Cream Faced Loons Archives - North West End UK

Shakespeare: But Just The Deaths – Shakespeare North Playhouse

29Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Shakespeare: But Just The Deaths – Shakespeare North Playhouse

The last time I saw Shakespeare performed by Cream Faced Loons, the company formed by Abey Bradbury in 2016, we sat wearing plastic ponchos as gallons of fake blood was thrown around during ‘Titus Andronicus’; the time before, the audience donned paper crowns and fought with wooden swords for ‘King John’. Now Bradbury brings her one woman show to Shakespeare North Playhouse with the intent of describing all the deaths (and gory bits) throughout the Bard’s canon in just under an hour. Spoiler alert - she succeeds - and does so in an accessible and humorous style that makes this show perfect family entertainment for a Saturday evening spent outdoors in the July sunshine. The Edinburgh Fringe roots of this fast paced production are clearly visible as we are taken on a whirlwind tour throug...

A Midsummer Night’s Dream(ish) – International Anthony Burgess Foundation

It is not often that a reviewer becomes part of the show but that is what happened to me as part of this entertaining, engaging and extremely fun one-woman re-telling of Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy. Your humble scribe was plucked out of the audience to play a wall. It took all my theatrical skill to stand on stage holding a plastic brick and it would not be correct to comment on my own performance but the other audience members who were chosen to appear on stage with me were all excellent. Yet, the real energetic, frenetic and comic star of the show was Abey Bradbury. She wrote and performed this whistle-stop tour through the Bard’s classic play with such verve and sheer pizazz it was a joy to behold. Her playfulness and obvious love of clowning were such a treat she really brought...

The Complete Works of Shakespeare…but just the Deaths (and the gory bits too) – The Space UK

Even though the title may be a tad too long, I could have carried on watching this play for much longer than its 45 minutes. Taking their name from a quote in Macbeth, the Cream Faced Loons have done a remarkable job to stage this wonderfully refreshing take on Shakespeare’s plays in a digital environment. Before the pandemic ‘the Loons’ liked to perform in site specific locations such as castles and parks but have adapted their style to You Tube and it showcases their versatility and unique take on the Shakespearean classics. The challenge is to perform all 10187 deaths that appear in Shakespeare’s 37 plays. That seems rather a lot I hear you say, but all is made clear later on in the show. Will you take up the challenge to tick off the deaths as the show goes o...