Michelle Hudson’s love life is the anchor on which this “NSFW” Zoom show and online app is tethered. Manimals is an interactive show/online game presented as a workshop launch for a new dating app. Michelle, a gaming designer, has mixed her professional and personal preoccupations here for immersive entertainment.
‘We put real people and stories at the heart of our work’: Second Circle Theatre’s Hannah Samuels on latest show Kiss Chase
Second Circle Theatre’s artistic director Hannah Samuels talks about bringing their second show, Kiss Chase, to the Bunker Theatre as part of the Breaking Out season.
‘It makes you laugh, it makes you think, it makes you question’: QUIZ – West End ★★★★
Blurring the lines, nothing is ever black and white anymore, it is forever a shade of grey; Quiz is a show that reflects that sentiment fully. We are at the Noel Coward Theatre, a venue steeped in prestige and history. It plays host to many an iconic show.
THE NASSIM PLAYS – Bush Theatre
Inspired by the humour and spontaneity that comes from cold reading, Nassim Soleimanpour has developed what has become his trademark style of reflective, personal writing performed by an actor who knows nothing of the play.
PARTY GAME – #EdFringe Edinburgh Festival Fringe
I have reservations as soon as I walk into bluemouth’s new immersive party show at the Wee Red Bar. Primarily because there aren’t many people there – never a good sign for a party.
EGGS COLLECTIVE – #EdFringe
Eggs Collective are after the #bestnighteva with this joyful show modeled on the great British night out. Gold sequinned dresses, blue eyeshadow, and WKD by the bucketload are vital ingredients of this playful tribute to one of this country’s most venerated institutions.
HAMLET FOOL – Lion & Unicorn Theatre
Anastasia Zinovieva is a motley clown who wants to reenact Hamlet, but it’s a big story to take on herself. She enlists seven people from the audience to fill the major roles and instructs them as they go – similar to Hamlet’s treatment of the players.
Buzzcut Festival: Day Three highlights include Silent Dinner & Free Haircuts
With the glorious sunshine and packed building, it’s a great day to see some of the outdoor work. Sexcentenary, a collective of older women addressing issues around gender, feminism and ageing are performing around Govan.
INTERVIEW: Proxima Centauri Productions’ Michelle and KT
For limited run in May, Ugly Duck, a company known primarily for the use of abandoned and disused spaces host ProxC Productions Disconnect, A play asking the audience to vote on the fate of 10 convicted criminals scheduled for jettison from ProxC – a spaceship carrying the remnants of humanity towards a new earth & a new start.
DRINKS – Safehouse 1
Laura and Dave are hosting a housewarming party at their newly-bought fixer-upper in Peckham. The young couple invite the audience in groups assigned to a character, facilitating a quick entrance and a steady flow around the house.
THE LOCK IN – Vaults
It’s St Patrick’s Day at an Irish pub in London. We’ve been there for awhile, but the night is young. There’s a five-strong band more focused on arguing the facts of Irish history than playing music.
FREAK – Vaults
Still very much finding its feet and theatricality, Freak is an engaging lecture with a charming, historical bent.
DROLL – Vaults
Drolls (director Brice Stratford explains) were short, raucous, illegal plays from the 17th Century. Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan interregnum banned theatre from 1642, but drolls were performed in pubs and alley ways to keep theatrical traditions going.
THE GREAT GATSBY – Vaults
Throughout the night, the famous story of The Great Gatsby is told. However, how you see the tale is entirely up to you.
WAYWARD – Vault Festival
Cat Loud enters rather awkwardly down stairs from behind the audience, exclaiming nervously, ‘oh, it’s starting’ before bemoaning her choice of footwear. These moments of informal monologue continue throughout the show and although undoubtedly entertaining it is unclear whether this is by accident or by design.
THE WILD PARTY – Hope Theatre
The Wild Party, a simple and to-the-point title, perfectly describes the show as well as the evening I experienced. There was so much to like about this performance. Adapted into a performance piece here by Mingled Yarn Theatre Company, The Wild Party was originally a book-length narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March in the roaring twenties.
GARDENS SPEAK – Battersea Arts Centre
An intimate audience of ten each hear the recorded monologue of an individual martyr who died fighting against Asad’s forces, but they have to experience some discomfort in the process. Gardens Speak lasts a mere 30 minutes but irrevocably alters the detached western view of Middle Eastern conflict, fostering empathy and despair for fellow man.
INVISIBLE TREASURE – Ovalhouse Theatre
Invisible Treasure has no script and no actors. It’s not a play, but a playspace. For this hour long part-video game, part-puzzle, the audience/participants must work together to interpret the cryptic tasks that pop up on a small screen in the sterile room where they are deposited by theatre staff. The sensors, cameras and microphones that monitor the group at all times determine whether or not you progress to the next level or not, and the chance of failure is very real indeed.
THE TEMPEST – Bloomsbury Festival
This adaptation of The Tempest by Kelly Hunter was a one-off performance as part of the Bloomsbury Festival at the Bloomsbury Studio Theatre. Hunter specifically designed this piece to enable children on the autism spectrum to participate in the show with the actors. These children’s parents/carers are invited to sit and watch.