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Animated Documentary Shorts – Edinburgh Film House

9Feb

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Animated Documentary Shorts – Edinburgh Film House

It is good to be back in the Filmhouse after the crowdfunded rescue and a beautiful refurbishment. Run by a new charity, Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Ltd, the staff are welcoming, the decor contemporary and warm on this cold winter night. The bus stops right outside and, inside, the bar serves hot food and drink. Seeing the nineteenth Manipulate Festival, which specialises in animation, puppetry and visual theatre from the plush new seating is a treat. On this night, there were eight animated short films. Other nights included short horror films and a daytime dance workshop for over 14s at Dance Base led by two outstanding Italian improvisational breakdancers. The festival runs from 4th - 10th February. Within the eight short animated documentaries, you are gripped by the psychological trau...

Edgar in the Red Room – The Hope Theatre

9Feb

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

Edgar in the Red Room – The Hope Theatre

All the way from New York, The Shylock Project bring their Edgar Allan Poe - inspired Gothic musical to London. Collaging elements from a variety of Poe’s stories and poems, from his most famous works such as The Raven or The Fall of the House of Usher to multitudinous deeper cuts, Edgar in the Red Room tells an original story exploring the life, death, and legacy of Edgar Allan Poe. Poe aficionados will delight in spotting the various references, while those less familiar with his work will enjoy being exposed to these spooky components for the first time. Poe – played by both Morgan Smith and Sammy Overton – is both narrator and protagonist, but it gradually becomes apparent that he is not in control of the story as it whisks him along on a surreal and frightening journey into the mac...

9Feb

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

Exhuming Emily – Etcetera Theatre

Monty Bulmer sits at the bottom of Mealt Falls in the Isle of Skye with a compound leg fracture and the tide coming in. Above him, entombed in the frozen waterfall, is the body of Emily. Monty intends to exhume the body. He beseeches God for a miracle. In order to convey to God just how important it is for him to exhume Emily, Monty tells the story of what led him to his current situation. With a heavy focus on his tumultuous relationship with his father, Monty recounts his life story. I don’t want to describe the plot further, so as not to spoil any of the shocking twists and turns. I would suggest that those particularly sensitive to upsetting themes around sexual offences use their discretion when deciding whether or not to see this show. Alex Maslin’s richly complex script...

9Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Guidelines – New Diorama

The New Diorama presents ‘Guidelines’ by Pip Williams, directed by James Nash. Conglomerate debuts their first show and did not disappoint. We are met in a forest, overhead voices warn us of what we are in for. Starting as a warm and worried mother but slowly distorting and changing into something sinister. This feeling never quite leaves us, always feeling haunted or watched by something. This show explores growing up with the internet at your fingertips, the false promises of safety and how we never quite consent for what we are fed on our ‘for you page’. The setting is never quite clear however as we jump through time we meet a series of people who are all aware of ‘the video’. This town is grieving the loss of innocence for not only who were directly involved but for all the ...

9Feb

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Peppa Pig’s Big Family Show – The Lowry

Peppa Pig’s Big Family Show has arrived at The Lowry and delivers an utterly delightful, joy-filled theatrical treat for the whole family to enjoy. This charming live production captures everything that makes Peppa Pig so loved; the warmth of family life, fun adventures, and plenty of surprises, my little ones were hooked throughout and loved every moment. The story follows Peppa and her family as they prepare for the most exciting moment yet: welcoming Baby Evie to the world, a new character making her live stage debut that had the audience buzzing with excitement. From start to finish, the show is full of heart, bringing everyday moments to life in ways that feel magical and relatable for small children, some of which it’s their first experience of live theatre. P...

6Feb

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

The Gambler – Coronet Theatre

This adaptation of The Gambler by Chiten Theatre is an interesting idea but unfortunately is an exhausting experience for its audience. Dostoevsky’s short novel is all about a cast of characters sucked in by the thrill and appeal of gambling and the pursuit of inheritance. Whether it is the central character Alexei (Takahide Akimoto) betting to win his love Polina or the grandmother winning and losing money at the roulette table, everyone seems to succumb to it. This adaptation pairs an absurdist, physical style with large chunks of Dostoyevsky’s complicated text (translated into Japanese). It’s a bold proposition, but sadly it's one that gets quite lost amid the sheer intensity of the production, which leaves the audience inundated. From the very first, the actors’ energy is through...

Ockham’s Razor: Collaborator – The Lowry

6Feb

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Ockham’s Razor: Collaborator – The Lowry

Ockham's Razor, one of the best creative circus companies in the UK, are back at the Lowry with their new show Collaborator and Co Artistic Directors Alex Harvey and Charlotte Mooney are performing once more. Over the last few years, they have taken on a more directorial role within the company but here they once more work together to create and perform a show which takes an autobiographical look at their lives together. Having met twenty-four years ago while training a Circomedia in Bristol, they fell in love but also realised that the vision for how they wanted to show their circus skills was shared by both of them. The company Ockham's Razor came from that shared vision. Twenty years later, older and with a ten-year-old daughter, this retrospective of their re...

6Feb

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Coffee With Sugar – Traverse Theatre

There are moments in Coffee with Sugar at the Traverse Theatre when the senses are so thoroughly engaged that conventional critical distance simply gives way. Smell, sound, movement and image collide in ways that feel genuinely intoxicating, even overwhelming, in a production that prioritises sensory immersion over narrative drive. The show forms part of the Manipulate Festival, one of the many festivals Edinburgh hosts throughout the year, and arguably one of the most consistently rewarding. Dedicated to visual theatre, puppetry and experimental performance, Manipulate reliably delivers work that foregrounds audio visual invention and formal risk taking, and Coffee with Sugar unquestionably lives up to that billing. The piece is led by Laia Ribera Cañénguez, who also created the wor...

The Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley – Wilton’s Music Hall

5Feb

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

The Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley – Wilton’s Music Hall

Timing is everything they say. The Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley could have not come at a better time. Watching a play that asks "Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?", just days before the Super Bowl, amid conservative outrage over Puerto Rican Bad Bunny being "not American enough" to perform at this all-American cultural institution, and against the backdrop of renewed ICE arrests, makes the piece feel disturbingly real and urgently demanding. The play restages the famous 1965 Cambridge debate between James Baldwin, literary leader of the civil rights movements, and William F. Buckley Jr., America's most prominent conservative intellectual, who took place shortly after the Mississippi civil rights marches. Striking in its simplicity, the staging offers only chairs ...

5Feb

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

North West

The Memory of Water – Octagon Theatre

Three women return to their family home, preparing for their mother’s funeral. What follows is an exploration of life and grief, love and pain, secrets and memory, all wrapped up in an unexpectedly laughter-filled performance. Witty one liners and perfectly written comedy did light up the subject material and reminded me that there is humour in every situation, even if it feels inappropriate or clumsy sometimes. From the moment I entered the auditorium, I was drawn into the home and life of this woman who had died. The set (designed by Katie Scott) frays at the edges, cleverly inviting you to be a part of the moment, rather than just an external observer. This was key in helping me feel engaged in the play throughout. This is a slow-release play. Even though the characters seem to pr...