Tethered, Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Tethered | London Theatre: Stagedoor

by Diana Miranda

Brought to us by ChewBoy Productions, Tethered, Or the Adventures of the Adequately Excited People is a surrealist, dark comedy about isolation, hope(lessness) and the effects of relying on others while searching for freedom. Written by Georgie Bailey and told through a series of short scenes, Tethered unfolds as a play within a play that jumps back and forth in a metatheatrical game, with a tone ranging from running-commentary comedy to meaning-searching existentialism.

Continue reading

Theatre for Two, Stanley Arts

Theatre for Two

by Laura Kressly

In the middle of a dark room, I am ushered into what looks like a largish, stand-alone cupboard. With a spotlight above a single chair facing a perspex sheet covered with a window blind, there is an immediate sense of the audience becoming the performer. Given that the four mini-plays making up this event are semi-improvised character pieces relying on audience interaction, this feeling is apt. As much the playlets are highly theatrical and often disarming, they are also intimate and conversational. In a time where many of us are learning how to just be in the same space as another person, unmediated by a computer screen, Theatre for Two is comforting and familiar as well as challenging what has become normal disconnect from people and the world we live in.

Continue reading

This Queer House, VAULT Festival

Image result for this queer house, vault festival

by Keagan Fransch

Oli and Leah are a queer couple who have just inherited a house. Well, Oli has, and Leah as their devoted, loyal partner has come along for the ride despite her misgivings about what this milestone in normativity will do to their carefully curated queer existence. But with books going missing, wires tripping and odd sounds coming from the basement, it soon becomes clear that perhaps the house is just as unsure of them, as they are of it.

Continue reading

Faces in the Crowd, Gate Theatre

Image result for faces in the crowd, gate theatre

by Laura Kressly

A woman informs us that storytelling needs a sustained breath. She’s then interrupted by a crying baby, a young boy who wants her attention, and a husband who points out both but makes no attempt to help. The unnamed translator, who may or may not have lived in New York, now lives in Mexico City. Her days that – remembered or imagined – were once filled with reading and writing, nights out, casual sex and music, now consist of nappies, playtime and housework.

Continue reading

Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist, Vault Festival

7D5A20C4-40F2-4BE6-A400-508CC24D6F4E

By Meredith Jones Russell

Idiosyncratic, eccentric, fearless and alien-like are just a few of the descriptors a rudimentary Google search of Tilda Swinton will throw up. Based on these, Byron Lane’s Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist has absolutely captured the essence of an icon. It has undoubtedly created a new one, too.

Continue reading

Elephant and Castle, Camden People’s Theatre

Image result for elephant & castle, camden people's theatre, tom, lillian

by Jack Solloway

Elephant and Castle is a strange and precariously funny gig-theatre show about the lives of Lillian Henley, a musician and silent film pianist, and her teeth-grinding somnambulist husband, Tom Adams. Whilst this may sound a little far-fetched, the play is very much rooted in the performers’ own experiences. Acting out their relationship, using live music and verbatim sleep recordings, Elephant and Castle dramatizes the bizarre reality of Tom’s slow-wave sleep parasomnia and his relationship with Lillian.

Continue reading

Double Double Act, Unicorn Theatre

https://cdn.thestage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/28124052/Caitlin-Finlay-Jessica-Latowicki-Christopher-Brett-Bailey-Caspian-Tarafdar-in-Double-Double-Act-Unicorn-Theatre1-700x455.jpg

What happens when two experimental performance artists join forces with a few kids to make a kids’ show? Utterly delightful, if messy, madness. 1990s Nickelodeon is a clear influence, as are fart jokes, poo, time bending and parallel universes. An attempt at education intrudes near the end, but otherwise the script is a joyful, jokey celebration of all things silly and gross. There are moments, particularly in the beginning, that are a touch too self-serving for a show pitched to children, but there’s plenty of slapsticky fun for adults and young people alike.

Continue reading