Performed by Tea and Toast As we enter the cool, dimly lit basement parlour of The Walrus pub we are greeted with howdies and asked to write down a suggestion for a cowboy song on a scrap of paper. We find we have been transported to a campfire under the stars somewhere in the American Wild West. The audience is seated in a circle around this campfire (with a beautiful glowing mass of fairy lights at its centre). Cowboys and cowgirls from the Tea and Toast improv troupe are planted in the audience and make conversation with the modern day…
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Written and delivered by: John Doran Sardonic lynchpin of online leftfield music magazine The Quietus packs out the Bosco at the Spiegeltent for a talk on Aphex Twin and Cornish culture. Striking a balance between quasi-academic cultural analysis and music nerd completism, Doran takes us through the references to Cornwall in the oeuvre and mythology of the enigmatic Richard D. James. The references are in actual fact few and far between but they are used as a springboard for a fascinating, entertaining exploration of the county’s uniquely magical history. Doran is honest about the sometimes oblique role that Aphex Twin…
Written and directed by: Ryan J-W Smith Performed by: Hannah Attfield Based on the true story of courtesan to King Charles II, Nell Gwyn, Pretty, Witty Nell is an impressive one-woman show written in rhyming iambic verse by Ryan J-W Smith. Hannah Attfield takes on the role here, enlivening the story of a 17th century woman with many a scandalous tale to tell. It’s a bawdy, intimate glimpse into a life under the royal covers. As the audience takes their seats, Nell is there already, attired in red corset and white gown, hawking oranges and joking with the people in…
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…
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…