Adaptor: Kevin M. Cunningham Director: Nettie Sheridan Writer: Louisa May Alcott An enjoyable revival of an old classic with an adventurous biographical twist. The audience take to their seats and are immediately greeted with a wonderful set: a modest home of mostly wood, complete with an iron wood burner which flickers with amber light. The scene is set for a heartfelt adaptation of the revolutionary 1868 novel Little Women which follows the trials and tribulations of the March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy and their mother, ‘Marmee’ during the Civil War. It is a wonderful set aiming to please…
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Company: Greasy Girls I was a bear is a snappy piece of pared-back comic theatre by Libby Waters and Sophia Trewick AKA Greasy Girls. They play two characters who meet in a therapist’s waiting room, and the dysfunctional friendship that develops between them is laced with exuberant cringecore humour that skitters over the surfaces of their mostly hidden traumas. Its pitch-perfect melding of comedy, pathos and tragedy make it one to see at this year’s Fringe. In many ways the dynamic between Constance (Waters) and April (Trewick) is one of opposites attracting. Their friendship is instigated by chronic oversharer Constance,…
Company: Kitsch Theatre In this play about a young woman writing a play, the metaness of the approach is very much at the forefront. Through the medium of a confessional tale of her struggle to be an artist, with lots of waxing lyrical about the benefits of ketamine on the way, we delve into the multi-layered torturous process of creativity. Though there are funny, illuminating moments, the ambition of the writing doesn’t quite translate into a satisfying whole. The character’s love of ketamine provides a foundation of humour. And it is a funny drug: it’s primary role as horse tranquilliser…
The title, The Almond and the Seahorse, refers to the shape of the parts of the human brain which allow people to create new memories. The film examines what happens to people who suffer Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and, as a result, have memory loss, become socially disinhibited, and have mood swings. Archaeologist, Sarah (Rebel Wilson) has little in common with retired musician Toni (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who lives in the same neighbourhood, other than they both have partners who have suffered TBI. As the pressures of acting as caregivers mount Sarah and Toni turn to each other for comfort. The…
Company: Ham It Up A merry reimagining of the iconic fantasy franchise if the characters ate and left no crumbs. The prologue of the first film plays via projector and an elf-eared drag queen, Galadriel, lip syncs to Cate Blanchett’s narration with effortless timing and comedic facial expressions, complete with eye rolling when she says “but the hearts of men are easily corrupted”. The tone is set for a night of tongue-in-cheek humour married to our favourite, iconic moments from Tolkien’s epic fantasy franchise. Ham It Up bring their six-time-sell-out drag extravaganza to Brighton for the first time, much to…
Creators: The Rotunda Theatre and Chris Neville Smith A different take on a beloved board game, It’s Not Cluedo delivers faithfully on the essence of Cluedo but, unfortunately… not much else. Conceptually, It’s Not Cluedo sounds entertaining. Six guest performers of the Brighton Fringe are welcomed by our host, Chris Neville Smith, to each take on a role as one of the suspects in our game of ‘Not Cluedo’. Names, locations and weapons are chosen via audience suggestion and then we proceed to a line of questioning the suspects, eventually revealing where, how, and whodunnit. These are the building blocks of Cluedo brought…
Writer and Director: Simon Chambers Made without funding, Simon Chambers’ Much Ado About Dying is a wonder: you just can’t look away. While in Delhi planning a documentary on the Asian car industry, he receives the first phone call. His elderly uncle David in London announces, “I think I may be dying,” and in peremptory fashion, demands Simon return to look after him. We feel every twinge of Simon’s pain and guilt. It’s not as if he’d ever been close to David. Now he finds the nightmare of a house which David has inhabited for 40 years. As a hoarder,…
Writer: Douglas Day Stewart Adaptor: Sharleen Cooper Cohen Director: Nikolai Foster It became a cult classic in 1982, with Richard Gere and Debra Winger taking on the leading roles – creating an unforgettable Hollywood moment when the officer sweeps the factory worker right off her feet. The original writing by Douglas Day Stewart got a makeover by Sharleen Cooper Cohen for the stage, premiering in Australia in 2012 at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney – and that’s what has recently flown into Manchester Opera House to get audiences in the romantic spirit. It tells the same story that audiences have…