His new play, produced by Eastlake Productions, written entirely in verse is a candid one-man show switches seamlessly between the innocence of childhood and the very real struggle of being fcuk’d by an unfair system, shining a light on the all-too-real experiences of young working-class men in Britain today.
EYES CLOSED, EARS COVERED – Bunker Theatre
Alex Gwyther’s Eyes Closed, Ears Covered is a slippery play that continuously raises questions. We’re immediately presented with Alyson Cummins’ concrete-grey, angular set, suggestive of a brutalist play park in a rundown housing estate.
EYES CLOSED, EARS COVERED – Bunker Theatre
Alex Gwyther’s Eyes Closed, Ears Covered is beautifully put together in the way that it reveals just what that is – exploring the intersection of past trauma on present behaviour, questioning the durability of the human spirit and the lengths it will go to try to survive.
HOT TICKETS: 7 shows to see opening in September, from Ink to Young Frankenstein
Summer’s officially over, but don’t be sad – there’s plenty of great theatre to keep you happy. Love London Love Culture’s Emma Clarendon has rounded up the productions she’s most looking forward to in September. With Mates ticket links!
Eyes Closed, Ears Covered: ‘How far would you go to relive a memory?’
Eyes Closed, Ears Covered director Derek Anderson recalls the initial impression the script had on him and how sensitively he and author Alex Gwyther tackled the play’s themes around domestic abuse and mental health.
WATCH: Old Kent Road tap into InMotion opener after taking Edinburgh by storm
London’s new InMotion Festival of dance and physical theatre officially opens tonight (16 August 2017) at The Bunker Theatre with the direct-from-Edinburgh transfer of Fall Out, by contemporary tap ensemble company Old Kent Road.
NEWS: InMotion dance festival gets London moving from Wednesday
As the Edinburgh Fringe continues north of the border, London’s inaugural InMotion Festival, celebrating dance and physical theatre, gets underway this week at the Bunker Theatre, including the first London dates in five years of Theatre Ad Infinitum’s hit Translunar Paradise.
BECHDEL TESTING LIFE – The Bunker
Bechdel Theatre’s recent initiative Bechdel Testing Life asks women to send in recorded conversations from their everyday lives that pass the test. These are then given to playwrights, who use the conversations as jumping-off points for short plays.
NEWS: Eyes Closed, Ears Covered – a world premiere at The Bunker
The world premiere of Eyes Closed, Ears Covered by Alex Gwyther tells the brutal and heartfelt story of two teenage boys as they head to Brighton with a daring plan to relive a special day from four years ago.
THE ENCHANTED – The Bunker
The play is wholly rooted in humanity—even as it outlines the consequences that can occur when humanity gets forgotten. In the primary narrative strand of The Enchanted, a prisoner tells us the story of his fellow inmate, York, who is racing against the clock in an attempt to stop his execution going ahead (though York sometimes asserts that he wants to die).
THE ENCHANTED – Bunker Theatre
At the heart of the story are two men who have been placed on death row for crimes that are unspeakable (and perhaps not necessarily relevant unfolding plot) one woman tries to save them from a horrible fate – determined to not let them die without a true fight.
THE ENCHANTED – Bunker Theatre
This is a pretty piece of expressionistic theatre that pleases the eyes and ears, but its favouring of poetic ambiguity and metaphor over concrete details and characterisation creates emotional distance. It’s difficult to find sympathy for a psychopath when their childhood trauma is nostalgically romanticised or vaguely alluded to when we see so little of them directly.
THE ENCHANTED – Bunker Theatre
Set on death row in America, Pharmacy Theatre adapts Rene Denfeld’s novel The Enchanted for the stage. Exploring the nature of ‘evil, punishment, clemency and redemption’, the creative team present a show that would demonstrate potential if it hadn’t had a year to develop since its premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016.
INTERVIEW: Spotlight On… The Enchanted’s Jade Ogugua
Following a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2016, Pharmacy Theatre present the London transfer of their debut show – a highly-acclaimed adaptation of death penalty investigator Rene Denfeld’s award-winning novel. The Enchanted highlights issues around capital punishment, child abuse, and the self-perpetuating cycle of violence corrupting the US penitentiary.
INTERVIEW: Spotlight On… theatremaker Adam Scott-Rowley
This Is Not Culturally Significant was a highlight of this year’s Vaults Festival. Adam Scott-Rowley delivers an exposing performance that simultaneously shocks and slays his audience. What’s more, he is entirely naked for the whole thing.
THIS IS NOT CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT – The Bunker
The audience can’t ignore the fact this show is performed naked but the nudity becomes a blank canvass as Rowley can move between characters without props or other limitations. This is a high paced show and putting on a wig or hat would only slow Rowley down.
Culturally significant: How Edinburgh walk-outs led to a London transfer
At the Edinburgh Fringe, I was on at 3:30pm at a family-friendly venue. For those of you who have seen the show, you will understand how utterly inappropriate this was. Walk-outs became more regular than walk-ins and I developed a drinking problem.
Off-West End plays: Diary of a Teenage Girl, In Other Words & La Ronde
Two Off-West End plays have recently inspired my other half Peter Jones to compile Spotify playlists of his youth
INTERVIEW: Spotlight On…La Ronde’s Amanda Wilkin
After reading the play, I was struck by how the play accurately brings loneliness to the surface and the transaction of contact – are we ever really equals when we have sex?
LA RONDE – The Bunker
The Bunker, London – until 11 March 2017 Last year, Elon Musk suggested it’s likely that our entire existence is a computer simulation made by some highly evolved species. The simulation might be programmed randomly, or might not. Max Gill’s La Ronde gives credence to the idea that our lives are dictated by a power higher than ourselves. This production …