by guest critic Meredith Jones Russell
Princess the dog is pregnant, and someone needs to stay in to look after her, but father Bo, mother Boo and daughter Pickle all want to go out.
So far, so straightforward, you might think. But the chaos that follows in One Green Bottle, including but by no means limited to a chair through a TV set, a key down a toilet, Mickey Mouse, a disembowelled sheep and an awful lot of chains, might suggest otherwise.
by guest critic Maeve Campbell
Before the actual show of Eurohouse begins, Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutas pitch a comfortable, connected atmosphere between them and audience of the Shoreditch Town Hall. They seem sincerely interested to know where we have all come from, they excuse the DIY nature of the show as Bert will be controlling the lights and sounds, and they make us all hold hands with each other. This feels like a safe, secure space.
by Laura Kressly
Fan fiction has probably been around for as long as celebrity culture has existed, with the internet playing a pivotal role in its dissemination. But sharing her love of Shakespeare online isn’t enough for playwright Victoria Baumgartner, who brings her unbridled devotion to Shakespeare to the stage. This speculative, queer narrative presents Shakespeare’s ‘lost years’, between 1585 and 1592, with an earnest devotion that appeals to Shakespeare fans but lacks finesse and depth.
by guest critic Lara Alier
Imagination and simplicity are very effective storytelling devices. Ok Bye feels like a small step forward in the evolution of theatre. Ok, I’m getting carried away, but when I see people pushing theatre forward I get excited. There are verbatim sections, choreography, lighting devices, live music, three actors and one musician.
by guest critic Meredith Jones Russell
As you enter Follow Suit, four people dressed in variously ill-fitting suits stare back at you. When you leave 45 minutes later, you realise you’ve barely glanced away from them. And their gazes have hardly left yours either.
by guest critic Amy Toledano
It feels a little strange writing a review of this wonderfully absurd piece because I don’t think any two people could have the same opinion of it. In my case, I fell in love with this movement-driven show. The nine stages of the ego is the centre point of the entire play but we never know what direction we are going to be taken in next.
by guest critic Lara Alier
Visual poetry, movement and live music. Words that float and linger in the air like these two performers in the space.
Marah Stafford and Nicolas Hart perform a physical theatre piece devised from the poems of Jacques Prévert. The whole show is accompanied by Ben Murray on the accordion and piano.
by guest critic Ava Davies
Boys, the inaugural piece by physical theatre group The PappyShow, is about exactly that. It’s an exploration of manhood, of masculinity, of what it means to be a man of colour in the UK today. It’s about mess and silliness and play and pain. It’s about the complexity of selfhood – because how can one man possibly contain all these multitudes?
by Laura Kressly
Saeed is a Bedouin Palestinian refugee, currently in prison. With no one to speak to, his imagination conjures all sorts of beings and memories. He tells the walls his family history and remembers an old man, a donkey, and and a faceless alien. But this disjointed piece takes too long to come together, and the chosen style confuses and disorientates rather than fully rallies the audience to his side.
by Laura Kressly
On the phone with his agent, an old man’s mind wanders to his youth. The shadows of WWI stretched across Europe and Russia, but it’s in these dark times that the now-aged painter met a beautiful writer. Falling in love with her was like flying.
The Play's The Thing UK 