It is safe to say that the production of These Trees are Made of Blood has surprised me in many ways. A very heavy story opens in a quite boisterous way as we find ourselves in the middle of Coup Coup Cabaret – an entrancing and welcoming set that places the audience in the middle and amongst the performers. This play is a carefully constructed piece of theatre and Amy Draper takes on bold and powerful choices with Paul Jenkins‘ formidable play text.
Hiraeth is the Welsh word for longing – a deep yearning of a place or a time – and the perfect title for this performance created by a Welsh non-actress, theatre designer Buddug James Jones and her actor friend Max Mackintosh along with director Jesse Briton. It tells the story of James Jones and her leaving Wales to come to London – her desire to break free and see the world.
The Buta Festival of Azerbaijani Arts returns to London, showcasing some of the country’s finest exports. At Sadler‘s Wells that means uniting Azerbaijani pianist Shahin Novrasli with English dancer Akram Khan for a night of jazz and dancing. Each evening Khan is accompanied by a different set of collaborators for improvised dances set to Novrasli‘s jazz.
From the 18th April to 28th June Little Angel Theatre and Polka Theatre‘s production of The Paper Dolls will be playing at the Little Angel Theatre. The play is based upon the book by Julia Donaldson, follows the story of a little girl who makes herself a string of paper dolls. They then go on to have magical and exciting adventures together!
From Sunday 1st to Sunday 8th March, The Southbank Centre marks the achievements of women the world over of both past and present as part of their 5th annual Women of the World Festival. Curating a unique and compelling festival of discussions, debates, performances, art installations and film showings, the festival’s aim is to shine a bright light on the accomplishments of unsung female heroes.
The Collector by Mark Healy is an adaptation of the novel of John Fowles, both of which I hadn’t heard before. As such, I sit down at The Space quite prepared to be surprised and enthralled by the curious plot I have read in the program. It does always make me sad though, and I’ve mentioned this in other reviews of shows at The Space, how this venue is usually so empty when it produces amazing pieces of theatre. And this is yet another of those cases.
I felt so lucky to be invited to the London Cabaret Awards – what a night! Stunning costumes, fantastic acts and lots of naughty comedy. Held at the plush nightclub, Cafe de Paris and hosted by the brutally witty Myra DuBois.
The Malachites Theatre Company has the aim of reuniting Shakespeare to its Shoreditch roots accompanying the development of his writing. Now they bring us King Lear at the wonderful and eerie site: Peckham Asylum, an old chapel that naturally makes a quite artistic set. If there is one thing that this company and the director Benjamin Blyth know, it’s how to understand Shakespeare and bring it to life in the real and down-to-earth manner it should be done. Often Shakespeare in this country is made for the intellectual few, when what his plays really delve into are human relationships and this can be known and understood by the most plain unknowledgeable human being.
Thomas Middleton’s 17th century play The Revenger’s Tragedy is a story of power and revenge set in an Italian court. The story follows the fate of a man who swears to avenge his lover’s rape and murder, stopping at nothing to achieve his aim. Written in difficult verse, and with a convoluted plot line and quite divisive content (rape, torture, and every type of “icide” you can think of) this is a tough one to approach, to say the least. Maybe Lazarus Theatre Company should be praised for taking it on at all, in their new adaptation at the Jack Studio. Unfortunately theatrical bravery does not a good production make.
This is an important play about amazing young women. It is a physical show, that when you break it down is an hour long training montage visually. It is usually done in boxing gyms, although currently it is on at the Southbank Centre which does take something away from the rawness that such site-specific placement would bring.
