On Being Yourself But Better is a chaotic mess of a show, making slight thematic sense but feeling no need to give the audience comfort through plot and realism. Hoot! Theatre mixes scenes from classic tv-shows, drag, music and shadow puppetry to bear in the show.
With tablets, laptops, mobile phones and social media, we now take all of these for granted and accept that they are apart of our every day lives. A decade ago, could you have even predicted that this could have even been a possibility? Let alone written about any of it in a science fiction novel? In the case of E.M. Forster, author of A Machine Stops, he explored these themes in his prophetic novel written in the early 1900s. As social media now dominates the 21st century, does this spell the end for human communication?
How a Man Crumbled, throws the audience into the absurd world of Russian surrealist poet Daniil Kharms. Three bouffonesque characters attempt to tell the story of ‘The Old Woman,’ about a writer who kills an old lady and attempts, with great (and comic) difficulty to dispose of the body. Part of Mimetic Festival, held in The Vaults under the Waterloo Station, the trains rumbling overhead aren’t the only things taking you out of the story, as the narrative is frequently distracted by the trio’s series of comic vignettes, abstract ponderings or to just hit each other over the head with vegetables.
In just over a week, The Vaults in Waterloo will play host to 12 days of puppetry, physical theatre and cabaret as the Mimetic festival celebrates its 3rd year in its new home. A festival adamant on showcasing the bold and exciting works of emerging and established theatrical talent, the Mimetic Festival promises to be an event not to be missed. Ahead of this year’s festival, I was able to speak to cabaret performer and actor Michael Twaits about his new show, The Libertine Has Left the Building which he’ll be performing from the 25h-29th November, his reaction to being this year’s Mimetic Audience Bursary winner and how the show has been 7 years in the making!
1) Congratulations on winning the Mimetic Audience Bursary 2014 for The Libertine Has Left the Building, how does it feel?
Thank you! It’s brilliant. It’s provides a lot of support for developing the show and making it something that I hope will be really exciting and different. The show would not become the show it will be without this support – and the support of the Arts Council.