Reviews by Lois Zoppi

Blip is charming in its simplicity, telling the story of a father, a son, and a mysterious portal in a mirror. Partly inspired by leading man Tom Bass's own experiences, we follow his character through memories and awkward interactions as he attempts to reconnect with an emotionally distant parent. Their relationship is like a fist bump meeting a handshake - well-intentioned, but never quite in sync. This dynamic makes for a funny and recognisable pairing, and Bass plays both roles with striking physicality, shifting seamlessly from hunched, aging father to withdrawn son.Through conversations about gardening, football, and Doctor Who, Blip explores the loneliness of adulthood and the aching need to connect with a parent doing their best but struggling to express emotion. Bass brings a subtlety to his performance that makes the hour utterly absorbing. Small shifts in movement or expression carry the audience from humorous to surreal to sad and back again. The inherent silliness of clowning paired with the vulnerability of his character is a magical combination. The most cartoonish moments come from childhood memories - perhaps a nod to our tendency to romanticise early happiness to shield ourselves from adult understanding.Bass and director Ren Roberts have crafted the show thoughtfully for an intimate space, distinguishing between reality and imagination through rich red, green and blue lighting, and underscoring it all with beautiful original music.Overall, Blip treads lightly on its subject matter, using small, well-observed moments to illuminate the deeper emotional waves between father and son. While this gentle tone is one of its strengths, a touch more turbulence or emotional layering might have made the show's slightly abrupt ending land with more impact.Gently tragic and tentatively hopeful, Blip is a special piece of theatre - an imaginative, poignant tale told with heart and humour.

A big cast, a challenging text, and a very small stage. There were plenty of obstacles for this young theatre group to contend with, but they rose to them to deliver a mature and stylish production of Chekhov's seminal play, The Seagull. Reimagined for modern times, this production brought together techno music, bold production design, and interpretive staging to give this 130-year-old text a contemporary kick.Charting the love triangles and gradual unravelling of a group of artists, The Seagull explores creative ambition, success, and anxiety. The script is full of jealousy, insecurity, and poetic debate, and the cast dug into it well, occasionally lifting the atmosphere with moments of naturalistic comedy.Standout performances came from Raizel Nuñez as the famous but fading actress Arkádina, Destiny Williams as the naive ingénue Nina, and John Cowell as the acclaimed writer, Aleksei. Nuñez was a particularly strong presence, embodying her reactive, proud character with confidence. Williams and Cowell built their chemistry slowly as their characters gravitated towards each other, each showing great command over the text.Amelia Sheard's tense and twitchy portrayal of Konstantin injected an underlying tension throughout the play, which helped the emotional release at the end pay off.Inventive lighting design distinguished daylight from dreams and, paired with unusual choreography, showcased the group's clear artistic vision. However, the play lacked the breathing room it needed in The Rotunda, and the staging wasn't as slick as it could have been overall.It was wonderful to see an ambitious vision realised in a young theatre group, and those tackling central characters really dug deep. In a larger space, it could have shaken off some of the disorganisation on stage that held it back.

“Call me Ishmael” is one of the most recognisable opening lines in literature, and the story of Moby Dick isn’t a mystery to many people. This was both a strength and a drawback of Ross Ericson’s one-man reimagining of the tale: familiarity with the text makes it easier to enjoy, but it leaves few surprises.Pared back and relaxed, this incarnation of Moby Dick is tucked away in the corner of a tavern, the stage set with a single sail, a tankard of booze, and a projection of the sea. Ishmael, played by Ericson at an unwavering pace from start to finish, recounts the fateful and spiritual hunt for the great white whale.Condensing Moby Dick into an hour’s script is no mean feat, and Ericson delivers a solid, warm and often funny performance, switching through the cast of characters with ease. But while the world-building and character work are strong, a little more light and shade in pacing and performance to make contemplative moments more impactful would have served the highs and lows of the story well.The show could have benefited from more energy in the elements around the script too - some variation in lighting, projection or the addition of some evocative, scene-setting sound design. Any of these would have brought the story further to life and illustrated the vivid world Ericson was working hard to build.While an easy and entertaining way to spend an hour with an engaging performer, the show’s simplicity may have come at the cost of the spark needed to stand out in a crowded Fringe.

A teacher lingers between life and death and wonders what it was all for, while the Angel of Death decides his fate in a liminal waiting room, longing to realise her dream of becoming a daytime quiz show host.What follows from this unusual premise is a combination of gentle ponderings on the way we spend our lives and how we let dreams slip away, with quirky characters, audience quizzing, and an unexpected turn towards an almost psychedelic conspiracy theory at the end.James Mannion, playing the benign science teacher – also called James – has a clear talent for pairing songwriting with storytelling. The music is the enduring highlight of the piece overall, and having a live band is one of the show's main luxuries. The sound becomes quite beautiful with the support of The Sisters of Mercy (a choir more commonly known as Women of Note) providing harmonies from a heavenly balcony behind us. I'm eagerly awaiting the concept album that would be a natural follow-on from this show.Overall, the production is fun but scrappy, struggling at first with a few technical and costume glitches, with the stage looking jumbled throughout. The script is lighthearted but lacks enough focus to stitch the story, character, audience interaction and music together in a satisfying way.With a little more polish, the show's vision would have been more cohesive and effective – and it was tantalisingly close to getting there. But The Angel of Death Will See You Now is enjoyable and entertainingly anarchic, and is certainly one of the more unique, wonderfully Fringe-y shows on offer.

Clean! The Musical is as unique a musical as you'll find at the Fringe. Seven women, each with a connection to Laundry Hill (Round Hill) in Brighton tell their stories of suffrage, smallpox, sexuality and more, spanning the centuries from 1880 to the present day.These women include Millicent, an 1887 laundry worker (Sharon Drain); 1905's Helen Boyle, Brighton's first female GP (Judey Bignell); Meg, a flapper and suffragette from 1929 (Anna Chloe Moorey); Dot, a laundry manageress in 1950 (Amelia Armande); Ruby, a refuge seeker from 1979 (Rosa Samuels); 1995 feminist campaigner Juliet (Jack Cryer); and finally Tasha, a modern-day single mother who is clearing out her late mother's belongings (Holly Ray). It is Tasha who first brings these stories together, having found a collection of historical documents that inspire her to dig deeper into these women's lives.The show is structured around short monologues swapped to and fro between the characters, taking us through the time they spent in Brighton, the people they loved and lost, and the brave new paths they forged for women. We learn about the fear of working through the 1950s smallpox outbreak, the transition from motherhood to menopause, the strength of those healing from abuse, and more broadly, the valuable and tangible differences women make.Juggling seven characters, each with their own rich story to tell, is a challenge, but Sam Chittenden's book allows each woman's story to reveal itself slowly, as women's stories so often do. What is clever about the show's structure is how it extends itself to the audience, like a baton passed on, or another peg hung on a line. The connections made between the characters are undoutedly reflected back at them by the women in the audience (and it was mainly women in the audience), who will have all had experiences like those in the show - in fact, many of them will have lived through some of the later events mentioned on stage. As a result, seven connections on stage results in a room full of connections, through theme, place, and time.The poignancy of the piece was often in the details, with moments of subtly powerful staging. The stage comprised two balconies and the characters would look down from one to the other, watching the women of centuries to come grapple with all of life's hardships as they did. It was touching to imagine that chain of women from past to present, looking over and after one another.Naturally, the acoustics of the One Church venue added beauty to the already chill-inducing harmonies and live music, with most of the cast taking up instruments throughout the show. The score, composed by Simon Scardanelli with libretto by Sam Chittenden, was folksy and full of beautiful hooks and melodies.Poignant lyrics with orchestration that was both pensive and rousing made each song a real joy to engage with. Happily, Different Theatre has made the soundtrack available online, as there are so many musical moments that are worthy of being relived.Clean! is a musical not to be missed; a mature, sophisticated, and truly inspiring piece of theatre.

A simple premise lays the foundation for Melanie Gall to recount the story of two of Hollywood’s brightest golden age stars, Deanna Durbin and Judy Garland: a New York Times journalist looking for a story about the two women’s rivalry upon Garland’s death. However, that isn’t what the journalist gets.Ingenue tells the story of Deanne Durbin, who saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy and was arguably a much more famous star than Garland during the Great Depression. Durbin’s films and music brought hope to millions during World War II, and yet it is Judy Garland’s name that is remembered. It’s as much a story of what was as what could have been; Deanna Durbin’s trajectory through Hollywood would have been very different had she not passed up the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and knowing now what a classic that film became, it was fascinating to delve into this side of the production that I would wager not many would know much about.Gall gives an energetic performance as Deanna Durbin, and her chatty retelling of the story makes Ingenue a very easy watch. Making the piece unique, however, is Gall’s performances of popular songs of the time, and her classical vocal training is allowed to shine with the material chosen for the play. Simple staging supports the narrative, with nice production touches that emulate cinema screenings and auditions.Touches of humour were brought out in the descriptions of the sheer escalation in America’s adoration for Deanne at such a young age - there aren’t many 15 or 20 year olds singing songs to soothe weary soldiers nowadays - and the heartless, cutthroat nature of golden age Hollywood is sure to raise eyebrows and bring out a few gasps.Melanie Gall has headed up one-woman shows about bygone stars before, with a previous show charting the music of Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel, so this is a familiar format that works well to tell the personal stories of well-loved musical personalities.Although the piece could have benefitted from a bit more tension to lend the narrative some light and shade, it was nevertheless an entertaining hour-long performance and Gall’s vocal performance was wonderful, offering operatic warmth to a host of period tunes that sensitively reflected the narrative.Interspersed with beautiful song breaks, Ingenue is a sentimental retelling of a Hollywood friendship that isn’t often spoken about, and Gall’s interest in the period, its music, and the actress’s lives carries this easygoing performance.

An interesting addition to the Fringe schedule, The Hunters of Ghost Hall's paranormal premise, pitch-black stage and eerie soundtrack seems to lend itself more to a Halloween line-up than a springtime festival.Writer and director Tristan Wolfe asks what would happen if a TV crew filming a ghost hunting show and a pair of treasure hunters find themselves in a haunted mansion without any idea of the other's presence. The answer was an entertaining comedy with comically horrible dolls, witty one-liners and a handful of smutty jokes. With the audience in complete darkness and rumblings and knockings behind the scenes, The Hunters of Ghost Hall got off to an atmospheric start.Unfortunately, what began as a comic show with a great premise and strong characters unravelled towards the middle, with not enough light and shade in the narrative to distinguish the play's structure. There wasn't a great amount of action that kept the story engaging and the full potential of the story's premise wasn't taken advantage of, with scenes that often only focused on characters trying to find each other in the huge house.However, the cast of four was strong and direction by Tristan Wolfe made the most of the space. Any director attempting to fit a haunted mansion into a film studio on Middle Street has given themselves no easy task, and the use of lighting and soundtrack by Adam House cleverly evoked the sense of being surrounded by the mysterious walls of an abandoned house. Particularly effective was the use of torches to flash around the theatre and light up the actors' faces to atmospheric and comic effect, allowing your imagination to do its worst.James Bennison gave a particularly enjoyable performance as the theatrical psychic waiting to show off his spiritual gifts on TV, despite being scared of the dark, ghosts, and being upstaged by any other psychics. Akasha Goodenough played the frustrated TV producer who was trying to wrangle the paranormal personalities to get some good shots for her ghost hunting show. Lena Hill and Mel Newton put spanners in the works as characters looking for treasure armed only with a key and a secret connection to the other world; their playful banter regularly brought laughs from the audience.An enjoyable play with a light and amusing script, The Hunters of Ghost Hall didn't quite reach the heights it could have as the story's revelations were not revelatory enough to bring the piece to a climactic or wholly satisfying end. But, with a good cast and a simple yet effective use of the space, those in the mood for a spooky evening in the halls of a haunted mansion would do well to get themselves a ticket.

Good Grief tells the story of a family who are moving through the motions of grief and bereavement after the loss of their youngest son in an accident at Saltdean Lido. As they tell us about how they spent long and boring summer days at the Lido instead of going on exotic holidays, we get to know a family who are not sure what to do with their sudden and tragic loss. They don't know how to deal with the sympathy cards from neighbours they've never met, the school tributes and commemorative plaques, or the memories of the fateful day itself, even years after the fact.The story shows a mother, played with warmth by director of the piece Sue Goble, trying to shelter her children from the tragedy and reality of the death of their younger brother. Different ways of coping are gently analysed in-between anecdotes of childhood.Performing to a full house, the cast of three presented an intimate study of the family, structured around a trio of conflicting accounts of the day the youngest child of the family died, and an anniversary lunch. The script, written by award-winning author Edwin Preece, steered clear of descending into a dark delve into the depths of grief, peppering the dialogue with light-hearted jokes and familial banter, making for an accessible text overall.For a play tackling such a huge subject in one hour, Preece's script was a deft exploration of grief and loss, and the character's continual re-remembering of events as they grappled with placing guilt and responsibility for their loss was well communicated through the dialogue, in a sensitive and relatable way.Although at times a little stilted, Sam Standen, Gigi Liley, and Sue Goble were always engaging, a feat for a script that was extremely detailed in its anecdotes. The script was paced around revealing small but significant details to feed the emotional progression of the characters in a slow but timely manner.The play concluded with an ending that left you wanting more, while at the same time it left you feeling uplifted and more at peace with a difficult part of life we will all go through. I couldn't help but think that a site-specific performance of Good Grief at Saltdean Lido itself would make for a particularly special and poignant experience. It is a small and poignant story that is bound to stay with the audience for a good while after the performance.Good Grief also works hard to enlighten and educate people about the grieving process outside of the theatre, with a collection for children's bereavement charity Grief Encounter taking place to help provide free, confidential advice and support for young people and children living through a bereavement.

Brighton is known for its alternative politics and anything-goes attitude and the Subversive Sussex Walk is packed full of stories about the rabble-rousing Brightonians who did anything to see justice done.Lead by Andrew, a man with a history of activism in the city, the tour started off at Brighton's oldest hotel, the Old Ship. There, against the blustery sea wind, he revealed stories of historic agricultural uprisings, Kings smuggled to France, and seafront rallies. It was a socialist's paradise, with every story dedicated to the libertarians, anarchists, and radicals of the city who between them upset royal jubilees, tried to kill the cabinet, and ensured the rights of Brighton's poorest were upheld.Following Andrew's black anarchist flag, the tour mirrored marches of protests gone by. Unfortunately, there were too many wonderful stories to sum up in the space a review allows! Andrew led us to the newly unveiled blue plaque honouring Brighton's suffragettes, wound through tiny alleyways plastered with socialist posters, and brought the many groups and individuals who fought tirelessly for change in the city to life.One of those men was Harry Cowley, a Brighton-born chimney sweep who spent his life deeply involved in grassroots activism. One of his many achievements was to found the Open Market that still thrives today, along with fighting for pensioner's rights, finding employment for 'unemployables', and fighting 1930s fascism. His funeral, held at St. Peter's Church, attracted 500 mourners.But not every story was a wild romp about cunning activist's schemes to disrupt society. Some stories highlighted the cruelty of historic society, needless deaths from unnecessary violence, and the darker political beliefs Brighton once upheld. Who would have believed Brighton to ever be a center of royalism and conservative values?With a running (or walking) time of two hours, the tour may not be for everyone, and the central location of many of the stops meant that traffic and the general madness of central Brighton drowned out some of the stories. However, the time passed quickly due to Andrew's great storytelling and clear passion for his subject.The walk ended inside the Cowley Club (a place I have wandered past my whole life, having wondered who or what Cowley was), which was a brilliant way to round a stream of stories in which Harry Cowley was central.The Cowley club opened as Brighton's radical social centre in 2003, and offers a library, café, bookshop, and events space. Nearby is the vegan food bank to which all of the money raised by the tour is given.The Subversive Sussex Walk was a fascinating and amusing tour giving context to Brighton's colourful culture today. It also gave an important message that seems as sorely needed now as it was across history: that individuals do have the power to see the changes they need for themselves and their citizens around them.

The Jewish community in Brighton has a long history. Local architect Thomas Lainson was responsible for designing the Middle Street Synagogue, which opened in 1875 and was the focus of our tour. In fact, since the 1790s several other synagogues had already been built and Brighton and Hove is now home to four synagogues.The Middle Street Synagogue Open Day allowed members of the public to walk through the doors and explore the synagogue at their own pace, offering the chance to learn about the building and the people working to preserve it. The synagogue building lends itself to both Byzantine architecture and that is seen in its Roman basilicas; a unique blend of Eastern and Western design that stands out amongst its neighbours on Middle Street. Much of the its beauty comes from the golden hues cast by the large number of stained-glass windows, inspired by William Morris’ early Arts and Crafts designs. The building is supported by a series of columns known as the Holy Land Columns, each boasting unique, golden botanical designs featuring plants mentioned in scripture. It is these details that give the synagogue a feeling of walking inside a jewellery box.One of the Friends of Middle Street Synagogue gave a short talk about the history of the synagogue, with stories of notable people who have passed through its galleries and architectural details that make Middle Street Synagogue a unique place of worship. Clearly full of tales about this historic, hidden away place of worship, it would have been easy to listen for the whole afternoon. Those arriving early enough to catch the talk were shown a 300-year-old scroll of the books of Esther, and a demonstration of blowing the Shofar horn.As an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, the seating is split over two levels, with women sitting upstairs in the gallery and men sitting downstairs, although Middle Street is now closed from regular services as the congregation dwindled over the its 140-year history.Unfortunately, the building is fighting disrepair despite its Grade II* listed status, and funding to secure the future of the historic place of worship has been hard to come by. The Friends of Middle Street Synagogue work hard to retain its beauty and it is through open days like this that more and more people can become aware of an important religious gem in the city.Anyone interested in Brighton history and Jewish heritage would enjoy an afternoon exploring this hidden away but much-celebrated synagogue.

New British musicals are few and far between nowadays, but the Brighton Fringe is the one place where they are bound to be found. Summer Street: The Hilarious Aussie Soap Opera Musical, despite its title suggesting otherwise, is just one of those new British musicals.Summer Street sees four has-been soap opera stars reunite for a one-off, comeback TV special. Tensions in old friendships are pulled tight again, old flames are rekindled, but not everything is the same between the band of eccentric actors. Each of the four actors has lost their way, and only stepping back onto Summer Street, the world's first musical soap opera, will help them find their place in life again.Unfortunately for a show as fun and irreverent as this, the late show time may have caused the smaller-than-normal Warren audience to be a little quiet, with some of the jokes and one-liners falling flat as the musical got underway. Perhaps audiences weren’t quite as knowledgeable about the Aussie soap opera legacy as they imagined, so references to tropes, characters, and shows were sometimes missed.Additionally, the overarching message of the musical felt a little lost towards the end, with the final twists and turns (delightful nevertheless) perhaps coming slightly too late and possibly posing too many new questions in the final moments to make a satisfying ending.However, the show as a whole was a slick and tightly run piece despite the mayhem and intentionally wobbly acting playing out in the story’s rehearsal scenes. The book in particular was strong, with a very catchy score accurately evoking 90s cheese through harmonies and pop music, and the whole cast’s great vocal talent is impossible not to mention.Structurally, Summer Street was very cleverly put together and made for an engaging and very unique show, with storylines in the TV soaps running alongside and mirroring and blending in with the real life storylines of the characters.Even if the pastiche-ridden story failed to resonate for the whole audience, it was charmingly ridiculous and funny throughout and a wonderfully tongue in cheek depiction of Australian golden-age soap operas.If you would like an hour dipping into a world where life imitates soap and soap imitates a strange, high drama world that can only exist on the small screen, then settle into Summer Street.

We have all been through frustrating moments of not being able to find the right words at the right time. For George and his wife Mary, this problem is seeing their marriage disintegrate.George is a talented linguist, dedicated to the task of documenting dying languages, helped by his sweet and adoring assistant Emma. George confesses that he is more moved by the death of a language than a death of a person, and therein lies the irony that plagues him throughout the play; the inability to show emotion or feeling through the languages he loves and mourns, much to Mary, and Emma’s, agony. After leaving cryptic and desperate notes around the house for George to find, Mary leaves, and the language of loss that The Language Archive endeavours to unpick throughout its duration begins to utter its first words.The Language Archive is an inventive and whimsical play, with gently quirky characters moving through themes of love, loss and life using the rhythms and qualities of unknown and dying languages to help the characters, and the audience, to make sense of them. Julia Cho’s script is beautifully poetic if at times a little sickly, and it sometimes spends a little too long waxing poetic and too little time developing George – who remains tongue-tied and stilted throughout. Moments of unlikely happenings unfortunately make some of the enchanting events seem contrived, which makes for a slightly frustrating narrative at times. However, genuinely special moments emerge, such as the audience to character exchange of Esperanto, an international language invented in 1887, exploring the subtleties of simple but important phrases.The cast of five included some familiar New Venture faces, and they took to the challenging task of juggling nine characters (plus languages and accents) between them will skill and ease. Perfectly timed comedy bobbed along in perfect balance with expressions of grief, and every cast member delivered their many parts with conviction, adeptly conveying subtleties in the script and allowing the subtext-rich play to unravel naturally.Any frustrations in the piece seemed to be caused by the script itself, with no real weaknesses to be found in the cast, direction, or even the inventive set made up of white cabinets that unfolded and unpacked to reveal bakeries, hospitals, and archive recording rooms. The Language Archive is a unique play deftly played out by another team of talented NVT actors and directors, who provide a memorable and delicately thought-provoking evening.

Unmasked Theatre are filling the week before Christmas with a stage adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life, the 1946 festive favourite. The classic comedy-drama tells the story of George Bailey, a kind-hearted dreamer who finds himself wondering if life would be better without him in it. With all of his life’s ambitions cast aside to keep his father’s Building and Loans company afloat, and bankruptcy threatening to swallow up the town he dreamed of leaving, we see the events leading up to George contemplating suicide on a bridge on Christmas Eve. This is also when George’s guardian angel, Clarence Oddbody, steps in to help him see sense and show him a darker world in which none of his good deeds took place.With some reshuffling of events, Unmasked Theatre brought a near-replica of the film to the stage. It’s an ambitious undertaking, fitting an entire town’s worth of characters onto the pint-sized Rialto stage. However, the most was made of the space, with scenes spilling into the audience to a nice, immersive effect, and hearing the chatter of the ensemble cast made some scenes really come alive. The production got off to a slightly disjointed beginning, and overall, it could have benefitted from some trimming or streamlining in places. However, the performances were strong throughout from the cast of 13, who were skilfully tackling a huge number of characters between them.Liam Murray Scott put in a very strong performance as George Bailey, shining particularly in his impassioned speeches to the town. Also worthy of note was Elizabeth McNally, who played an extremely cool, cunning Mrs. Potter; her superiority and lack of empathy for the town’s residents was chilling. In contrast, Tyrone Purling brought a charming eccentricity to his portrayal of Clarence Oddbody, the guardian angel intent on helping George and earning his wings in the process. Although he had scenes dotted throughout the narrative, by the end of the performance you were left wishing you’d seen more of him through the show, as his interactions with Bailey were as sweet as they were comedic.An interesting addition to the show was the insertion of live song, beautifully arranged by Katie Bond, Toby Starbuck and Pip O’Neill. The snippets of music added period colour to the production and stitched scenes together; an unexpected and very enjoyable element to the show.It’s a Wonderful Life was an ambitious production of a complex film that was perhaps held back a little by the space. With a full house, it was a heart-warming production from the always creative and engaging Unmasked Theatre, and a fun way to spend a cold evening conjuring up some festive spirit.

'Get yourself an oil-based boyfriend'. If there was ever a piece of advice to take forward into the remainder of 2018, this would be one of the best.Written by and starring Gemma Jones, Vibrantly Lieu: Welcome to the PVC Shopping Channel tells the sloppy-drunk rise, fall and rise again of Neve, a young woman desperate to become a shopping channel star. Landing a job with skincare brand Vibrantly Lieu, she is pumped to make her debut until her boyfriend of four dates and five sleepovers dumps her minutes before she goes on air. What follows is Neve's spectacular unravelling on live TV fuelled by lovesick bitterness and, crucially, wine. Unfortunately, very few people were in to see the madness unfold.Dressed in a hot pink suit, Neve chatters away to her boss Alexandra and desperately seeks her approval, while Alexandra (played with lofty arrogance by Victoria Welsh) taps on her phone and frets (glamorously, mind you) over pressure to sell all of their stock to please their investors. Rebecca Cutts stepped into the role of smarmy (award winning, lest we forget) shopping channel veteran Emily Lively and was convincing throughout as she desperately tried to pull together a show that was rapidly falling apart.There were heaps of genuinely funny moments throughout the play, most notably Neve's precarious lotus position meditation session on a stool and her bitter analogies linking beauty products and disappointing boyfriends. Scene changes were smoothed over with a wonderfully tacky intro to the PVC Shopping Channel. Overall the piece felt more like an extended sketch rather than an entire play, and while Neve's descent into inebriated chaos on live TV was very funny, there needed to be a little more story around that as the comedy of the situation did begin to lose steam as the conclusion brought the story to a slightly abrupt end.The reasons behind the high number of empty seats was unclear; overall the quality of the production was high, a lot of effort seemed to have been put in to marketing the show's Brighton Fringe run, and perhaps it was just the lure of the summer sunshine on the beach two minutes away that robbed the show of its audience. However, the small turn out wasn't a reflection on the quality of the show, and it didn't deter any of the cast. The show went ahead full steam and without a single hitch.Vibrantly Lieu: Welcome to the PVC Shopping Channel is a witty production that is definitely deserving of a larger audience. If more TV shows panned out like Vibrantly Lieu... I daresay their ratings would increase faster than Neve's alcohol content.

Tom and Bunny Save the World is a folk musical. A folk musical, but with zombies. Think Once and Shaun of the Dead. We follow, or rather, chase after, the tough and independent Bunny as she, the anxious, wimpy Tom and their gaggle of eccentric friends try to travel up north from London to lovely Yorkshire in the middle of a zombie apocolypse.The zombie apocolypse craze seems to have been and gone, but Fat Rascal Theatre have brought the genre back from the dead to pull together what is a crazed sprint through musical theatre and horror film parodies. It had the feeling of a musical, a comic book and a film all at once, and the amount of theatrical and cinematic references it crammed in would take quite some untangling. The cast showed astronomical levels of energy and the show went from naught to sixty practically in the first four bars of music.However, despite the serious vocal skill of the entire cast, the book as a whole wasn't as strong as I'd hoped, and most of the songs blended in to one another. It was refreshing, however, to see that not much was made of the several queer characters and the independent female leads. Rather than stop and make a point of diversity and challenges to stereotypes, or have their characters revolve around their sexuality or gender to make said point, it was all just presented as a 'like it or leave it' fact of the show. Which, overall, was reflected in the production as a whole.Tom and Bunny... was littered with genuinely funny moments and witty observations about class in Britain, regional stereotypes, politics and feminism. The blocking was comedic and the delivery was in most places spot on. However, the show stopped dead in its tracks right when it started to get too much set up meant there was no time left to actually see this mad group of characters save the world. You're left to presume they did. Despite the high production quality, the musical seemed to just explore the idea of a zombie apocolypse musical and it was the structure, rather than the material that severely let the piece down. But, there's only so much you can do in sixty minutes.Some younger members of the audience seemed to be struggling with the frequent adult language and occasional gore and maybe the age recommendations weren't quite high enough for what was a fairly adult show.Chaotic, comedic but structurally unsatisfying, Tom and Bunny Save the World boasts a fantastic cast and is an entertaining hour with the stamp of a classic Fringe musical.

What happens behind closed doors? How much do you really know about your neighbours? Is that knowledge you're better left without? The Field Street Monologues consists of six monologues exploring exactly those things. We meet a young man embarking on his first dating in the dark experience, a clown recounting the lifelong escalation of hatred for his mother, a businessman mourning the loss of a very close friend. Just along the road there is a theatre costumier gossiping about the cast of divas backstage, a naive bachelor finding love on the internet and a wife with murder - and whelks - in mind. We peek behind each door on a Black Country street and delve into a neighbourhood full of unique, intriguing stories.As a form, monologues can sometimes prove difficult to adjust to, but each piece was introduced and tied together with short, neat rhymes that gently guided you through the street, adding humour and ensuring cohesion, like a thread holding together a tapestry. Jules Garvey-Welch, shortlisted for the Kenneth Brannagh Drama Award, has woven a rich tapestry indeed with The Field Street Monologues with a charming, slightly cheeky wit and regular dips into the darker corners of the human pysche. There were plenty of laughs from the audience and a few quiet gasps when the more disturbing events unfolded. As the theatre is stashed away above Bar Broadway, the stage was fairly restricted in its size, and there was simply a kitchen table and chairs and an ironing board to set up the six different homes. Props were used economically and, as such, the most was made of the space. Just simple touches were needed to move your imagination along to the next house; picking up a mixing bowl took you to Geraldine's kitchen, a sewing bag took you backstage at the theatre with Maud. Scene changes were quick, delivery was tight, and every cast member confidently embodied their roles and were captivating from the start. Naturally, some monologues were stronger than others, some felt more whole and a clear story was developed, whereas others had a more meandering, stream of consciousness feel and ended before you wanted them to.The Field Street Monologues was a quirky, dark, amusing evening of monologues boasting quality writing and strong performances, and I found it to be an especially inspiring evening as a playwright.

Heimatmann, featuring just two performers, John Casey and Jessie Waterfield, tells the story of Georg Elser. Elser was a German man who failed to assassinate Adolf Hitler – but only by a matter of minutes. We hear his story from his ghost as he swigs beer, tells jokes and and reminisces about that tumultuous period in Germany's history.Georg Elser's story isn't widely told in UK schools, but writer and performer John Casey was inspired by the fact that German schoolchildren confront their country's painful history at a young age, often struggling to accept it. In fact, it was a friend in America who informed me that I was about to see a play based on a true story, which shifted the experience to a different level and ultimately made the piece more enjoyable. Without this knowledge, the who, what and why of the play would feel unanswered as the script felt muddled and there was no clearly defined narrative to guide you through for the majority of the play.Heimatmann was a challenge for both spectator and performer, with only six audience members and the extremely distracting hubbub from the pub downstairs regularly stalling the show. However, Casey dealt with the set backs well and even when losing his lines briefly he continued admirably. It was a shame that the delivery of the more delicate lines was lost in the clatter of the shouting drinkers, the traffic outside and the toilets next door. I strongly feel that had the play been performed in a quieter venue better suited to theatrical performance over comedy, the overall execution of the play would have been significantly improved. Jessie Waterfield delivered German folk songs with a sweet voice and visible emotion – the music adding a lot of atmosphere to a production very out of place with its surroundings. The inclusion of an original song by Casey was a nice touch and enhanced the clear passion he had for his subject.It was enlightening to speak to Casey about his intentions for Heimatmann after the performance. He explained it is an attempt to assuage the pain of Germany's past, and make a connection with the present. Perhaps adding this information for those unfamilar with Elser's story (as most people will be) as a prefix to the play would enhance the story's significance. Imagining this production in a different black-box theatre venue highlighted that many of the problems with the show stemmed from external sources. Heimatmann was a thought-provoking play let down by the venue, but I was left with a genuine desire to learn more about this so-almost-historic figure in German history. It was the good and bad of the Fringe in a one-hour slot: new stories about rarely discussed people but lacking quality in its execution.

A play about mental health and growing up with an alcohol-dependent mother. Admittedly, a fairly hard sell for a Friday afternoon. For just 55 minutes, Rum in the Gravy Boat packs a lot in - actor Leigh Johnstone's whole childhood, to be exact. What threatened to be a dark and heavy piece proved to be anything but; frank and funny, light-hearted but moving, the play was an inspiring theatrical accomplishment.Playing to a small crowd in The Warren's Blockhouse, Leigh Johnstone introduces Rum in the Gravy Boat with a voiceover, saying the piece is the first play he's written about his life. What follows is a unique blend of storytelling, drama, autobiography, and comedy, which is initially slightly jarring when you're not familiar with Fluid Motion Theatre Company's style of work. We're taken through the innumerable bedrooms Leigh grew up in and all the way through school, where Leigh found his passion and escape in theatre. The story tumbles out from a green metal frame house littered with boxes from which Leigh produces various props to illustrate his story. One subtle touch is the gradual accumulation of wine bottles on the stage, a small detail communicating the huge effect his mother's alcoholism had on his childhood.Both Leigh and Ali Gill, who played Leigh's mother, were captivating from the start, tearing through the extremely varied material with raw and endless energy. Their performances were backed up by very slick and effective sound design that for me, was a particular highlight of the show.Structurally, the piece felt chaotic and a little muddled at times, with parts of Leigh's experiences whipped past in just a sentence and the stark contrast of comedy and drama sometimes leaving you at a loss. However, before slating the structural integrity of the piece, it could be that the play's confusion effectively reflects Leigh's childhood and his mother's life: disjointed, confusing and full of pressure. The inclusion of Leigh's mother's voice talking about her feelings about a play about her struggles is as unexpected as it is powerful, and was a unique and memorable addition to the emotional texture of the play.Rum in the Gravy Boat is a deeply personal story that, although at times difficult to watch, will remain long in the mind for its intense bravery. For Leigh's first play about himself, it's certainly worth the watch.

For so long the history books have been written by men and about men, and Royal Pavilion guide Louise Preskett aims to correct this imbalance with a 90 minute amble through Brighton sharing stories about the pioneering women in this 'golden triangle of women's history'.The tour begins outside St. Nicholas church in central Brighton, where, on this particular Sunday, the sun was out and the bells were ringing. It was the perfect day to celebrate some fantastically eccentric historical figures.The first stop was at Martha Gunn's grave. Gunn is one of Brighton's best-known characters and a famous dipper – someone who helped women bathers in and out of the sea - and her legacy lives on in several businesses still running in Brighton today. From helping to put Brighton on the map as a sea bathing health resort (thank God the NHS doesn't prescribe drinking two pints of seawater with milk) to being depicted single-handedly saving the English from a French invasion with a mop, using the larger-than-life Martha Gunn as the opening act for the tour certainly set you up for the kind of mad, swashbuckling stories you were going to hear for the next hour and a half. Another notable visit is made to the grave of Phoebe Hessel, a woman who served in the 5th Regiment of Foot for 17 years and lived to over 100 years old. From there, Preskett takes you through the Lanes and to the battered Hippodrome where so many famous faces graced the stage, to the Pavilion and Theatre Royal. Without wanting to completely divulge every fascinating fact from the tour, stories touch upon everything from a woman who brought Russian literature to English-speaking readers, Black history being made in law and on the silver screen, cunning Suffragettes and far from sweet chocolate box poisonings. The stories are as rich and diverse as Brighton remains today.Preskett creates a relaxed atmosphere throughout the tour, and her vast knowledge of and passion for the city and gentle humour make even the most disturbing stories engaging. While it is a real joy to hear these stories about the visionary female figures of the city, it did disappoint me to realise I had lived in Brighton for 25 years without knowing anything of many of these women. Surely the local schools (I had no idea I had been walking past Mount Everest's namesake in my school's churchyard for ten years, for example) should be making more of these brilliant historical figures in their curriculum.The tour was fascinating from start to finish and Preskett, who also runs tours in Kemptown and Hove, is a brilliant guide and storyteller, with her passion for her subject plain to see.

Brighton doesn't really need its ego stroking, but a little indulgence now and then can't hurt, which I think is the philosophy the city is built on. Beginning the tour by mulling over what makes Brighton just that little bit different (yes, I'm looking at you, the father pushing a pram while riding a unicycle on the seafront) it was clear the tour was going to be amusing, tongue in cheek, and filled with quirky stories.Initially I was regretting booking a walking tour on a Saturday evening while three festivals (Brighton Fringe, Brighton Festival and The Great Escape Festival) were all in full swing alongside the lingering royal wedding celebrations and the usual stag and hen parties. However, despite the group being occassionally harrassed by people drunk on beer and too much sun, the city's party atmosphere was a perfect reflection of the Brighton our guide Ric Morris was telling us about: creative, chaotic, a little bit rough and a little bit mad.Being a born and bred Brightonian (Hove, actually) meant I was eager to see what new things I could learn about the city I know like the back of my hand. As it turned out, I don't know the back of my hand as well as I thought. My recurring thought throughout the tour was "Well, I didn't know that..." and I was constantly surprised by things I have walked past all my life but never really noticed. The material was consistently amusing and always engaging.The tour started at the Royal Pavilion (naturally) and wound through the North Laines to then finish right on the beach between Brighton's two piers. Ric's material occassionally dipped into the darker corners of Brighton's history, but overall it was a celebration of the weird and wonderful that has made Brighton the strange beast it is today. Ric put faces to names with a folder of images as he spoke, and spoke about everything from ABBA's Eurovision win in Brighton, cult Parisian radio stations, irresponsible royal personalities to the bricks and mortar (and flint, and grit, and whatever else we could find...) that literally built Brighton from the ground up. It was varied but very well structured tour.Ric obviously runs a well oiled machine for his tours and the ninety minute mosey around the city flew by. Although individuals with a very extensive knowledge of Brighton history already probably won't learn anything new, the tour is a great way for both tourists and locals to hear some lesser-known stories about an infamous city, learn some funny facts like why your beautiful new house by the sea might be ready to fall down and soak up some atmosphere.Ric wrapped up the tour with a rather neat, poetic conclusion and I left with a deeper knowledge about and love for my home town. It's an easy recommend for tourists and locals alike.

What's Wrong With Monotony? sees a dishevelled, defeated writer struggling to put pen to paper, an activity I can confirm takes up more than half of every writer's career.Choosing to hide under his blanket on the sofa instead of tackling the blank page, the writer is ambushed by his three actor friends who are eagerly expecting a new play to rehearse. They are quickly let down. Realising he hasn't written a word, they're determined to get what they came for. A quick bet is placed and now our writer has just five minutes to write a play. What follows is a snappy, tongue in cheek romp through Victorian-era musical melodramas featuring villains, goody-goody heroes, love, laughter and despair. Whether the play bothers to answer its own question - whether plays have to really be about anything? - in amongst the laughs is debatable. But I think that's the whole point.Owen Bleach showed great variety in his performance as the writer, at first simmering with creative frustration then bringing out the laughs with his portrayal of the simpering, well-to-do husband. Both Gordon Foggo and Emma Howarth gave good performances as the dastardly villain and lovestruck wife respectively and Sharon Drain, having starred in a one-woman show before, effortlessly took on a host of different characters and musical numbers. Director Margot Jobbins kept up the pace of this energetic comedy with tight direction, and the hour-long performance flew by.Unlike the show's protagonist, playwright Tim Coakley did manage to put pen to paper to create and share an amusing mix of yearning, melodramatic poeticism and eye-rolling one-liners between the solid cast of four, whilst painting a funny, stereotypical (but still accurate) portrayal of the ever-suffering writer.As the first show of the Rialto's Fringe programme, What's Wrong With Monotony? gets things off to a good start. The cheeky tip-of-the-hat 'the old uns are the good uns' sense of humour might not be for everyone, but those looking for a light hour of easy comedy would do well to catch this show.

The STAC @ Northbrook Showcase featured 14 Musical Theatre Degree students, advertising their many performance talents in just over an hour of song and dance. The fourteen-strong company deftly tackled material across a wide range of classic and contemporary styles, from haunting numbers from Carrie and Sweeney Todd to the sugar-sweet harmonies of Waitress. The showcase also featured a number of well-arranged medleys from Boyfriend, and the Tony nominated Dear Evan Hansen, along with accomplished tap and contemporary dance routines.The talent from the entire company was plain to see from the offset, their focus and energy unwavering and their incredibly strong vocal aptitude filling the auditorium. Although the men were a little overpowered by the women, even if just by number alone, in the ensemble pieces, they came into their own in solo moments. Dylan Andrews and Tommy Smith delivered a particularly powerful interpretive dance sequence exploring the effect prohibitive standards of masculinity has on men’s mental health. This felt especially relevant with Mind and Rethink Mental Illness’ current Time to Change campaign, which focuses on ending the stigma around men’s mental health problems.Although there were some sound hiccups and the dance routines upset the flow of the musical material a little, it was a small blemish on an otherwise brilliant performance that was well received by an appreciative audience. It was a pleasure, if a little intimidating, to spend an afternoon witnessing the talents of 14 triple threats, all of whom look to be well on the way to treading the boards across Theatreland and beyond.

Walking into The Warren’s Studio 2 to the sounds of Vengaboys, Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani, it was clear I was in for an hour-long nostalgia hit. Split tells the story of Charlotte and Ellie, who meet on the first day of secondary school, and shows the ups and downs of their friendship from that moment through to their Year 11 prom. They cover everything together: sex, boyfriends, periods, hormones, polycystic ovary syndrome, and the death of a bald but well-loved cat, named Bach.While the dialogue at first felt awkward, it did in fact mimic what it was like to make friends as a timid Year 7 suddenly in a big school. As Charlotte and Ellie bonded, the comedy in their relatable but ridiculous conversations came thick and fast, dropping the hard truths that only lucky families have trampolines, amongst many others.Tamar Broadbent and Emma Pritchard both delivered brilliant performances, from their excellent comedic timing, to their renditions of Millennium classics and a side-splittingly intense dance mat sequence. With all of this, they perfectly encapsulated what growing up as a young girl in the Noughties was like. From the rolled up skirts, short ties and melodramatic conversations about sex and gossip, and even to the rising inflection no teenager in the 2000s could seem to speak without, every detail was included and clearly recognised by the audience, who were laughing the whole way through. Although the emotional hit of Charlotte and Ellie’s story came a little late in the play and, as such, its close felt quite sudden, it still managed to pull off showing a softer side to the two prattling, slightly bitchy schoolgirls.Fast-paced, fun and witty, Split was a hilarious flashback into adolescence, and a pitch perfect portrayal of young female friendship.

In a time of pre-war political tension, gone are the days of frothy fashion journalism for Pamela More, a feisty and glamorous Times journalist who stubbornly prioritises haute-couture over Hitler. However, the scandalous abdication crisis of 1936 and the looming possibility of war forces her to look beyond the hats and furs and she is abruptly launched into a whirl of espionage, tasked by MI5 with spying on Wallis Simpson.Writer Sarah Sigal has created a memorable and highly amusing character in Pamela More, and Rebecca Dunn gives a wonderful, seamless performance without a single line out of place. She is perfect as More, delivering quick quips and witticisms in delicious RP and moving through not only a number of other characters, but also More’s political awakening with spirit, and sensitivity.The piece as a whole had a film noir ambience, with comical, action-packed montages of More crossing Europe with Wallis Simpson’s swimsuit, and it would make a delightful wartime romp should it ever make the transition from stage to screen. Scenes are embellished with subtle but effective music that add a lot to the atmosphere of the piece, furthering its cinematic quality. There are glimpses into More’s more personal troubles that, were they further developed, would have brought an already vivid character more to life, and the story’s conclusion felt a little sudden, but there is only so much you can fit into a piece of just over an hour. Overall it was a very engaging and impressive one-woman show that left you wanting more; easy to recommend.

Two decades of drought result in a ban on the use of private toilets, and citizens are forced to pay through the roof to use public amenities, a privilege we currently enjoy in the real world without the excuse of a drought. A classic story of underdog vs. megalomaniac corporation, Urinetown ticks all the musical clichés through witty narration and blatant self-awareness. Rife with wink wink nudge nudge humour and lyrics that aren’t afraid to reach for the sake of a rhyme, Urinetown is a unique musical in its ability to subvert conventions, whilst also humorously critiquing large-scale, universal issues.This particular production boasted a cast packed with excellent comedic timing and brilliant vocal talent. Ollie Wray held complete command over the role of Bobby Strong, the pissoir revolutionary who leads the water closet rebellion, and the fantastic Ellie Earl is the idealistic, but fatally naive, Hope Cladwell. Tony Bright and Max Bower made a hilarious double act as Officer Lockstock and Barrel, along with Elsie Lovelock as Little Sally, a ghostly but humorously shrewd street urchin.It’s an achievement in itself to fit a cast of 16 onto Little Theatre’s tiny stage, but choreographer Katy Markey packed several punchy routines in, with nods to West Side Story and Sweeney Todd, and Louis Craig’s direction made excellent use of the space. Overall, it was a smooth and stylish production with a lot of smoke, dust, stark makeup and leather, lending it an edgy, Rocky Horror vibe.Just as we can enjoy being able to relieve ourselves wherever we like, whenever we like, and with whomever we like, this great production of Urinetown will definitely enjoy a very successful run at Brighton Little Theatre.

Statistically, January is the month in which tickets to musicals sell best, largely due to the miserable weather and post-Christmas blues. Two Singular Sensations, in the intimate Purple Playhouse Theatre, proved once again that in these gloomy times, both politically and weather-wise, musical theatre is an excellent antidote. As promised, an evening with great singing and exciting dance was indeed delivered. West End performers, Edwin Ray and Emma Jane Morton, take you through a plethora of wonderful songs from the musicals, both classic and contemporary, and are supported by an impeccable band throughout. Ray and Morton are undeniably passionate and knowledgeable about their craft. They have a great dynamic as a duo and their talent is plain to see. It was a joy to watch them share their stories and favourite songs from the stage, taking on glitzy classics from Cabaret and A Chorus Line, to more low-key, sensitive numbers from Once and Finding Neverland. There seemed to be no limit to either Ray’s energy or the instruments Morton could pick up at a whim and play. The show was, unfortunately, laboured with some technical difficulties, but both Ray and Morton dealt with them in good humour. As a whole, the production would benefit from a little polishing in terms of transitions between acts, but it added to the charm of the evening and the performers themselves. Any hiccups that occurred during this particular performance will likely be smoothed out and didn’t detract from the overall quality of the evening. Through their sunny personalities and the energy they put into every piece, Edwin Ray and Emma Jane Morton managed to thaw what was initially a very quiet audience and earned themselves a well-deserved ovation. Aptly named, Two Singular Sensations is an easy show to recommend. A feel-good whirl through song and dance, it is a must for musical theatre fans.

Hannah, a 15 year old girl, dies giving birth in a grotto. Sporting a red satchel and scrunchie, she is a girl who is struggling not only with pregnancy, but also against the prying eyes of a small rural village, the weight of her Catholic upbringing and mounting schoolwork. Mary and Me presents a serious premise with a troubling subject, but explores it against the sounds of the 80s with a sweet sense of humour and playful wit that not only brighten the piece, but more importantly, lend extra weight to the tragedy and poignancy of the story.“Mary and Me is my first play”, begins the note from Kelleher in the programme. No doubt it’s many writers’ dream to have their first play be as good as this. To write an hour-long play is no easy feat; to write and star in said play is even harder, and Kelleher pulls it off perfectly. Not only is she a brilliant performer, whose commanding energy fills the space, but she is also an exceptionally talented writer, having penned a script with an abundance of character that builds a world around Hannah so vividly it could succeed in any space. The piece plays out like an extended confession to a statue of Mary and, as such, affords a great deal of space to build, not only a solid and endearing character in Hannah from the first line, but a whole cast of other characters as well.Engaging from the offset, Mary and Me was a vivid and powerful piece with presence and heart told by a wonderful storyteller and performer, made even more poignant for being based on a true story. If this review could only be one line, one audience member had already summed it up perfectly for me directly after the performance by simply saying: “that was stunning”.

A lengthy incarceration, a war outside of the prison walls, and two forgotten prisoners losing their grip on time and reality, Stones is essentially a slow unravelling of two characters, Jasper and Rose, who become entwined with one another through stories of the past, grief, and hallucinations.Artlandish Production’s usual subtle wit and lyrical prose was apparent from the outset as dialogue washed over you just as the character’s meandering thoughts washed over them. Talk of a moat around their prison cell added to the sense that the piece itself was being carried by a gentle, poetic tide throughout. The reason for the characters’ imprisonment remained a little unclear and left a nagging question unanswered, but the depth of the script and the detailed exploration of the piece’s layered characters more than made up for that.In a very strong cast of five, Chris Gates was particularly mesmerising as Jasper Stones and managed to give a compelling but sensitive performance while chained to a pillar for almost half of the play. Gates and Howarth’s delivery had a certain Shakespearian quality to it, and both were extremely enjoyable to watch.Judey Bignell’s direction added a cinematic quality to the piece, with Levins and Black, playing Jasper’s two dead brothers Peter and Lucious respectively, personifying the stories Jasper and Rose recounted to one another, often to comedic effect. The tale was very much suited to the blacked-out brick encasement of the Rialto, and it really didn’t need anything more than the single pillar as a set piece. It was well pulled together by simple, but effective lighting and original music from Hannah Baxter.Stones was another thoughtful and intriguing play from Artlandish Productions and a smooth, confident and truly enjoyable opening for Brighton Fringe.

Mamoru Iriguchi performs live, rigged up with a screen around his face and a projector above his head. Iriguchi explores the relationship between recorded material and live performance, while calling on Hollywood stars of the past. In discussing, using, and wearing technology, Iriguchi truly embodies his subject matter.In this unique, hour-long performance Iriguchi takes the audience through the turbulent story of Marlene Dietrich’s life. With his face poking out of the screen around his head where Dietrich’s face should be and dressed in a pink tuxedo while the audience watch wearing practically useless but symbolic 3D glasses, the piece instantly has a flash of absurdity about it. Iriguchi’s sincere performance and the thought provoking nature of the subject retains its substance.At first a seemingly straightforward retelling of Dietrich’s life, the work takes on its full significance in the second half of the performance, where the entire show is played back in reverse. This retelling makes way for a wealth of intriguing new meaning. Whille the piece as a whole is an exploration of Dietrich’s life and the conflation of film and live performance, the second half sees it become more about mortality. This point poignantly comes to light as the audience watch themselves, 60 minutes younger, leave the theatre in the reversed film footage.Iriguchi’s performance is gentle in its humour and wit; a lot of the comedy came from the very delicate balancing act he carried out just wearing the screen and projector, his deadpan delivery of the script and the distinctly home-made feel of the production as a whole. Admittedly, the use of technology could be tightened slightly. For instance, at points the subtitles Iriguchi scrolls through manually in the second half moved forward a little too fast to read. However, if the production did make use of slicker technology, a large part of its charm and humour would be lost.4D Cinema, as the title would suggest, proved to be a very immersive, engaging performance, steeped in imagination, inventiveness and thoughtful poeticism.

The course of true love doesn’t run smooth for long in this Shakespearian comedy. As Duke Theseus and Hippolyta prepare for their wedding, Egeus, an Athenian citizen arrives with a predicament: His daughter Hermia won’t marry the man he intends for her, Demetrius, and instead has fallen for Lysander. Demetrius himself has baggage; he used to love Hermia’s friend Helena but now loves Hermia, much to Helena’s heartbreak. Alongside this, a comically unskilled troop of craftsmen prepare a play for Theseus’ wedding and things begin to take a turn for the worst as they soon fall prey to the strange magic of the woods, where the fairies and sprites lurk.The performance, by Brighton University Drama Society, opens with twinkling music onto a minimalist but suggestive set, dressed simply with ivy vines and fairy lights. The subtlety hinted at the enchanting nature of the story. The production overall is very strong, it's well-directed and embellished with a host of particularly beautiful costumes. In fact, a lot of the comedy in the craftsmen’s play comes from the inventiveness of the costume design. Who knew a wall could have such comic timing?Initially the performance was a little self conscious, but the cast soon warmed up and hardly a slip was made during the play’s two and a half hour duration. It is a commendable achievement in itself to tackle a play of this length, especially added with the density of a Shakespearian script. The cast gave a particularly credible performance; Oscar Stafford shone as the mischievous sprite Puck, giving a playful and energetic performance throughout. There wasn’t a single weak link that brought the production down.Brighton University Drama Society presented a very enjoyable, charming performance of Shakespeare’s sweet and tangled comedy.

Would Like to Meet presents an hour of real life dating stories brought into being by the melodramatic Ally, who is desperate to find love and get married; Liz who has grown bored with domesticity and married life; Keith, who fancies himself as Tom Cruise; David, who ‘loves Grindr but has terrible taste in men’, and Janet, Ally’s fun-size, Mars bar snaffling, nemesis. Along with a host of other characters, they’d all got their hearts locked on love.The show opens with a set of statistics explaining the reality of today’s dating. These are then studded throughout the story, effectively contextualising the piece and reinforcing its inspiration from reality. It was then divided into snappy and intensely uncomfortable speed dating scenes, standalone anecdotes detailing stories of bad decisions and mortifying parties, and lengthier segments in which the characters worked comically through their love lives, or lack thereof.Writers Christine Kempell and Hilary Handel offer a script that is laden with hilarious observations, including a particularly relatable passage outlining the suffocating politics of loading the dishwasher, which was wonderfully delivered by Sophie Dearlove. Another success came with the smaller, quieter stories that briefly refreshed the narrative and injected a little dash of much needed sweetness into the show- the rest of the characters were seemingly falling out of love with love itself. Knowing that each account was backed up by true life gave them an extra sting of humour and poignancy.From a practical point of view, the production could have benefitted from tighter execution; the statistics and character dating profiles on display distracted somewhat from the action on stage, and could perhaps have been used as transitions between scenes, instead of as part of the scenes themselves. The main downside to this production was that there were countless characters for the very entertaining cast of four to rattle through. While every story was packed with humour, despite the small costume changes and accents, it was a little difficult to keep up with who was who. However, these proved to be small blemishes on an otherwise great performance that had the audience laughing right from the start.

Bane looks to relocate and start anew in a new town, a town so idyllic no one would expect to find him there: Sunnyview. Comic snatches of life in suburbia conjure up images reminiscent of the squeaky clean, pastel town of Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. Bane, now known as Bill Black, settles down and starts a family, but of course, this peace doesn’t last long. Having angered his boss after quitting the business, Bane is plagued by a new set of hitmen intent on killing him. He is forced to flee his cosy new life, and winds up losing everything. This third instalment of the series is distinctly lonelier in mood; Bane is questioning his life as a hitman, the memories of the death of his friendly neighbour, Neil, haunt him each time he goes to his door. But after a suspenseful opening, it doesn’t take long for the story to descend into Bane’s characteristic madness. Joe Bone treats us to more increasingly hilarious, absurd circumstances, and his energy and skill as a performer is astounding. Bane enters a dance competition with one of his enemies; he finds a life-saving use for the world’s biggest cushion. A host of brilliant characters, including an apoplectic French chef and a menacing, whispering wisp of a hitman, all serve to whip the story up into another wacky, but wonderfully astute piece of theatre.Ben Roe’s soundtrack once again delightfully accompanies the action, adding drama, suspense and spikes of humour into tense scenes with ease.The show drew to a close this time on a very dark, melancholic note that drew audible emotion from the audience. Bane demonstrates the power of story and performance and once again Bone and Roe delivered a masterful, memorable piece of theatre.

Bane tells the story of hitman Bruce Bane, ‘a hired hand who gets the job done’. In the first instalment of the story, Bane works back through a convoluted web of friends, foes, memories and chance encounters to find out who is after him. Drama, comedy, and the consequent body count are all extremely high in this unashamedly mad, fast-paced crime story. Bane is, quite simply, a triumph. Gripping from the outset, the show is an ingenious film-noir pastiche that sparkles with wit and charm, told entirely through the body of sole performer, Joe Bone. Bone tirelessly races through the story which is littered with hilarious, distinctive villains who are each characterised by an accent from one of Bone’s seemingly inexhaustible range. No props, no set pieces or sound effects were necessary to effectively evoke the story’s strange, dangerous world, which has been expertly crafted with a great script and tons of cinematic flair. It is the conflation of theatrical and filmic conventions that makes this piece of theatre so wonderfully unique; the sheer imagination of the story and its dashes of self-awareness mean it never ceases to entertain. Not a single weak scrap of dialogue or dull scene brings this production down. Not only is Bane a brilliant hour of comedy, it also includes possibly the best evil laugh to date.The live soundtrack accompanying the story, played by Ben Roe, is subtle and atmospheric, seamlessly blending in with every scene to effectively set mood and tone. It is an understated but essential element of the show.If you like your theatre sharp, witty and frankly unforgettable, Bane is definitely not one to miss.

Airswimming tells the tragic story of two women, Dora and Persephone, who have been incarcerated and forgotten in an asylum for the criminally insane in the 1920s. While this premise is admittedly daunting at first glance, the story is lifted far from the dark, disturbing terrain it could have wallowed in with dashes of heartfelt humour and occasional, blissful scenes where the women retreat into their own fantasy worlds. Studded with both comical and moving renditions of Doris Day songs that serve to comment on the mood of the scene and mind-set of the characters, it is a unique and clever piece of theatre. Alison Nicol’s performance of Day’s Secret Love was particularly touching.With Persephone idolising and impersonating Doris Day, regularly getting swept up in her imagination of a world filled with glamour and adoration, and Dora fantasising about the army and a triumphant life as some of history’s greatest women, the pair are well equipped to become a memorable double act from the onset. The play is an excellent vehicle to showcase the talents of Tanya Chainey and Alison Nicol, whose performances are captivating, comical, inspiring and affecting.The story spans several decades, ending in the 1970s when the pair are finally released from the asylum. The fragmented narrative hops freely between decades and becomes more difficult to grasp as the story develops. Although it does feel tangled and ultimately confusing, it accurately reinforces the fact that inside the asylum, time has entirely lost its purpose. The feeling of the story’s structure essentially unravelling before you effectively comments on the state of the character’s minds and instils in the viewer the same emotions that are present on stage. It is this inclusion that makes Airswimming a very evocative and memorable show. The lack of a clearly defined plot makes space to explore the full breadth of Dora and Persephone’s emotions.The very intimate space of the venue had both its merits and its drawbacks. While it was successful in emulating the story’s overarching feelings of claustrophobia and confinement, from a practical point of view, it afforded too little space for clear scene changes and didn’t allow the best views for the audience. However, the quality of the performances and the poignancy of the story are more than enough to distract from these small disadvantages. Overall, Airswimming is an admirable piece of theatre that deserves every recommendation.

Facing both her 80th year and an unveiling of a new piece of artwork, artist Gert has a lot to think about. Not only that, the passage of time is pressing on her mind, causing her to question the course of her life as a whole, her status and integrity as an artist, and the state of art itself in modern society. As she grapples with innumerable questions, she is advised, teased and annoyed by the paintings and sculptures around her as they come to life.Playwright Katy Matthews offers an entertaining script full of witty and truthful remarks about art today, an even balance of comedy and intelligent, thought-provoking social and critical comment. The inclusion of the paintings as walking, talking characters is a very unique and imaginative touch, and all were a joy to watch. Cyril Blake was particularly brilliant as the superior and catty marble bust, Buster, who for the entire performance was confined from the shoulders down in a plinth.A stand out element of the show was the appearance of our troubled protagonist Gert’s younger self, stepping out of a self-portrait. This opened up touching scenes in which three generations of Gert consider the path they are on and how art has shaped them for better or worse, and each one seemingly looking to the other for answers. It would be remiss not to mention the quality of Lesley Arnold’s performance as Gert, who was at once angry and fragile, with touching glimpses of playfulness.As a whole, the story is carried very well by the talented cast of six, but Un-titled isn’t a story one should look to in order to find concrete answers to big questions; most of the philosophical issues raised, of which there were many, were left unresolved. Towards the end of the play, this did become a little frustrating as a viewer. However, this could be seen as an accurate translation of feeling from stage to audience as Gert becomes increasingly aggravated by the circular nature of her musings. Overall, Un-titled is a sound production with an abundance of fascinating, philosophical insight.

The Butterfly Catcher charts the class of 2015’s last days of high school and one student’s attempt to capture it all on film.It features all the staple school characters that are instantly recognisable and relatable: the alternative kids, the popular cliques and the overworked intellectuals. What makes this production stand out from the many other high school plays is its attitude. It is at once angry and tender, seamlessly exhibiting the pressure young students are under as they are made to choose careers at 15 while they grapple with love and loss in the midst of pointless exams.In a sense it seems wrong to be reviewing a piece of theatre that shows how teenagers are desperate to escape from judgement, both academic and social, but the quality of the production and the talent of the cast makes it enjoyable to recount.There was not a weak link in the cast, and their passion, energy and emotion was palpable. It was clear that The Butterfly Catcher is a story they believe in, and in turn they made you believe in it too. The script was excellent, mixing tight and punchy verse with an overrunning metaphor of the birth of a butterfly, along with a variety of well-executed songs. There was clever use of costume and with only school chairs to use as props, it was remarkable how well each scene was blended into the next.Students and parents alike would benefit from seeing The Butterfly Catcher; it was an excellent piece of theatre that proved to be relevant, touching and most of all, important.

Alana, a young recording artist, finds herself alone after the sudden death of her father. As if that would not be enough to deal with, she is set up for a new love and a drastically altered family tree as well.The play thrusts the audience into the story as fast as the characters are, establishing the setting firmly, clearly and quickly and doesn’t really let up the pace until the end. Despite this, Alana never became exhausting and by the close had created a delicate and touching story.Monologue melted into dialogue, and dialogue into song seamlessly, and the music choices proved sensitive, and moving at times. Alana’s mother provided a little humour with her conniving nature, and all of the actors seemed natural and comfortable in their roles.Although it was marketed as a modern fairy story, this element didn’t quite come to the fore. Alana was indeed fast paced as it had been described, which kept the story engaging and the audience interested. However, the play could have benefitted from a running time longer than an hour simply because of the big themes and situations the characters were exploring. Grief, love and a massive development in one’s family tree, all complex and difficult areas that in hindsight felt a little underdeveloped because of the lack of time they were afforded. Perhaps it was just the wish to see more of the characters that were likable and relatable, as the story itself had no faults in its structure or clarity.All in all Alana proved to be an engaging and moving story graced with good performances and lovely live music.

Talking in the Library follows four characters frequenting their public library, each with their own stories to tell. There is Derek, the rule-loving library manager who yearns for the past; Mari, a chatty, innocent cleaner with a hidden literary addiction; Bethany, a struggling women’s studies student; and Jay, a young man caught between the macho nature of his construction career and his love of poetry.The play was structured around a series of monologues, giving the piece an Alan Bennett vibe, which seamlessly dissolved into dialogue. As is often the case with monologue, it was character that held up the play. Their stories weren’t huge, sweeping dramas, but instead small, personal journeys that were emotional and affecting in their ordinariness.Each of their stories were engaging and very relatable, and by the end of the play they were rounded enough to become more than just characters in a play and people we have all known. However, out of the four, it was Mari that shined. Her loneliness and sweet, girlish way of looking at the world made her little personal victories against her negligent husband Ron all the more keenly felt. It was perhaps because Mari had been the feature of another play before Talking in the Library that she stood out amongst the rest of the characters, but Sue Goble’s portrayal gave her a cheekiness that made her instantly loveable. Because of Mari’s strength, the other characters did at times feel a little thin, although the capability of the cast prevented them from ever being boring. The script was full of touching observations and warm humour with an abundance of clever parallels to famous literary pieces, making it a real treat for theatre and literary fans to unpick.After a slightly shaky start, Talking in the Library picked up in confidence and played out with humour and sensitivity, and left the audience with four memorable stories. If you like your theatre quiet and thoughtful, Talking in the Library will deliver.

William Shakespeare has been reincarnated as a woman and is the cause of confusion and frustration for her therapist, Henry. During her sessions with him she decides that the Hamlet she wrote 400 years ago, the Hamlet we all know today, was well below standard. An entire rework of the play is needed. Ophelia is to take centre stage, and all her male counterparts are to be shoved into menial roles, and they are not going down without a fight.A Shakespearian play couldn’t have been given a more ludicrous premise, but it was carried off brilliantly by Irene Kelleher with humour, passion and endless amounts of energy. As the one and only performer on stage throughout the entire performance, backed up only by a few pieces of incidental music and amusing props, Kelleher was outstanding. Her energy never waned and every line was bursting with character. Each of the main characters were distinguishable and well defined by the comic mannerisms offered to them: Henry’s heavy German accent, Hamlet’s sassy strutting, Claudius’ angry mopping. The script is packed with witty takes on Shakespearean prose, creating a unique cast of characters in a very unique situation.However, behind all the silliness a sobering reality lies, and it is only towards the end of the play that the Shakespearian charade begins to fall away and the delusions of the loveably mad William come to the fore. The therapy sessions with Henry and William’s journal entries cleverly serve to etch away at William’s world until reality and fiction merge together and unravel at once, culminating in a delicate and touching finale in which William asks the question that all writers make their characters ask themselves: who am I? It is easy to say that Ian Wild’s script is all at once funny, clever, and inspiring and offers the Fringe one of the most interesting plays to see this year.It was truly a wonderfully written comedy that filled the hour with laughter; a definite must-see.

The year is 2042: Hollywood is dead, the film industry buckled under the weight of hefty blockbuster films. Independent filmmakers have transformed society into a cultural paradise, but all this is threatened when a young actress hands over the rights to Selma, a dated TV show of the 60s. With this comes the opportunity for a restless and ambitious screenwriter to revive the action-packed films of 2015 and recreate Selma for the silver screen.Point and Shoot is essentially a busy pastiche of a host of different film genres using only four actors to play all the parts and all the instruments, meaning the script is clever and the comedy is rife. No aspect of the industry is safe from beautifully sung sarcasm and sly jibes, but it is clear that it is all done in good humour, of which there was plenty. On-stage action is accompanied by hilarious film footage, adding another comic layer to the production.The plot escalates quickly into the absurd whilst still keeping hold of themes that are the core of thousands of film productions: love, greed, and realising dreams. The characters are comic, loveable and wonderfully portrayed by the cast, the highlights being the cool and calculating Donna and desperate Dolores both played by the same woman. All the madness is held up by catchy songs with witty lyrics and beautiful harmonies, and you are left no choice but to hum them on the way home.As there are only four members of the cast holding up a show of over fifty characters, making a feature of the innumerable costume changes and instrument swaps seemed necessary, and it makes the skill of the cast and the feat they accomplish even more obvious.The show, however frantic, chaotic and complicated, brims with joy and passion, and was very well received by the audience. Although the show’s blatant self-awareness could become a little wearing for some, it is great to see a cast so talented enjoying themselves so much.

After the success of last year’s dark comedy Way Back, 2 Complicated was bound for success. Daniel (Matt Lim), while still living with this ex-girlfriend, decides what he really needs to get over her is a long distance relationship. This seemingly simple solution to his problems is the catalyst for every complication thereafter, certainly making the play live up to its name. After a lot of confusion and social juggling, Daniel ends up with two long distance girlfriends and rekindled feelings for his ex.Daniel Henry Kaes succeeds in creating a script that is witty, relevant and relatable, and all the characters were distinct and easy to sympathise with. Personal highlights were the hilariously slow and mysterious Don who cropped up as a doorman and a barman, and the personification of Daniel’s thoughts, played wonderfully by Thomas Schlordt. Schlordt's place in the narrative kept jokes alive, added to the madness and also packed in characterisation that would have seemed forced if offered up in monologues. All in all it was a very well structured and sophisticated play.2 Complicated made a feature of the technology its characters were exploring by integrating video montage footage and Skype calls on a TV screen, which was a clever and well executed element, moving scenes along and adding humour with the likes of Charlie Chaplin, constellations, potatoes and the mating rituals of birds.There were moments of sincerity amongst the comedy, drawing on the emotional impact technology has on modern relationships. These perhaps could have been given more breathing space, but it was a small blemish on a brilliant play and another success for Punchline Theatre.

A mysterious and intriguing show, Blackout certainly makes up in atmosphere what it lacks in narrative. Featuring music by talented actor and musician Tim Cook, the show was a mix of drama and songs that were seamlessly intertwined with the story, and having been marketed as ‘part psychological thriller, part post-apocalyptic musical’, it was set up with a lot of promise.Amani Zardoe and Tim Cook both offered very strong performances as new neighbours Tracy and Mark with a good grasp on the intensely fiery script, but the fast delivery of the dialogue was a little hard to get used to at first. Scientist Tracy exuded a confidence that rubbed scruffy musician Mark up the wrong way in the best way, creating a friendship forced into conception due to a lengthy power cut that was as funny as it was touching in their more intimate moments.There were a lot of questions set up in the play’s short 45 minute span, and the main issue the piece suffered was their inadequate resolution. The main question asked by both the characters and the audience was what happened to the Earth after the sun failed to rise after the power cut. But the story was concluded with a revelation concerning the fate of Mark’s late girlfriend, which, while an important facet of his character by all means, wasn’t the main concern of the piece.Having no explanation or hint of resolution left you feeling unsatisfied at the end, and it would have encompassed its label as a thriller better if it had been equipped with a more dramatic ending. Overall it was a very good piece of theatre with a very promising story, but it unfortunately fell prey to an underdeveloped conclusion.

Lorna is settling into her new life in London while Brian is enjoying a reclusive lifestyle as a night chef; between Lorna’s brave forays into various evening classes and Brian’s meticulous cleaning regime, it seems unlikely that the two should ever meet. That is until the Metro’s lonely hearts column for commuters catches their eyes. A show with an interesting premise, Signal Failure takes the intimacy and awkwardness of the Underground and turns it into an unlikely love story.Rife with cheeky humour, it boasts an upfront and witty script and two brilliantly funny performances by Spencer Cowan and Sasha Ellen, who portray their quirky characters perfectly. The play had a lot of personality of its own, with snippets of pop music embellishing certain scenes, a comical and refreshing touch that bolstered the contemporary feel of the show.However, in terms of narrative structure, there was room for some improvements. Character back stories that were mentioned at the start of the play went largely forgotten until the end, where their revival felt a little rushed; weaving them in throughout the piece would have maintained curiosity and fleshed out the two already great characters more naturally. That said, it was still a highly enjoyable piece of theatre that offered a refreshing and memorable story; a show I would definitely recommend.

Male escorts, homosexuality and football: Away From Home takes on a lot in its one hour slot, and it scores perfectly in terms of tone, performance and narrative. It follows Kyle, an escort who finds himself falling for a client wrapped up in the life of the premier footballer. Working in an industry where homosexuality is slated as much as an own goal, their relationship is not set to run an easy course.Rob Ward, sole star of the show, demonstrates immense talent as he convincingly whips through the different characters needed to tell the story, each of them painted perfectly through touches of accent and gesture that allow their individuality to shine through, despite being portrayed by just one man. Bolstered by a sharp and witty script there really was nothing to fault in the way of performance or narrative. Ward as a performer and Kyle as a character were each winning in their own right, captivating from beginning to end with an abundance of personality.The mise-en-scene was simple and direct, the main focus point a sofa that doubled up as a car, a pub interior and a hospital bed. A bar stool that somehow convincingly managed to act as one of Kyle’s clients was as funny as it was clever, and it was the subtle hints of setting that really helped create the different scenes and showcase the excellent direction by Martin Jameson.All in all, the night was a great success in all areas, a moving and memorable story, and an important piece of theatre not to be missed by fans of football and LGBT theatre alike.

Way Back follows Carol, a member of the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Squad, as she goes to desperate and ridiculous measures to bring two men back from the verge of despair. A heartbroken boyfriend struggling in the wake of his girlfriend’s death and a washed up pop-star yearning for the paparazzi of the past. Despite their personal tragedies, each character’s tale of woe has a wealth of comedy to offer.The performances, in short, were brilliant. At once hilarious and touching, the actors portrayed their characters with wonderful comic timing. The play was made up of monologues intertwined with dialogue, a neat and clever way of including back stories for each character. This helped to create what became very real figures, who you could fully relate to in just an hours performance.Wonderfully witty with a dash of dark and cynical humour, Way Back had the audience laughing from start to finish. But alongside the humour was a genuinely moving story with loveable characters with whom you connected instantly, making for a very strong, well put together piece of theatre. The only recognisable fault with the show was the set dressing - for a play set in such an iconic place, the graffitied walls of the venue didn’t lend themselves to the windswept coast of Sussex. But considering how difficult that setting would have been to emulate and the quality of every other aspect of the show, it was certainly a forgivable flaw.The piece offers a humorous and hopeful perspective on a dark issue, and teaches one very important lesson. If life gets you down, a maraca and a bottle of cava are all you need to pick yourself back up.

A gentle, low-key musical exploring the relationship between jazz stars Billie Holiday and Lester Young, My Friend Lester offers an hour of soulful music against a story of struggling love.The show was structured around performances of Holiday’s songs bookended by monologues and short dialogues between the characters. No song was out of place and the story’s circular narrative tied the piece up cleverly by the end. However, the show is undoubtedly geared towards those with prior knowledge of Holiday’s life and music; the approach they took towards her extremely troubled life was also perhaps a little too sweet, leaving the you less affected than you could have been.The intimate Dukebox Theatre lent itself well to the intimacy of the story itself. The simplistic set piece – just a black dress and white gloves on a hanger – meant that your focus was entirely on the faultless music, which was arguably the most important element in both the story and Holiday and Young’s lives. Beautiful and melancholic, real-life couple Maria McAteer and Bjorn Dahlberg offered great renditions of Billie Holiday’s songs, showcasing their skill as a singer and saxophonist respectively.The musical offered context to McAteer and Dahlberg’s honeymoon, which was a nice detail but felt as if it would have belonged more naturally at the end. It blurred the line between their real relationship and the musicians’ relationship they were trying to portray, making it difficult to become completely immersed in their performance. Overall, it was a very enjoyable piece of theatre with the added privilege of offering beautiful music by talented musicians, a sure-fire success in any Holiday fan’s eyes.

Auld Acquaintance follows two couples through an extremely rocky Christmas – a dying mother, a newborn child and a kindling romance between two wives – a recipe for rising tension and bitter festive spirit.Although it was equipped with strong narrative and characterisation, it was hard to truly connect or care about the characters’ struggles as they were quite unlikeable, although that did serve for some extremely funny conversations and one-liners. A witty, well-structured script and great performances from the actors made their characters’ difficult personalities palatable, developed by cleverly directed monologues that never felt unnatural or out of place. But overall, the piece wasn’t as emotionally affecting as it could have been.Issues that often arise in staging a piece of theatre in such a small venue did come up, which left a few important moments to fall flat. A kiss (as I presume it was) between two central characters went by entirely hidden for those sitting at the back of the venue, and for such an intimate moment for such troubled characters, the impact of it was lost. But generally the space, or lack of, was managed extremely well throughout the rest of the play. The set consisted of just tables and chairs and left the audience to colour the rest in with their imagination. It was a good choice; anything more would have overwhelmed the stage and distracted from the actors’ strong performances, and the dialogue between them was deep and captivating enough to not need anything to support it. It’s important to note that there is very strong language throughout the play, so theatre-goers with more sensitive ears may find it a little too much.Dark, cynical and a touch melodramatic, Auld Acquaintance is a tense, comic portrayal of family politics that made for a very enjoyable hour of performance.

Most of those to whom I mentioned this show thought I would be in for an evening of hard-hitting, emotional grit concerning the nation’s touchiest issue, but Immigrant Diaries was a far cry from those misconceptions. Through a storytelling show delivered by four wonderful women, the audience were treated to an array of tales of childhood experiences growing up in immigrant families, finding their feet as adults in this ‘marvellously mongrel’ island and changing ideas of what cultural identity means to them.Hosts Sajeela Kershi and Sameena Zehra created a warm, relaxed atmosphere that set the tone of the show; it was as simple as a group of friends coming together to share stories. Topics ranged from disastrous family holidays, embarrassing linguistic blunders and Jewish weddings, each anecdote filled with wit, good-humoured digs at the quirks of different cultures and deft observation. The overall theme of the show, as agreed by both the hosts and audience, was identity, and the hour was spent celebrating diversity and exploring the inherent similarities of the human condition across the globe, whilst affectionately highlighting the stereotypes and embarrassing traits of our mishmashed nationalities.There was one phrase that hit the spot towards the end: ‘surprise is what’s delicious about storytelling’. As each show will offer new guests, new stories and new perspectives, it seems that mantra will most certainly ring true. Simultaneously hilarious, heart-warming and truly inspirational, Immigrant Diaries is a must-see and never forget.

A sci-fi musical isn’t something often seen gracing theatre stages, but this whirlwind production proves that it can be done, and done well. Cackling villains, fairy godmothers, makeshift monsters, tweed-clad Time Lords – and these all played by just one man – it’s a hybrid destined for madness.A well crafted musical disguised as a shoddy amateur production, I Need a Doctor tells the story of Jamie and Jess, two friends staging their own Doctor Who inspired show after an unexpected and hasty re-write. With a galaxy’s worth of in-jokes poking fun at the BBC franchise and making digs at its various stars, (with John Barrowman a favourite), fans of Doctor Who will find easy delight in seeing this wild and wonderful show.It features cleverly intertwined nods to musicals from Les Mis to RENT, making for a witty score construction, but the songs themselves aren’t quite as varied as they could be with similar melodies and simple lyrics. However, the show’s faults are part of its charm, and even a fault in something as fundamental to a musical as the music didn’t tarnish its quality to a devastating effect. As Jamie and Jess struggle to escape the confines of BBC copyright laws, comedy bursts from every scene, building two endearingly passionate, lovable characters in the process. Whether you’re nine or nine hundred, take an hour out of all of time and space to catch this hilarious production while you can; as Jamie and Jess well know, there’s no time like the present.