by Zahid Fayyaz
A hit in Australia, this rowdy and ‘immersive’ adaptation of Pride and Prejudice has now made its way to London, playing in the atmospheric tunnels under Waterloo station. Performed by five actors doing all the parts, this is a fun romp through Jane Austen’s iconic book. There is heavy encouragement from the performers to buy drinks throughout the show to keep the mood up but it’s still plenty of fun.
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by Laura Kressly
Lucy McCormick, performance artist extraordinaire and queen of the grotesque, starts off this show dressed in a felted tree costume. It calls to mind an out-of-place, awkward child in a school play unsure about what to do, but still enthusiastic. This is an appropriate start to the show’s premise: McCormick wants to put on a cabaret but doesn’t have any friends who could work on her show, so she drafts the audience in to help.
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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.
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by Zahid Fayyaz
This is a fascinating one-woman show, aptly timed for the valentines season, exploring facets of love and obsession. Following Faith, expertly played by Faith Brandon, in her quest for love, this is a highly entertaining and compelling look at one woman’s descent into obsession.
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by Michaela Clement-Hayes
What would you do if you were offered something that could change the world? Would you take it? Of course you would. But what if you found out that it wasn’t from a reputable source? What then?
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by Laura Kressly
In an unnamed kingdom long ago, the prince celebrates ruling for 1000 days despite a prophesy saying that his reign will only be that long. He is convinced he defeated the fates, so has invited his citizens – nobles and peasants – to explore the wonders of his palace in a night of feasting and debauchery. Exploiting the Vaults’ atmospheric tunnels, writer Cressida Peever draws on Edgar Allan Poe and the Brothers Grimm to create this promenade and gently immersive, dark fairytale.
by Laura Kressly
Stories always have monsters. They may not be literal monsters, but anything that’s scary, or an obstacle, or destabilising, or otherwise threatens the story’s hero.
Stories also always have choices. Usually a lot of them, made by the hero, that determine his or her fate.
Things that are good about Lists for the End of the World
1. It’s funny, sad and moving all at once
2. Though the concept is simple, it’s structurally dynamic
3. It makes you laugh and think at the same time
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Imagine a production of Waiting for Godot with more characters, set in space, where the audience chooses the outcome of the story. What you are picturing is probably gloriously weird and kitschy. But now add clumsy dialogue, some poor performances and a loosely applied Brexit analogy, performed on a set that looks like it’s built of cardboard and/or they ran out of paint. If your mind’s eye makes a different picture now, it be more accurate.
Just over two years ago, a revolution in Kiev ushered in the downfall of the Ukranian government. Protests against the government’s refusal to sign pro-EU legislation lasting months had several violent outbursts that saw hundred of people injured and 780 killed. Toronto-based Ukrainian musician Marichka Kudriavtseva, in Kiev for work at the time, joined the protesters where she met Mark Marczyk, also based in Canada.
When the two returned from the Ukraine, they teamed up with Marczyk’s Lemon Bucket Orkestra to create Counting Sheep, an immersive “guerrilla folk opera”. A celebration of solidarity and the power of a collective voice, it also mourns those who died in the protests. Told from the perspective of the protesters, little is shared from the other side – but this rallying performance is fitting homage to not just the Ukrainian protesters, but those fighting government tyranny around the world.
Some audience sit around a huge table, whilst others sit on the sides of the space and still others up in a balcony. Klezmer or folk music is playing as the audience enters; there is a convivial atmosphere as the show formally starts. This is a party, or a wedding, or some other huge gathering, until the three screens display news reports of riots and police enter. The tone abruptly shifts, and the world that has been established is dismantled. It’s a wonderful, unsettling surprise.
The space is consistently reformed and redrawn using movement, and the audience is physically moved in the wake of the protesters’ gains and losses. They are willing and unquestioning, the sheep of the title. Though the numbers here obviously pale to those at the actual protest, incorporating the audience in acts such a building barricades and lobbing bricks at police fosters unity from disparate dozens. There is a hint of the solidarity and aggression found in protests, and joy and celebration from the audience who are keen to play. Being served food is also an important enabler that solidifies the unity the show aims to create.
Counting Sheep is hugely effective in its emotional manipulation, and also it’s storytelling through music, movement and projections. Choosing sheep as a metaphor is a curious choice, though. The benign but rather dumb livestock aren’t known for thinking for themselves and are susceptible to herding – otherwise, they wander around unproductively, getting lost and eaten by predators. Whilst the performers are the herders here, they are also in sheep masks, unempowered. Who then are the herders? The government? Unseen forces of political and social unrest? Whatever it is, us human beings are hugely susceptible to it when motivated enough, even if the metaphor isn’t totally clear.
Though sung completely in Ukrainian, there is a clear storyline conveyed through projections and movement. There is little nuance in this piece, but it a playground for the sweeping emotions of popular theatre. It provides at least a hint of the experience that the Ukrainian protesters endured, and powerfully unites the audience through the humanity of collective experience for a common goal. An excellent piece of theatre.
Counting Sheep runs through 29th August.
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