“It’s like kind of like a pantomime, but less shit”, so goes Jonnie Bayfield’s pithy summary of Idiots, a new production by Caligula’s Alibi. It seems as good a synopsis as any for this odd, Russian-existentialist inspired, musical comedy.
It often feels like we are headed towards a technology-centric world. How many items around you can you think of that are technological? When thinking of the theatre as an activity, it serves multiple purposes, whether it be for escapism, addressing a range of societal issues or for pure entertainment. How often however do we watch a piece purely for the visual aesthetics, as well as entertainment? The Tom Dale Company and MOKO Dance‘s Digitopia revels in this and triumphs.
The happily ever after conclusion is a concept that we have been candy coated with since the late 30s. Audiences root for a young protagonist bound by their low social standing in the hopes of love conquering all. Fairytales are often our introduction to the notion of storytelling in the west, finding that we’re brought up with a canon of tales we can all recite in our own ways but are perhaps glazed with a sickly sweet Hollywood glitz and glamour thanks to filmic interpretations. balletLORENT however are not afraid to press on the tale of Snow White‘s darker themes, making for a riveting watch.
Whether you think it or not, we’re all a ‘brand’. Yes, we might not conciously be promoting an idea or trying to sell the latest gadgets, however we all have our own manifestos, there are certain ideas that we want to promote to those around us. The concept of the ‘brand’ has not been as important or prevalant as it is today. We’re more mindful of branding thanks to the emergance of social media. ANTLER Theatre’s If I Were Me takes on this sign of the times concept and condenses it into a very watchable 60 minutes.
Love going to the theatre, and have a list of shows that you’d like to see this year? Or in your life time? Well, Theatre Tokens may just be the ticket… or voucher for you! Theatre Tokens is a gift voucher scheme, allowing for theatre lovers to purchase tickets for the UK’s best loved theatre shows in over 240 theatre venues. Vouchers do not expire, and range from £5 to £20 denominations. Theatrefullstop were able to speak to Marketing Manager Megan Hall to find out more about the scheme.
For all of you budding costume and stage designers looking to give your newest creations that little bit extra, or you drama school students looking to add a new lease of life to an otherwise mundane piece of material, look no further, as Theatrefullstop have teamed up yet again with world renowned textile dye company DYLON. With over 60 years of adding a kaleidoscope of colour to clothing, accessories and a range of indoor settings, DYLON know how to reinvigorate materials!
There is a list buzzing about on the internet somewhere of the ten books people claim to have read but actually haven’t – Orwell makes an appearance on it, as does Charles Dickens, but there’s only one writer who receives the hollow victory of having two novels in the top ten. Tolstoy‘s War and Peace and Anna Karenina are the third and forth most likely novels that people lie about having read. Now, I won’t lie, I haven’t read them either – my knowledge of Russian writing has extended until now, only to Chekhov, so I was very excited to get down to the Jack Studio Theatre in Brockley to see Arrows & Traps Theatre Company tackle Helen Edmundson‘s stage adaptation of Anna Karenina – what turned out to be – a Russian masterpiece of forbidden love and sacrifice.
Fringe has come to London, in the form of a solo standup comedy show, hosted by The Blue Elephant Theatre, in Oval. Situated within a residential area this theatre emanates fringe in every way possible. In this solo show of literature, short stories and standup, Alex Watts discusses fan fiction, classic literature and presents his own writings, in a humorous yet informative way.
Out of Joint’s recent production of Samuel Beckett’s All That Fall, directed by the renowned founder of the company, Max Stafford-Clark, is an intriguing attempt to reconcile the intimacy of a radio play with the immediacy of live performance. There is certainly a frisson of anticipation among the audience as we take our blindfolds, and many an excited exchange of glance as, following a short but warm welcome and introduction from the cast, we donned them and surrender to the darkness.
