Edinburgh Fringe Previews - Unity Theatre - 21,22&23/07/2016

UNITY Theatre played host to three nights of preview shows last weekend, as a line-up of performers fine-tune their acts en-route to the Edinburgh Fringe. We managed to catch a selection of the comedy on offer and here’s our pick of the bunch.

Adam Rowe calls his show Bittersweet Little Lies and it evolves from a story about the day his dad taught him it was ok to lie sometimes. Rowe can accelerate from deadpan delivery to full-scale rant in the blink of a lazy eye and uses skeletons from the family closet as the basis for much of his set. This is good solid comedy that hits its mark well and the honesty of the delivery belies the title.

Tom Little used 31 Teeth in My Mouth as a title, but he’s already thrown this out and by the time it reaches Edinburgh it will be “Chicken Supreme? No, is isn’t”(probably). Whilst there are some well-judged comic pauses in his act, Little has his audience breathless following the seemingly random trail of weird and wonderful observations he makes. There’s nothing random about it though, as much of the material relies on convoluted construction and repeated links back to earlier segments. Here’s the sort of humour that builds laughs upon laughs – fasten your seatbelt.

Brennan Reece closed the weekend with his show called Everglow, which he has recently brought back from Australia. Beware this sort of comedy, as it has a sting in its tail. There is a disarming frankness in Reece’s manner and he has a tremendous confidence, using the whole of the stage in a very physical way. What is particularly special, though, is the architecture of his material, which comes full circle in a hugely satisfying way and, startlingly, manages to bring in elements of pathos that are genuinely moving. Expect the unexpected with this one.

At this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Adam Rowe plays The Caves at 17:20 from 5th August, Tom Little is at Nightcap at 13:10 from 6th August and Brennan Reece at Pleasance Courtyard at 18:00 from 3rd August.

Adam Rowe, Tom Little & Brennan Reece

Review originally written for Good News Liverpool

George Egg, Anarchist Cook - Unity Theatre Liverpool - 31/05/2016

If you’ve ever thought the iron in your hotel room smelled odd or found bottles of shampoo in the mini-bar, perhaps George Egg has been there before you.

George is a stand-up comedian who spends half his life on the road (just look at the list of dates on his website) and far too much time for his liking in hotel rooms. Being a lover of fine food too, he’s got pretty fed up with arriving back late after a gig to find that the only sources of food are the night porter with the room service menu or the late night supermarket. So it is that he’s devised countless ways to rustle up something tasty with what he can find in the hotel room and a few items picked up on the way back.

George’s love of good away-from-home cooking meets stand-up in his show “Anarchist Cook” which hit Liverpool’s Unity this week after returning from a stint in New Zealand via London and Norway.

Part comedy gig, part demonstration, it’s hard to pigeon-hole this show, which is a feast for all the senses. In the space of roughly 80 minutes he rustles up a three course meal using a selection of simple ingredients, rather a lot of those little UHT milks and some forage from the hotel lobby. All cooked with appliances such as the iron, the kettle and the mini-bar fridge, the results look and taste good, being presented to the audience to sample at the end of the show. From home made cheese (really) to poached sea bream and fluffy pancakes, everything is done pretty much to perfection.

Coming to the end of the evening you’re left wondering whether you just dreamed it or did he really just do that, whilst delivering some great observational humour. Not only does he demonstrate the three courses that he presents on stage, he also throws in numerous other recipe tips, including a method for curing homemade salami that boggles the mind. You can even buy recipe cards at the end.

I can’t say I’d recommend trying this in the next Premier Inn you stop in, unless you don’t mind a surcharge, or using your own iron at home like this but the recipes do adapt for preparation with more conventional equipment.

George isn’t the tidiest of cooks (there’s a dreadful mess on the floor) but he has impressive knife skills to go with his infectious sense of humour. Anarchist Cook is a cross between Saturday Kitchen and the Tommy Cooper Show, and well worth a visit if you find it hitting a venue near you.

This review was originally written for Good News Liverpool

Physical Fest Double Bill - Unity Theatre - 27th May 2016

I was delighted to get an invitation to this double bill of remarkably contrasting performances, which forms part of this year’s Physical Fest and which had Unity buzzing with atmosphere. Oog, is a solo performance by Al Seed, which has been touring since its emergence in Glasgow in 2014. Cabaret from the Shadows is a locally-grown piece, developed at the Lantern theatre by Liverpool based but multi-national Teatro Pomodoro.

For Oog we enter to find a hunched, seated figure onstage, completely obscured by the folds of a mud and blood soaked army great-coat. Under a focused shaft of light, he begins to move by gradual increments, his dirt-caked face emerging tentatively from the upturned collar like a frightened tortoise hiding in its shell.

Here is a shell-shocked soldier, cowering in a subterranean world from which there seems to be a way of escape that he is too frightened to attempt. Al Seed animates his character with meticulous precision, every movement minutely synchronised to a pulsing, desolate soundtrack from Guy Veale, which appears to turn every breath and heartbeat into a terrifying memory of shell-fire and bloodshed.

This is one of those “had to be there” pieces that pretty much defies analysis, but is powerful and finely crafted physical theatre that leaves its audience simultaneously stunned and elated.


Al Seed - Oog - Photo (c) Maria Falconer

Cabaret from the Shadows changes the mood entirely, occupying a surreal world of unhinged comedy. Occasionally when the moon is full, we’re told, this group of misfits are allowed back from their shadow world to entertain us. Essentially a sequence of set pieces linked together by some running themes, the show uses the company’s skill with bouffon and musical clownery to give us a substantial hit of illusory weirdness – in a good way…

Opening, closing and interspersed by company musical cabaret numbers, there are some ideas here that seem to come from nowhere. Leebo Luby is a guitar playing chicken, continually taunted by Carmen Arquelladas who keeps carelessly smashing the eggs he lays. Miwa Nagai allows herself to be painted by a member of the audience, while Simone Tani becomes, among other characters, a risqué dancing Christ and a life-size voodoo doll, tortured for the sins of someone’s work colleague.

The entire cast play a variety of instruments, but it’s Duncan Cameron who must clock up the most, acting as a kind of half-crazed emcee and carrying the weight of the musical input. He also finds a very unusual way of playing a harmonica whilst wearing a straightjacket – you’ll just have to try and imagine that.

Cameron keeps challenging the audience to tell him whether they’ve gone a bit too far maybe a bit too soon in the evening, but this self-censorship just adds to the irony with which they dip their mischievous comedic toes into so many political subjects that theatrical productions seem unable to avoid allusion to.

This was a one-night-only folks, but watch out for Al Seed’s Oog and Cabaret from the Shadows, because as sure as night follows day they’re bound to be back.

Cabaret From the Shadows - Photo (c) Yoel Orgelby

This review was originally written for Good News Liverpool

Going Viral - Unity Theatre - 29/04/2016

Daniel Bye premiered Going Viral last summer at the Edinburgh fringe to general acclaim, and he’s now touring it nationwide, spreading his infectious blend of wit and wisdom as surely as an epidemic.

The piece (written and performed by Bye) is set in the round, so Unity’s seating has been rearranged to create a double row of seats around the central stage. As we enter we are asked to fill up from the front row, to help with the dynamic of the work, and the fact that about two-thirds of the first audience members to enter choose to ignore this and sit to the rear (some even trying to create a third row) is interesting to observe. These people are already wary of being placed in a situation where they may be visible to each other or need to interact.

The performer is already in the room and as the lights go down he invites us to share a bottle of hand sanitiser, while he begins to explain why we’re here. Bye has a unique and engaging way of storytelling, with parts of the text feeling very improvisatory and conversational, but it’s all mapped out and takes us on a fascinating journey through the world of epidemiology.

We’re asked to imagine that we are all in the position of the key protagonist, a man on a plane from Kuala Lumpur, who finds himself the only person seemingly immune to a strange outbreak of weeping. The story progresses as the epidemic spreads through human contact, and the government makes efforts to arrest its progress by discouraging empathy. Daniel Bye, meanwhile, coyly slips in some sensory tear-defying tests on himself, appearing to prove that he is genuinely immune to weeping. Katherine Williams’ well considered lighting script follows Bye around Emma Tomkins’ sparse set, and depicts the progress of infection.

Under the surface of this part-story part-lecture style of presentation lie more uneasy thoughts. Not only do we gain some fascinating insights into the anatomy of a virus and the mechanics of an epidemic, but we’re also challenged to consider how modern life makes us all wary of our fellow humans – a message especially, maybe, for those audience members who made a beeline for the back row.

This is tremendously engaging, thought-provoking theatre, and has its audience held enthralled for the full 80 minutes. Interestingly though, the delivery puts everyone oddly at easy in their exposure, and the audience are soon willingly drawn into vocal participation.

Daniel Bye continues to tour Going Viral to a further nine venues to late June, with tour dates available on his website, www.danielbye.co.uk and alongside it he also tours his show for a younger audience, Error 404. If you do book tickets to see the show don’t be scared of the front row, he doesn’t bite. And one more thing; you’ll never be able to look a liquorice allsort in the eye again...

Daniel Bye - Image (c) ARC Stockton

This review was originally written for Good News Liverpool

The Broke 'n' Beat Collective - Unity Theatre Liverpool - 09/02/2016

In a world where young people are pigeon holed or hold their problems locked away internally, Broke ‘n’ Beat Collective encourages us to think inside the box.

Keith Saha of Liverpool based 20 Stories High and Sue Buckmaster of Theatre Rites have worked together before and Liverpool audiences will remember their work on Melody Loses her Mojo in 2013. Both are committed to helping young people to find a voice through theatre, and here they join forces to explore a collection of issues that are often ignored or misunderstood.

In something that seems to have grown out of a set that Miriam Nabarro designed for Saha’s 2014 ‘Black’, she has now created a world that lives entirely in cardboard boxes, stacked up at the rear of the stage. The cast unfold boxes to reveal scenes from young lives, while out of other boxes emerge puppets and props enabling the stories to be told.

Broke ‘n’ Beat Collective introduce themselves as a band playing a gig, in which each of the numbers they perform recounts a young person’s story. The material comes from direct workshops with real people, but the off-the-wall delivery enables us to see each of their lives from a different angle. Principal narrator is poet and singer Elektric (Elisha Howe) and alongside her are b-boy dancer Ryan LoGisTic Harston, puppeteer Mohsen Nouri and, creating most of the soundtrack, champion beat-boxer Hobbit (Jack Hobbs).

Hip-hop theatre meets puppetry in many different ways during the show’s unbroken 70 minutes, but the effect is constantly alive and thought-provoking. The four performers cross over between each other’s disciplines in sequences where dancers perform as if puppets, with boxes on their heads, where one or more operate puppets to a narrative, and where all there is is the music.

A girl cuts herself because magazines give her a negative body image, so she’s played by a puppet made entirely of paper, while another gives birth to a baby made entirely of boxes. There’s humour with a boom box becoming the head of a dancing puppet, but there’s a political message behind this too.
Running through the whole show is a thread following Omar, a boy in a grey hoodie who feels marginalised and invisible and reacts with a mixture of fear and aggression. This puppet – an empty hooded top – is startlingly human in form despite its lack of a face or lower body, and the skill of the puppetry here is really striking. The sequence when Omar finds a voice and finally connects is, along with the Paper Girl, among the most emotionally charged parts of the work.

What Saha and Buckmaster achieve in spades here is a perfect balance between emotional tension and engaging humour, and the entire piece is delivered with such energy that it can’t fail to keep its audience engaged. Rarely will you find such weighty issues leaving you with quite such a sense of exhilaration.

Broke ‘n’ Beat Collective plays at Unity until Saturday 13th February after which it continues on a 14 venue tour ending April 2nd.

This review was originally written for and pubished by Good News Liverpool.

Ryan LoGisTic Harston  & Mohsen Nouri with Omar - Photo (c) Theatre Rites

Krapp's last tape - Unity Theatre - 10 and 12/03/2015

A memorable Equinox?

Graeme Phillips has chosen to begin his new production of Beckett's 1958 play by screening his little known "Film" made in 1964. This may seem an unusual directorial choice but it works astonishingly well.

On the opening night the film had to be omitted for technical reasons, and without it the play alone stands as a great achievement for Phillips and his solo actor Nick Birkinshaw. Seeing Film and Krapp spliced seamlessly together on stage two evenings later I could really see the reason for the pairing. The two works, each tell a story of a man examining his past, but in one he cannot bear to have it seen or recalled at all, while in the other he seems intent on examining and preserving every detail of it.

Film essentially has two characters, O and E. O is performed in silence by a 69 year old Buster Keaton. We begin with a shot of an all-seeing eye (E), personified throughout by the camera - or us, the audience. We then follow O as he scurries through an urban landscape, bumping into two startled and horrified passers by, and heads into a run-down building which he appears to occupy. He plans to deal with an envelope full of photographs documenting his history but before he can do this he has to shut out the world, covering the window, the mirror, the parrot and the goldfish, ejecting the dog and cat and destroying a painting of what looks like a pagan God on the wall. He even has to turn the folder sideways, as the eyelets that fasten it appear like eyes to him.

Having reviewed the photographs he tears them to shreds, only to see E move round to face him. He gives a look of terror or despair and covers his face, and we return to the eye as the film ends. The clarity of the general photography (our viewpoint as E) is contrasted by blurred shots when we see objects from O's point of view.

Darkness.

And then the lights rise for us to meet Krapp, staring blankly toward us across his desk in a small, dim pool of light from an anglepoise lamp. (During “Film” we saw the back of his motionless head as he viewed the screen with us.)

The set is a small rectangular platform representing his room, its grubby carpet strewn with dried-up banana skins which overflow from a waste paper basket. The desk contains a large open reel tape recorder and he is surrounded by stacks of boxes, most of which are full of tape spools.

What follows is little short of a masterclass in acting, with the first 15 minutes or so delivered wordlessly, until Krapp consults his ledger and goes looking for the spool he recorded 30 years ago on his 39th birthday. From this point onward the words flow in abundance, both from the 69 year old on stage and from his younger self on the tape recording.

There is tremendous colour in Nick Birkinshaw’s voice and he captures both ages of his character in his delivery. Like a lot of Beckett’s writing, there is a great deal of introspection as Krapp revisits his earlier self and finds disbelief, nostalgia, regret and astonishment as he listens to himself. Birkinshaw’s ability to draw us in and hold our attention never ceases to amaze, and after 2 viewings I could still have gone back for more and not caught all the nuances in the performance.

Beckett captures extremes in his work, often placing his characters in some sort of emotional or physical trap, and the juxtaposition of these two works somehow illuminates and elevates both of them in their strange, obsessive, opposing standpoints.

Set, costume and lighting here were by Phil Saunders and Ashley Shairp. The gradually shifting colours in the light, much of which comes from within the set, builds an atmosphere which is enhanced by subtle but detailed sound design from Patrick Dineen.

As Graeme Phillips steps back from his position as Artistic Director of Unity we have every hope that this will give him more opportunity to directing work for these stages, which he has been associated with for over 30 years.

Krapp’s Last Tape plays at Unity One until Saturday evening.

That’s Amore – Tmesis Theatre – Unity Liverpool – 31/01/2015

Tmesis theatre present Aspects of Love – but someone already used that title, so That’s Amore it is...

A good friend of mine decided not to go and see That’s Amore because Physical Theatre isn’t really his thing. I think he missed a treat. Anyone who’s a bit unsure about the genre should give this a go, because it stretches its boundaries and has very broad appeal.

For a start, the taboo of words is thrown out of the window. Whilst the majority of the 70 minutes is delivered through movement and dance it is punctuated by, at first, vocal sounds and later with brief exchanges of words. There is also a spoken narration that interjects now and then to remind us of the brain functions and electrical impulses that make us feel and experience both the pain and the pleasure of love.

Not that we need words to follow what the show is about – the title is a hint and the movement and the score, assembled from a wide variety of musical material, delivers an exploration of love in all its aspects. A series of projection effects complete the atmosphere.

Sinuous movement takes us from the beginnings of human experience, reminiscent of the opening of 2001, through a continuous tapestry of scenes, interwoven so that we lose the boundaries between all manner of expressions of the emotion that drives so many of our decisions.

Tmesis Artistic Director Elinor Randle steps back from performance for the first time in a decade to direct a group of four performers, all of whom deliver some beautiful form in their movement and bring passion, despair, wit and charm to bear in the ebb and flow of the work. Adam Davies, Elena Edipidi, Jennifer Essex and Ross McCall work together almost as a single unit at times, and at others play out solo and group scenarios.

That’s Amore is both though provoking and hugely entertaining, and is guaranteed to make you smile.

Touring from 4th February via: Norwich Arts Centre, Rose Ormskirk, The Met, Bury, Square Chapel Halifax, The Brindley Runcorn until 27/02/15 at Barnsley Civic.

 

This Last Tempest – Fuel & Uninvited Guests – Unity Liverpool – 24/01/2015

As Prospero prepares to set sail for Naples in the closing pages of The Tempest, we as an audience are possibly given to wonder what a sequel might be like, following their fortunes as they rebuild their lives.

Theatre makers Uninvited Guests and producer Fuel have concerned themselves in This Last Tempest with what may become of Ariel and Caliban if they remain behind on the island, now free of the spells that bound them. They may well be the stuff that dreams are made on, but their little lives aren’t ready to be rounded off with a sleep just yet.

Caliban rejoices long and loud at first, while Ariel maintains a more cautious stance, aware of the pitfalls of getting what you wish for.

Jessica Hoffmann and Richard Dufty are Ariel and Caliban, and they’re aided and abetted in their storytelling by musician Neil Johnson, who also opens the play in the manner of a chorus. To describe the narrative would be to spoil the show, but suffice to say that the characters explore ideas of freedom, whilst reflecting on the events that brought them to this point and the possibilities for their future.

A three dimensional soundscape reaches beyond the simple set into every recess of the room, and the audience get to touch the sounds of the island too. This, together with hypnotic performances and writing that has a rhythm of Shakespeare but an air of modernity, create an atmospheric and magical evening.

This Last Tempest continues touring 17 Feb at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, 19th Feb at Axis Arts Centre Crewe and 20/21 Feb at Brighton Dome.

Rose of June – Unity Theatre Liverpool – 24/09/2014

Liverpool-based Stack Theatre have devised Rose of June inspired by the writing of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, whose explorations of death, dying, grief and mourning have become standards on the shelves of many a bereavement counsellor.

Creator and performer Christopher Rae has worked with director Natasia Bullock and the other two cast members to produce a measured and delicately balanced one hour piece which they tell us is still undergoing further development and exploration.

As it stands in its current version, Rose of June is a compact and tightly focused piece that delivers its message with a mixture of subtlety and sledgehammer impact, very much as its subject impacts on the lives of those it touches.

Sam (Christopher Rae) is a young man whose life has been torn apart by the death of his wife, something that came very suddenly following a brief and unspecified illness that was diagnosed too late. Luckily for Sam he has two good friends on hand to lead him through the wilderness of his emotions. Iain Hoskins is Daniel, Sam’s best mate, a pillar of strength who seems to know exactly what needs doing, or so it seems. Gemma Banks is Emily, for whom Sam’s wife has left a letter outlining her wishes for her funeral.

We join Sam in a café where he is awaiting the arrival of Emily, but Daniel turns up first and we learn that he and Emily have already agreed that they both need to be there to support Sam through an ordeal. One of the play’s great strengths is that it rarely uses overt expository dialogue, allowing the back story to be revealed as gradually as the slowly blooming rose in the picture to the back of the set.

Daniel approaches the situation from the angle of focusing on the practicalities and getting everything perfect, while Emily has a more emotional response, and is anxious to make sure that the terms of the letter are respected. Frustrations soon develop between them and eventually Sam, who needs someone to tell him what to do, goes along with the practical advice of Daniel, while Emily despairs over unfulfilled promises.

Rose of June is a moving examination of the different ways each of us deal with loss, and the desolation of those plunged unexpectedly into bereavement. To be honest, the pre-publicity describing the inspiration of Kubler-Ross and the improvisational creative process had given me some uneasy expectations of excessive introspection, but in reality the piece moved with a natural rhythm and pace, and was graced with three excellent performances.

The dialogue is also very natural throughout, with the possible exception of an awkward first consultation with a counsellor that didn’t quite ring true. Beginning in a world of awkward silences and ending somewhere on the road to acceptance, it allows us to share Sam’s journey and feel the warmth of the sun coaxing us back from despair into hope, whilst giving us pause to think about how we react to friends in shared grief.

Gaffer! – Unity Theatre – 30/06/2014

Simon Hedger delivers a tour de force in this duathlon of a one hander, in a well deserved and timely revival at Unity under the impeccable direction of Sam Freeman.

First presented at the Rose and Crown Hampton Wick in 1999, Gaffer! was Chris Chibnall’s third play for GRiP Theatre, but gained recognition in what seems to have been its only revival so far in 2004 at Southwark Playhouse with Deka Walmesley.

A decade later we might have hoped the subject matter would feel more dated, but recent events sadly continue to prove that its message is as relevant today as the day it was written. In 1999 the football world was coming to terms with the suicide of Justin Fashanu. Sadly 15 years later homophobia “the last taboo of football” remains as embedded as ever.

Possibly a factor in the play’s rarity is in finding an actor both able and willing to undertake the task. There are a lot of words and numerous characterisations. Simon Hedger reassures us that the rhythm of the writing gave him plenty of help but nonetheless it’s an impressive feat that he carries off with tremendous style. No stranger to multiple roles, Hedger switches seamlessly between characters, not only using a range of voices but seemingly able to shape-shift so that we see them all too.

The Gaffer, George, is manager of the enthusiastic but struggling Northbridge Town football club. Times are hard and the administrators are at the door, and a new chairman brings in a consultant who has different ideas about what makes for success on the pitch. One tactic is to hire a promising new striker from the youth team, only seventeen but with the will to make his mark and a Rottweiler of a father for an agent.

When Northbridge are drawn to play Liverpool they’re prepared for valiant defeat, so a draw is cause for elation and a night on the ale, and it is on the way home that the young hopeful declares his unlikely and unbidden love for George and plants a big kiss on him. Cue for an interval - sorry - half time.

George is prepared to shrug it off and put it down to youth and alcohol, but when he finds the moment captured on film and plastered all over the morning papers this becomes harder than he thought. The ensuing media feeding frenzy rakes up memories from the past and rocks the foundations of George’s life.

Simon Hedger’s Gaffer would be a larger than life performance but for the fact that it is so incredibly true to reality. It is an amalgam of so many familiar managers past and present and the passion is infectious even for a self-confessed football ignoramus like myself. But he doesn’t stop at George. Among his other creations are several team members, various management, and a died-in-the-wool traditionalist of a groundsman who believes the way to beat the opposition is by having a pitch so uneven that the divots confuse them into submission. The marketing consultant who suggests a list of phrases that can’t be used in an interview is someone you’d happily throttle.

The play takes a serious gear shift at half-time, from the nostalgically comic to something much more dark and brooding. Act one is full of the energy of the game and laced with humour, while act two becomes a study of the damage that the press can inflict on individuals when they turn private lives into public property. Some of the most telling moments in both halves come when George reflects back to his past with genuine affection for those who nurtured his early career. A recalled gesture handed on from past to future makes a moving and poignant turning point.

Each character’s orientation is never explicitly defined, and rightly so. Ultimately it is the opinions of others and the destructive power of the media that are under the microscope here.

Gaffer! plays at Unity Theatre Liverpool until Saturday 5th July.

The Master and Margarita – Unity Theatre Liverpool – 4th October 2013

Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel nearly never saw the light of day. He famously burned the original manuscript and then his second manuscript remained unpublished until 26 years after his death, even then in a heavily cut and censored version.

Since then, it has refused to remain hidden, having not only become extremely highly regarded as a novel but having also been adapted many hundreds of times for the stage and screen.

More than a hundred characters and numerous interlocking lines of plot present seemingly endless challenges and opportunities to theatre companies to find ways of staging it. Contemplating doing so in the intimate 150 seat Unity Theatre, though, where the lighting grid is barely 15 feet above the stage could be thought of as either very brave or slightly mad.

All the more reason to rate the result as a tremendous triumph for the Liverpool based Lodestar Theatre Company.

This production is an experience akin to stepping through the canvas of a Magritte painting and finding the cast of Monty Python living there.

A cast of eight actors are assisted in playing their multiple roles with some ingenious and creative use of video projections of themselves (with some parts pre-recorded on a blue-screen and overlaid on the set) and by some imaginative and occasionally hilarious costume changes.

Joseph England, Simon Hedger, Jack Quarton and Hannah Gover (as the feline Behemoth in full-face prosthetic makeup) gave particularly fine performances. I would like to single out others too, but the programme design uses such a stylised typeface that in some cases makes deciphering the cast names a challenge at best, but suffice to say that they all deserve plaudits.

The staging is a masterclass in making the best use of space. How do you create multiple settings on an enclosed stage with no fly-loft without clunky, time consuming shifting of lots of scenery? Digital Artist Adam York Gregory and animator Colin Eccleston have worked with Video Mapping artist Gray Hughes to create a virtual set, which transforms itself elegantly from scene to scene.

How many of the cast or crew would be old enough to remember him I don’t know, but I was oddly reminded of the remarkable Robert Harbin who I recall from the TV in my childhood. Harbin was famous for two things – as a creator and performer of stage illusions (the David Copperfield of his day) and for popularising the art of Origami to the masses.

On the stage was a structure looking as though it may have been an origami exercise; a collection of irregular geometric shapes incorporating a series of entrances and exits and finished entirely in white. It was onto these surfaces that the video-mapped set designs and animations were projected, creating a world that melted and coalesced as we globetrotted through the story. In front of this backdrop the cast performed a similar series of visual tricks and sleights of hand that added to the illusory nature of the tale.

The finishing layer of gloss on this production is a sweeping musical score created by Composer David Ben Shannon and Musical Director Jack Quarton, the latter appearing in character at one point playing an accordion. An early tweet from the company during rehearsals said that the theatre sounded as though they had hired the Phil from round the corner, and I can see what they mean. Adding to this the well-chosen pieces of Shostakovich that are used for the pre and post-show music and I think Vasily Petrenko would feel quite at home in the Unity this week.

The play was adapted and directed here by Max Rubin, who clearly loves the book and has gone all out to capitalise on the surreal and comedic aspects of it, while never losing sight of its satirical bite.

The second of two ambitious adaptations of classic Russian novels to hit our Liverpool stages this month, The Master and Margarita plays at Unity One until Saturday 12th October. Performances are selling out fast, so grab a ticket while you can.

Contact www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk or call 0844 873 2888 or 0151 709 4988 for details and ticket sales.

John Robins & James Acaster – Unity Theatre – 24/07/2013

Like many of their colleagues on the comedy circuit at this time of year, John Robins and James Acaster are warming up and putting the final polish on their routines, preparing for the upcoming Edinburgh Fringe Festival and giving preview performances at venues like the Unity.
 
Up for the first of the two hours was John Robins, who beguiled the audience with his laid back delivery before beginning to create some bizarre mind pictures using ingenious word-play. Taking us on a journey from a fraught adolescence past the point of hitting 30, he circles around a particular day in his 20s which he identifies as the happiest day of his life.

Robins’ comedy is rather like one of those skeleton clocks in that he displays the mechanics of the process as part of the performance, making additional humour out of this being a preview show. His self-deprecating style is engaging and has the sort of charm that carries his audience with him.

There is something very satisfying about watching someone juggle with language the way John Robins does. It is the sort of humour that has more of a slow-burn than an explosive effect and that more often gets groans and chuckles rather than full on laughter, which must make it hard to judge. It is, we are told, topical in a way that should not be taken internally, but it nonetheless ends up under the skin. Don’t expect to be rolling in the aisles, but be prepared for an aching jaw from a lot of ridiculous grinning.

James Acaster who followed after an interval is in some ways similar, in that he uses very visual language, but he has a more edgy delivery. He also uses some visual gags and a couple of physical props.

The basis on which this routine is constructed is a supposed obsession with clearing the name of Yoko Ono for the breakup of the Beatles. Comparisons with the band on the Titanic, who probably didn’t like the direction their act was taking but carried on playing together anyway, were the stuff of comedy genius. Here is someone who really gets hold of an idea and runs with it, and once off the ground it did fly like a kite, bobbing about around the audience’s heads and keeping us wondering what direction it might take next.

We might suspect something a little disingenuous about his sudden realisation that he was delivering this material in the Beatles’ home city, but who could blame him for claiming a few more comedy miles from the irony of doing it here.

James Acaster has the kind of surreal view of the world that makes for an unpredictable but mesmerising performance and it certainly hit the mark pretty frequently during the hour long set, getting a good reaction from what seemed a slightly dry crowd.

John Robins and James Acaster are both appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe (Pleasance Courtyard) on most evenings from 31st July to 25th August 2013

Bump by Laura-Kate Barrow, Jollyboat and Pornovision by John Maguire – The Shiny New Festival at the Lantern Theatre Liverpool – 17th July 2013

“If you listen carefully you can hear the rafters breathe...”

Following hard on the heels of Trolley Shaped Bruise (Unity Theatre, May 2013) Laura-Kate Barrow’s “Bump” opens this Friday at Manchester’s 24:7 festival. I got to see it in the second of three preview performances playing at Liverpool’s Lantern Theatre as part of the current Shiny New Festival, whose director Peter Mitchelson has brought it from the page to the stage.

Like its companion piece, the play centres on a chance meeting between two seemingly different characters whose histories unfold and who ultimately find common ground, but the author has treated this premise very differently here.

Opening with Louise, sitting still and quiet in an empty church, we begin to wonder what has brought her here and what contemplations are in her mind. The arrival of Matt, who turns out to have known Louise at school, gives us the opportunity to find out – eventually.

Sarah Keating brings a quiet dignity to the role of Louise, who is at first reluctant to speak at all and slow to trust the questions. Matt is on edge, wired, all fingernail chewing and pacing about. Played by Thomas Casson, almost too tall for the tiny performance space, Matt fills the silence of the church with his constant need to say something, but there are still some wonderful pauses – laden with unspoken dialogue.

 

When direct questioning doesn’t draw Louise out then a word game begins, and the barriers are replaced with a slow-growing trust. A pivotal point is a scene in the church confessional. After this, stories of the past that the two remember from school lead to revelations about what has happened to them in the few years since and the scars that they privately bear. We finally discover the personal crises that have brought them to the place. The resolution, whilst happening a little suddenly, is satisfyingly out of the blue but believable. Two fine performances from Keating and Casson keep us hanging on their every word.

 

Laura-Kate Barrow has an obvious skill for creating very rounded characters and natural dialogue, and the script offers plenty of opportunity for the performers to play with time and pacing to hold the audience. Hers is an emerging voice to watch out for in theatre.

 

Bump runs at the Three Minute Theatre, Afflecks Arcade, Oldham St Manchester from 19th to 26th July 2013, and Trolley Shaped Bruise has a script reading at The Lass O’Gowrie at 9:00pm on 23rd July as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival.

Sarah Keating and Thomas Casson

Bump was the first of three events I attended yesterday at The Lantern. The Shiny New Festival, which was about half-way through its ten days, presenting three or four items every evening, with special rate multipass tickets on sale each day. Twenty minutes later, Liverpool writer/actor John Maguire presented his new play “Pornovision” which enjoys 4 performances this week.

 

It is unfortunate that none of the online or printed publicity material identifies Maguire’s two co-stars, as they give the best performances in this somewhat schizophrenic work. The title and likely the play itself are probably intended to be provocative, but it didn’t entirely hit its target – maybe because it didn’t have one.

 

Beginning with a doctor telling us we were to see a study of what was going on in the mind of our protagonist, Bartholemew Younghusband (Maguire), what followed was a series of disparate scenes played out between him and his uncredited lodger. Peering through a pair of rather problematic wire rimmed spectacles, we gather that Younghusband has an addiction to pornography. Judging by the laughter, there were still some members of the audience who have not previously heard the joke about gay burglars leaving quiche in the oven. For me this was just one example too many of the gloomy attempts the script makes to define the character as a grimly grimy bigoted heterosexual.

 

The young lady who performed the doctor also appeared in other guises, variously resembling an armour plated Madonna and what looked like a feline pole-dancer, drinking milk from a cat’s bowl. The best humorous passages came from the lodger with genuine stage presence and engineering some great recoveries for Maguire, whose own script tripped him up a few times in this first performance. His ad-lib about the ill fitting glasses raised quite a titter, as did his unexplained but witty near full-frontal nude appearance as a postman. He also managed to improvise his way around some glitches with the props.

 

If there’s an hour of your life you don’t need to keep hold of, Pornovision runs to 20th July.

 

Happily, my evening ended with an hour of musical lunacy from Jollyboat –brothers, Ed and Tommy in a Two-Men-and-a-Guitar revue and describing themselves as Comedy Rockstars.

No strangers to the Lantern’s performance space, Jollyboat have added new material to their act and we were getting a taster of it as it heads toward the Edinburgh Festival. Their very individual re-workings of a variety of familiar songs tread a splendidly balanced tightrope between satire and sheer madness and they never fall off. It is pointless to try and describe any of the material, but safe to say that it would be someone with a very rickety sense of humour who could fail to get a jolly good laugh from this hugely engaging and very funny double-act.

 

You can climb aboard Jollyboat one more time in Liverpool on Saturday 20th July at 9:00pm before they set sail for Edinburgh, where they will be playing at the Base Nightclub, 69 Cowgate from 3rd to 24th August.



Jollyboat

There is a real buzz in the sultry summer air at the Lantern Theatre, where the Shiny New Festival continues to Sunday 21st July. Support this event and let’s hope it returns next year.
 

The Lantern Theatre on Blundell Street in the Baltic Triangle might be off the beaten track, but it is well worth keeping on the radar, as it provides a vibrant, intimate and affordable space for small-scale performance and has a great atmosphere.

Trolley Shaped Bruise - Unity Theatre Liverpool - 21/05/2013

In a week when "a survey says" there is an almost record low point in speaking parts for women, Laura Kate Barrow is a brilliant storyteller who brings us a piece of theatre for two strong women that blows the socks off that theory.

Opening with a series of interwoven scenes, switching between more than fifty shades of grey to a glorious Technicolor, we meet Rachel McLinn's Danielle, a budding, monochrome interior designer and Cat Stobbs's rainbow-like party animal Kate, filling her time with any frivolity that will add colour to her life.

Danielle troubles herself with how she came to be trying her key in the wrong front door whilst Kate explains how she comes to be arrested stone cold sober in a shopping trolley in Stanley Street.
Maybe she just needs to get the bruises to prove she's had a night out at all... Or at least FELT something.

What comes across most of all in this production is the tremendous voice that Laura Kate Barrow has and the great choice of acting and creative team who have brought it vividly to life.

Under Sarah Van Parys's delicately un-studied direction, Rachel McLinn and Cat Stobbs give real and compelling performances that genuinely do make us think about our own motivation and priorities in life. After the unashamedly transparent comedy of the first part of the play, everything becomes more introspective, dark and telling. It is with some astonishment that we find ourselves drawn almost to tears by Kate's savvy admissions of social failure and Danielle's earnest attempts to understand.

I was given to wondering whether the series of animated projections to the rear of Alex Herring's set added to the production or confused it, but the simplicity of the tripartite design worked really well overall.

Writing like this is hard to come by. Trolley Shaped Bruise has one more performance at Unity 2 tomorrow, 22nd May 2013, and every seat deserves to be filled.