Site-Specific

Directors: Krista Burane & Andy Field Reviewer: Lucy Lambert Sat on a small circle of chairs in Deptford Library, my group leader tells us that a nocturne is a song of the night. He then calmly and slowly makes eye contact with each group member, before delivering what is perhaps best described as a sonic collage; making the cries, clicks ...

Director: Tina Koch Reviewer: Maryam Philpott Running away to the circus isn’t quite what it used to be, gone are the lion tamers and garishly painted clowns, these days circus performance is all about acrobatic skill. Ockham’s Razor have brought the tightrope walker and trapeze artist almost down to earth with their new show The Belly of the Whale, created ...

Deviser: Duke Riley Reviewer: Scott Matthewman As the audience takes their seats in the open air beneath a near-cloudless summer sunset, several of the cast emerge to give a preview of the show ahead. Normally, this can be a fraught time: the threat of interaction, of enforced jollity, can ruin rather than enhance the show to come. Not in this case. ...

Directors: Friction Arts Reviewer: John Kennedy Friction Arts, melding fusion and immersive conceptual installations weaves a non-linear narrative of a day in the life of the once myriad market trades-people. For three consecutive days (three years in the realisation), the abandoned Wholesale Markets become their nucleus. This unique setting allows for micro and macro events focusing on the triangular concrete ‘island’ ...

Writer/Director: Emer Mary Morris and Nina Scott Reviewer: Lucy Lambert Theatre company ‘You Should See the Other Guy’ celebrates the idea that theatre has the power to bring about social change, and creates DIY performance in response to contemporary political struggles. Their series ‘Land of the Three Towers’ was born out of their involvement in the occupation of four empty ...

Reviewer: Jo Beggs We may not feel like it a lot of the time but we’re in charge. Adults that is. It’s no wonder that teenagers regularly whine about it ‘not being fair’, because it’s not. Nightwalks With Teenagers is part of the wider ‘social-specific’ movement created by Canadian urban planner and performance artist Darren O’Donnell. O’Donnell’s work with his ...

Writer: Access All Areas and Max Barton Director: Nick Llewellyn Reviewer: Christie-Luke Jones MADHOUSE re:exit is an immersive exploration of the cruel but fascinating history of institutions, from the familiar gloom of the Victorian ‘madhouse’ right through to the contemporary emergence of domestic institutionalisation. Residing in the bowls of Shoreditch Town Hall, a world away from the vibrant East London ...

Writer: Noël Coward Adaptor/Director: Emma Rice Reviewer: Scott Matthewman Noël Coward’s 1938 film Brief Encounter, as directed by David Lean, is often rightly cited amongst the most romantic films of all time. An expanded version of Coward’s short stage play Still Life, the story of Laura and Alec, two genteel, starched people relaxing while in each other’s company and out ...