London Archives - Page 136 of 150

18Aug

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

Wild Waxflower – Camden Fringe

Part of this year’s Camden Fringe Festival and the debut play of No Salad Productions, Wild Waxflower explores the trials and tribulations of a young woman’s first night working at an adult entertainment club. Written and starring Siane Faye, the digital performance follows her journey from the changing rooms to the stage, exploring themes of sexuality, identity and religion. Although a short one-woman piece, Faye certainly commands attention with her stellar performance as this young female character and her inner battle as she decides to step into the world of adult entertainment. There is a lack of dialogue, particularly in the first 10 minutes, yet Faye’s portrays the character’s emotional conflict with just her facial expressions extremely well. Set within a quiet alleyway in Lo...

18Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Bad Teacher – Etcetera Theatre

Not to be confused with the Cameron Diaz film in 2011, Bad Teacher offers a tongue in cheek look at the teaching profession and how this particular teacher manages to deal with the day-to-day frustrations of the job. As an introduction, the screen on the backdrop projects news articles about Government cuts to education, mental health and general unrest within the teaching profession because of pressure, leading to teachers quitting. Evie is a 26-year-old drama teacher who feels that she is underpaid and underappreciated. She has decided that as no-one has offered her a pay rise, that she must ask for it herself; you don’t ask you don’t get. Today she is feeling the power of BPE (big pussy energy), so she feels superhuman. Head of the arts department Nina is t...

18Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Meat Cute – Hen & Chickens Theatre

After a successful debut at the Chiswick Playhouse, ‘Meat Cute’ returns to the stage at the Camden Fringe Festival at the Hen & Chickens Theatre. The play is written and performed by Bibi Lucille and produced by Patch Plays. Patch Plays was formed in 2020 by Anastasia Bunce and Maria Majewska who are interested in exploring issues such as the environment, and animal ethics and how theatre can throw a spotlight onto these issues. Lena is on a quest to find her perfect tinder date and she’s on her 3rd guy this week. In her quest to find that special guy she searches through tinder and decides to go on a date with Chad. Her previous date had been vegan, and she had walked out on him, but would Chad fare any better? He has taken her for dinner, and he chose a vegan starte...

Eight Hundred Dollar Value – Etcetera Theatre

17Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Eight Hundred Dollar Value – Etcetera Theatre

Al Carretta is the man behind Nightpiece Media, who specialize in delivering movies made on a shoe-string budget. The mafia crime series began in August 2009 with ‘The Tears of a Clown’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has since progressed. Eight Hundred Dollar Value is previewing at Camden Fringe Festival, moving to Edinburgh towards the end of the month, and will then be produced as a film in the Autumn. Michael Trudon (Al Carretta) had a good life with his foster parents, they gave him everything he could ever wish for, and everything was handed to him on a plate. ‘I didn’t have ambition; I didn’t need it!’. Following the death of his mother and then his father leaving home, he didn’t know much about his early years until his crazy grandmother from B...

17Aug

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Fester – The Cockpit

Fester is a new devised physical theatre performance based on the story of Gretchen from Goethe's Faust. Produced by Halfpace Theatre, a new company dedicated to new work and devised theatre created by artists of underrepresented backgrounds, the show was performed at the Cockpit Theatre during the Camden Fringe. Devised by a majority migrant and marginalized gender team with Megan Brewer’s direction and Daria Vasko’s design, the show offers a playful and powerful reinterpretation of Goethe’s seminal work told through the lens of its titular female character, Gretchen. With strong performances by the ensemble and an intriguing design, this show leaves us with many reflections about the representation of marginalized individuals by drawing our attention towards the character of Gretchen and...

17Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Spectra – Etcetera Theatre

I was in for a double treat this morning when I saw the collaboration of RoL ‘N Productions and Imposters Collaboration at the Etcetera Theatre. Liane Grant and Olja Mladjenovic have brought their theatre companies together to showcase two short pieces, ‘Wines from Santorini’ and ‘Chance of Rain’ at the Etcetera Theatre as part of the Camden Fringe Festival. First up was ‘Wines from Santorini’, this two-hander follows the lives of Caz (Liane Grant) and Ali (Olja Mladjenovic) who were childhood friends who meet again when Caz is due to marry. As Caz is getting ready to move house, they are surrounded with packing boxes and Ali has thoughtfully brought a bottle of wine along with her. As they reminisce over old times and mutual friends from years ago, the unspoken hostil...

17Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

London

Jam Tart / Lemon Kurd – Camden Fringe

Ragged Foils’ Jam Tart / Lemon Kurd are two monologues, directed by Natalie Winter, in which women explore their wants and desires in later life. Both Claire (Katy Maw) and Cathy (Mary Tillett), were wives, mothers and daughters, swept along in life’s journey realising one day that they had lived their lives for other people and finding a determination to break out of the mould and do something that is just for them. The first monologue, Jam Tart, written by Rhiannon Owens, tells Claire’s story after she flees her 54th birthday party in order to begin a new life. The piece opens with Maw staring nervously, too close to her wobbly webcam, before settling on an untidy bed, with a pretty landscape hanging above it, an idealistic image reminiscent of the stifling life Claire is trying to es...

17Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

London

Tree Confessions – Camden Fringe

Tree Confessions, written by Jenny Lyn Bader, and directed by E B Mee, is a unique audio play told entirely from the point of view of a tree. Performed by Kathleen Chalfant, this is a site-specific piece which should be listened to while sitting beneath a tree. The piece begins with a buzzing and humming sound, reminiscent of bees. The story is told by a single tree, who is embarrassed to be caught humming to itself, but takes the opportunity to tell the story of a scientist who discovered that trees communicate, with each other at least. Presumably inspired by the story of Suzanne Simard, the persistent scientist is never actually specifically identified, but the trees, admiring her determination to prove her theory right, and being keen to seize the chance to help humans save the p...

Changing Sheets – The Playground Theatre

16Aug

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Changing Sheets – The Playground Theatre

Changing Sheets is a new two-hander romantic comedy about the complexities of modern relationships written by Harry Butler. Developed at The Playground Theatre and directed by its artistic director Anthony Biggs, the story takes us through a series of encounters between Patti (Máiréad Tyers) and Robert (Harry Butler) who meet over a series of Tinder dates. The script touches upon the loneliness, confusion and self-doubt that comes with hookups, where partners have mismatched expectations and boundaries. Through awkward run-ins, friendly banter and unassuming pillow talk, Patti and Robert navigate their feelings for each other. Interestingly, the design of the show calls for an empty stage with minimal movements and no props. The romantic action and intimacy referenced in the text are never...

The Emoji Project – The Hen & Chickens Theatre

16Aug

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

The Emoji Project – The Hen & Chickens Theatre

If there’s one thing that has dominated digital communications for the last 10 years, it has to be the little animated icons and hieroglyphs that have now carved out an entire subculture of their own. It’s hard to deny the overwhelming presence and impact of emojis (or emoticons) on our day to day lives, filling the important emotional cues that would otherwise be missing from our typed conversations. Their rapid growth and ever-evolving nature as a digital language are at the heart of The Emoji Project, an anthology of new writing staged by Distracted Rat, a writing company whose work intersects radio, film and theatre. Consisting of pocket-sized pieces and scenes that span the absurd and the political, the show has been assembled by a team of creatives ranging from 11 to 75 years of a...