Imaginatively presented for The Place Dance Theatre stage, Aakash Odedra Company excites and engages in an enlightening visual production, of Murmur 2.0.
The human body is well and truly a temple, the amount of functions it carries out is an absolute marvel, from the brain sending various body parts a series of messages in a split second to that wonderful chemical, adrenaline fuelling fight or flight situations, the anatomy continues amaze.
Dance melded with a unique blend of special effects and lighting leaves audience members truly blown away. As you enter the space you are presented with a circle of fans and drapes of silk hung from the ceiling, which play an essential part later on in the production. Dancer and choreographer Aakash Odedra does a stunning job of highlighting the complicated theme of the performance, the battle one has to deal with when suffering from dyslexia.
Six Lips aim to re-imagine the Jacobean play The Duchess of Malfi with a fashionable new approach. The staging of the play as a catwalk presents a monochromatic style with ease, and the choice to place the cast within the modern world of tabloid journalism and superficial attitudes is an ambitious one. Whilst this does pay off in some instances, the media parallels within the narrative do not fully align as intended.
Full of glitz, glamour and plenty of sparkle Elf the Musical is a fun night out for the whole family. Leaving the cold British weather outside and entering a magical world inside, whilst of course tucking into a mulled wine and mince pie.
This being my first experience of Knee High‘s work, I’m afraid I can’t compare it to their previous critically acclaimed shows. That said, if Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other Love Songs) is even remotely representational, their reputation as one of Britain’s leading touring companies is spectacularly justified.
Unfortunately Christian Rizzo’s d’apres une histoire vraie is not a performance to write home about. The dance, if you can really call it that, does not surprise, engage or grab the audience’s attention whatsoever. Possibly due to it being very internal and closed off from the world (or stage space) around it, or simply just too abstract for people to understand.
This is my first visit to the Chelsea Theatre, a vibrant performance space and community hub near World’s End that has attracted some of the biggest names in contemporary performance, such as Franko B, Gob Squad, and Annie Sprinkle. November is dedicated to the festival SACRED 2015: The Identity Issue. Sixty artists have come together to explore the four aspects which help us to define ourselves –age, gender, ethnicity and sexuality.
Red Rope‘s production of Liz Lochhead‘s adaption of Dracula is a worthy, well-timed revival. Directed by Matt Grinter, a well-established figure on the Bristol theatre scene, the production takes place very much on location in Arnos Vale Cemetery, in an imposing stone building which towers darkly over this ideal gothic setting.
As a teen, we’re at odds with the world. We’re no longer a child, and therefore refuse to be conned by the fairytales and feigned truths that once gripped our imaginations. We begin to fight the opinions of our nearest and dearest, whilst coming to grips with both physiological and emotional changes, let alone educational expectation. Add the universal feeling of struggling with identity and contending with societal expectation and there you have a recipe for complete and utter emotional mayhem. This is a rite of passage that Meera Syal‘s 1997 novel, Anita and Me manages to warmly encapsulate.
