior Clarke and director Melina Namdar. The close friends and creative associates are working together on the premiere of Clarke’s autobiographical, coming-of-age story Passion Fruit, about growing up in north London as a Black, gay man.

Continue reading