Lambeth Fringe Archives - North West End UK

2Oct

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

FIASCO – Vaulty Towers

FIASCO by Cryptids Improvisational Theatre is a longform improv show based on the tabletop roleplaying game of the same name. In the tabletop roleplaying game, players roll dice and consult tables to come up with a collection of storytelling prompts, linking characters together through “relationships”, “needs”, “locations”, and “objects”. This provides the framework upon which the players collaboratively tell a story, usually of normal people finding themselves drawn into increasingly violent situations the likes of which you might find in a Coen Brothers movie. Cryptids Improvisational Theatre have adapted and streamlined the general structure to suit a live improvised performance. The audience first votes – by cheering and general verbal consensus – on which of three general genre...

1Oct

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

Foreign Girl – Bread & Roses Theatre

Ana is the foreign girl, a Belarusian living in the UK, attempting to get herself the Global Talent visa in the field of theatre. On realising that mere song and dance isn’t going to be enough, she calls her agent for help in deciding on what kind of professional theatre piece could make her eligible. They go through options – Marina Abramovic (too abstract), Chekhov (but he’s been cancelled), Shakespeare (Lady Macbeth with a Belarusian twist could work) – until they hit the right one. An autobiography. Written and performed by Anastasiya Ador and directed by Rachel D’Souza, this hour-long performance takes us through Ana’s life as she tries to set down roots in the West. Her attempts to assimilate are experiences that would resonate with many an immigrant, from mispronounced names ...

Sam Dodgshon Tries to Hold Your Attention for One Hour – Club Silly

1Oct

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Sam Dodgshon Tries to Hold Your Attention for One Hour – Club Silly

Being a standup comedian already requires a certain level of bravery. In his latest comedy special at Lambeth Fringe, Sam Dodgshon takes this vulnerability to new extremes by giving the audience control over what happens in the show. The concept is simple but smart. We’re presented with a PowerPoint that resembles a flowchart, with slides prompting the audience to choose between various options that influence the direction of the show. These options range from the straightforward (“Can I speak?”) to the absurd (should he go to hell via purgatory), and each pathway ends the same: we’re asked if we’d like to “play again”. With the assistance of an on-stage technician who operates the laptop and encourages the audience to shout out our answers, Dodgshon throws his all into the piece...

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Golden Goose Theatre

29Sep

By Dave SmithNo Comments

London

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Golden Goose Theatre

For the Lambeth Fringe, The New Rep Theatre tears through Richard Pepper’s adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in just 90 minutes. Focusing on the four lovers as they get twisted up by the fairies in the forest, while also bringing in the mechanicals, the actors in a play within a play - rehearsing in the forest and caught up in the fairies playing around. There’s a lot of fourth wall breaking, asides to the audience and some very modern moments, New Rep have certainly gone all out for the comedy to - mostly - success but a few moments land awkwardly and feel tacked on, pulling us out of the world rather than deeper into it. A sharper edit or simply more restraint would have helped here. Jack Gogarty’s Bottom works well but has a naive earnestness despite his se...

The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton – The White Bear

29Sep

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton – The White Bear

The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton opens like a gothic horror: thunder and rain set a moody scene as a figure sits slumped over in a white hospital gown, before jolting to life and erupting into a crazed monologue complete with manic laughter. This play – like the novels and plays of the real-life Patrick Hamilton – boldly explores dark themes and incorporates spooky imagery. Life – the play seems to suggest – can be as terrifying as any fictional ghost or demon, but we can still smile and laugh. Above all, this play tells an interesting story about an interesting character and is masterfully performed. This one-man show (written and performed by Mark Farrelly) follows almost the entire life of Patrick Hamilton from his youth in the 1910s and ‘20s to his declining hea...