by guest critic Amy Toledano
Francesca Beard delves into the complex subject of truth and looks at how it could be perceived in a post-apocalyptic world. Using spoken word (which Beard is clearly a pro at) as well as song and multimedia imagery, the audience takes a journey with their Shaman and guide Francesca who hopes to lead them to the real meaning of truth.
by guest critic Joanna Trainor
“I wanted to be gentle when I blew his mind.”
Christopher Brett Bailey could read the Argos catalogue and have an audience hang on his every word. But his talent for storytelling is matched by his weird and wonderful writing, and so we get to take another trip down the rabbit hole of his inspired or insane work.
by guest critic Amy Toledano
The political climate of 1990’s America may be something the world has largely forgotten, but playwright Kevin Armento certainly has no issue in reminding us of one of the country’s most memorable sex scandals. In his audacious new play Devil With The Blue Dress, Armento examines five women’s accounts leading up to – and resulting in – President Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. From the moment you set foot in the Bunker, you cannot help but be transported into what feels like the smoky underworld of dirty politics. This sensation can only be helped by saxophonist, and lone instrumentalist of the show, Tashomi Balfour, who underscores the entire piece with his smooth and often haunting melodies.
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.
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 Lara Alier
A woman, a screen projector and a young audience who has already been in the bar. Sweet high school memories. This evening though, I am taken on a journey where horror and comedy flip as fast as a coin.
by guest critic Alex Dowding
Grief is a funny and very human experience, and we all inevitably go through it in one way or another. Writer and performer Lowri Amies here examines her grief around the death of loved ones by diving headfirst into another love – that of Shakespeare.
by guest critic Joanna Trainor
Charles Mallory Hatfield made it rain – and rain and rain and rain.
This is the little-known story* of a man who went from selling sewing machines to controlling the heavens, told through the eyes of a little boy in Manchester. Hatfield would travel to drought-ridden cities with his secret mixture of chemicals and, most of the time, the weather turned.
by Laura Kressly
A woman stands on a pastel blue stage and starts at the beginning. She tells us a love story – how she met a man in an airport, fell in love and built a life with him. Great jobs, a family, a house, the full works. It’s perfect. Until it’s not.
by guest critic Serena Ramsey
As an audience member, I always love when the actors break the fourth wall I love to feel immersed in the world. Within the play. AI Love You not only immerses us in a world surrounded by Amazon Echoes, drones and hover boards, but gives the audience the chance to dictate the plays structural direction. The power is completely within the hands of the onlookers who are given the role of jury and critics in this snappy and deeply moving play.
The Play's The Thing UK 