They say home is where the heart is, but where is home? Is it where you were born? Is it a place you build up an affinity with? Is home a state of mind? Being plucked out of your comfort zone, and having to assimilate to a completely different way of life has to be one of the most challenging experiences we as humans can go through, however many do it. Letters to CentreStage‘s Olu places this phenomena under the microscope, and starts up a very intruiging conversation on a multitude of themes.
Unique in its design and musical structure Meeting takes audiences through the mechanics of contemporary dance at the nationally renowned Battersea Arts Centre. A collection of static movements combined with intricate gadgets (striking pencils on the floor) add a touch of suspense to the space, highlighting Anthony Hamilton’s (head choreographer) artistic vision. A vision he has travelled halfway across the world to share and showcase with British audiences.
This Malthouse Theatre production transports Shakespeare‘s tragedy King Lear to an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territories of Australia. Lear, played by the energetic Tom E. Lewis, who also co-wrote the story together with director Michael Kantor and the cast, is the leader of an indigenous community who decides to divide up his land between his three daughters – land that he has no right to give as Cordelia advises him in the opening scene: “You can’t give what you don’t own.” Written in a mixture of English, Kriol and other indigenous languages, the text is still easy to follow. “A tragedy this milli, our tragedy” explains the Fool (a charismatic Kamahi Djordan King) at the beginning of the performance.
Barbu is a thrilling take on circus, applying folk ensemble and soundtrack, this show provides joyful entertainment. Cirque Alfonse are fresh, young and innovative, amalgamating a culturally centred premise to an obscure set of skills. Skilfully presented for London Wonderground, Barbu makes you applaud, giggle and even blush, in a colourful production of prowess. A show that is breathtaking, visually dynamic and thoroughly up-lifting.
A rain poncho. Earplugs. Hand in your belongings. Are you ready to experience what can only be described as Takeshi’s Castle on ecstasy, absurd, frenetic, intense but such a laugh. Presented in collaboration with LIFT Festival, the Barbican Pit hosts Extreme Voices’ Miss Revolutionary Idol Berserker. This show is something ‘I have never seen before’, an immersive production that you will either love or hate.
David Mercatali’s star seems to forever shine even brighter with every production he works on. 5 years ago, Mecatali was nominated for an Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Newcomer and has gone on to fulfil the Award’s championing of his work to stage pieces that get audiences talking. In 2013, he went on to win a Fringe First Award for his staging of Dark Vanilla Jungle and subsequently went on to be nominated for Off West End Awards in 2011 and 2014. Having also worked with theatre’s most exciting talents, Mercatali shows no signs of slowing down. Ahead of his staging of Tess Berry-Hart’s Cargo soon to show at the Arcola Theatre, Theatrefullstop were luck enough to speak with the award winning director about the show!
Described as being a 4D experience, Crystal Me promises to offer a theatrical experience unlike any other. A walking, talking piece of art, this multidisciplinary performance has drawn figures influential in their fields to help shape it into something truly great. Written by East 15 Alumni Livia Rita, Crystal Me is the proud winner of development time at the Barbican. Read on to find out more about this exciting show.
Your show Crystal Me will be performed at the Hackney Showroom from 29th June to 1st July. How are you feeling ahead of the event?
Six dancers lost in a continuous cycle of choreography, holding on to past stories and times since vanished. Late Night by the Blitz Theatre Group, in association with LIFT 2016, is an abstract piece delivered in the Greek language set in a dark wasteland of furniture and rubble.
In 1970, the possibilities of Shakespeare in performance were changed forever by a radical staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the RSC. The set consisted of a brilliantly-lit white box and the actors performed circus skills and trapeze-swinging, inspired by Chinese acrobats. The British Library in their programming of 400 years of Shakespeare, invite legendary theatre director and practitioner Peter Brook, to discuss his visionary direction of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this evening of reflection, associates and cast members of the original production including Ben Kingsley, Frances De La Tour and Barry Stanton, offer an in-depth analysis and thought provoking discussion led by Shakespeare scholar Peter Holland.
Time works alongside us. It’s so engrained in us we even have our own body clocks dictating when certain processes happen. They say time is a healer, yet time waits for no man. Are you someone that lives for the now? The tomorrow or ponders on the past? YOUARENOWHERE is a considered exploration of time through the eyes of award winning performance artist Andrew Schneider.
