Writer: Judith Kerr Adaptor/Director: David Wood The Tiger That Came For Tea has been a children’s classic since 1968. And David’s Wood’s adaptation from page to stage both captured the simple and playful world of the book, and added in layers of wonder and mischief throughout. As we enter the theatre we are welcomed into Sophie and Mummy’s kitchen. With Susie Caulcutt’s design capturing the well-loved illustrations perfectly. The scene is set for a tea party – or so we think. The book itself is quite a short story, so we can appreciate that there will need to be some…
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Directors: Dawn Mikkelson, Keri Pickett Finding Her Beat is a joyfully upbeat documentary about a group of contemporary female Taiko performers. Taiko, the legendary art of athletic playing on a variety of special drums, dates back centuries. In Japan it’s traditionally a male preserve. But now women in both South Asia and North America have come forward and started creating art forms based on Taiko. Dawn Mikkelson and Keri Pickett, the film’s directors, focus on the preparations for a big event, HERbeat, where Taiko enthusiasts from both sides of the world – most of them amateurs – will come together…
Writer: Bianca Stigter Director: Steve McQueen Occupied City, Steve McQueen’s epic documentary, chronicles the different ways in which the people living in Amsterdam were affected by Nazi occupation in the 1940s. It is based on the book Atlas of an Occupied City, Amsterdam 1940-1945, by Bianca Stigter, McQueen’s wife and is entirely shot in Amsterdam, where the couple live, during and after lock down. It’s an ambitious and often challenging film. McQueen captures endless scenes in the contemporary city while in Melanie Hyams’ narrative, we hear how each named apartment, house, office, square, canal side or park was once the…
Writers and Directors: Jean-Baptiste Maillet and Romain Bermond These days, mainstream animation relies heavily on computer graphics, even when those graphics attempt to emulate more traditional painted styles. But there’s something distinctive and special about simpler animations that use paper cutouts and other low-fi techniques, often resulting in works where the love and care in their construction shine through. Antechamber is a celebration of that style of work – except rather than constructed through meticulous frame-by-frame animation, the visual treats created by French duo Jean-Baptiste Maillet and Romain Bermond (collectively known as Stereoptik) are created live. On two desks on…
Writer and Director: Helena Stefansdottir This absorbing Icelandic gothic story, written and directed by Helena Stefansdottir, is set in a beautiful but strangely disturbing old house. It belongs to a couple, youthful grandparents, and from what we can see in the dimly lit scenes, it is filled with beautiful objects, paintings and musical instruments. When fresh-faced Lilja asks if she can stay while she’s in town for a drama audition, her grandparents welcome her in. There is some sort of tension. Lilja refuses to take phone calls from her father, Maggi. Grandmother Áróra insists on putting her through a bizarre…
Writer: Sean McLoughlin Director: Amy Roberts The ‘glory of Anfield Road’ was seen on stage for the opening night of I Am Steven Gerard at The Hope Street Theatre. I Am Steven Gerard’s stage origins began at Tip Tray Theatre’s ‘What Happens Next’ Competition back in 2023, having won the competition and the hearts of those who watched and voted for it. Sean McLoughlin’s 20-minute poetic entry in the competition had high expectations to meet as a full-length production, and those expectations were met tenfold. The one-man show delves into the mind and soul of young Shane, played by Joe…
Writer: Mark Cousins, Tommaso Renzoni, Tony Saccucci Director: Mark Cousins Mark Cousins’ documentary The March on Rome is more than a straightforward retelling of the ascent and fall of Benito Mussolini. Cousins’ aim is polemical, arguing for a reconsideration of key moments in the rise of Fascism. His focus is Mussolini’s March on Rome in October 1922. This March, he argues, continues to exert its insidious influence today on extreme right-wing regimes world-wide. Central to the power of this single event, Cousins argues, is the power of film-making itself. He dissects Umberto Paradisi’s propagandist film, A Noi! (1922), revealing the…
Director: Erik Gandini According to legend, the word ‘saboteur’ was coined during the industrial revolution after disgruntled former workers used their wooden shoes- sabots- to vandalise the machinery which had made them redundant. This may be apocryphal, but it demonstrates the fear of being without work has a long history which is particularly relevant at present when there are reports of many jobs likely to be replaced by emerging technology. In his documentary After Work Director Erik Gandini touches on the extent to which humankind is ready to adjust to being without employment but also explores current working practices in…