Living Record Festival Archives

Disenchanted –The Living Record Festival

4Feb

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

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Disenchanted –The Living Record Festival

Disenchanted bills itself as ‘a cabaret of twisted fairy tales’ which sounded right up my street. I find the history of fairy tales fascinating; there’s the darkness that lies at the heart of the original tales, which were sanitised to appeal to younger audiences and delivery that Hollywood happy ending. Tales which have been popular in their current incarnations for decades but are now beginning to lose their relevance in modern society where not every little girl is encouraged to wait around for a handsome prince to come and save her. I’m also a fan of work that approaches a well-known narrative from a fresh point of view – the brilliant children’s book There’s a Wolf in My Pudding does this excellently. So, I couldn’t help but be a little bit disappointed by Disenchanted. We’re g...

Short Form Scratch Night – Reflex Theatre

21Feb

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

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Short Form Scratch Night – Reflex Theatre

Scratch nights give new writers, directors and performers the opportunity to explore and test works-in-progress. This is often a collaborative process, audience feedback helping the further development of the work. Reflex Theatre have taken this concept to a new level, with online short plays under the tagline "First page, last page - we do the rest". In other words, the first and last pages are scripted with the cast improvising the part in between. This unique idea works remarkably well, especially in the hands of this talented ensemble, giving an airing to new works and providing splendidly enjoyable, though occasionally scary, performances. Part of the Living Record Festival, four short stories make up this presentation, with the overarching theme of hopes and dreams resolving in un...

Alright, Girl? by Maria Ferguson – The Living Record Festival

3Feb

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

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Alright, Girl? by Maria Ferguson – The Living Record Festival

Alright, Girl? is a soundscaped binaural recording of a poetry collection by the same name written by Maria Ferguson and published by Burning Eye Books. The writings are a reflection of the author’s working class heritage whilst growing up in vastly changing urban landscape of the United Kingdom. The text, originally published in August 2019, is performed by Maria in an hour-long listening experience for The Living Record Festival. With sound design by Chris Drohan, who combines Maria’s intimate spoken word rendition of her writing with a subtle score that adds warmth and tactility to the words, this piece takes the audience through Maria’s lived experiences with class, gender and belonging. The text itself is deeply enjoyable to read; I often found myself hitting the rewind butt...

28Jan

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

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‘On Record’ – Living Record Festival

It’s no secret that 2021 is going to be the year when audio dramas make a grand return. Given that theatres in the UK are likely to be shut until the early days of summer and the growing screen fatigue we seem to be collectively experiencing, theatre-makers are actively exploring performances that invite the audience member to engage their aural imagination, or simply put – to hear is to see is to believe. On Record, a 35-minute audio drama written by Cameron Essam & Ella Dorman-Gajic and produced for the ongoing The Living Record Festival, concerns the inner workings of a woman’s mind who struggles with her grasp on reality, grappling with personal demons of her own while helping another woman escape from theirs. With voice performances by Jesse Bateson, Louise Cornelia, Ella Dorma...

All Together – The Living Record Festival

22Jan

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

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All Together – The Living Record Festival

All Together is an online improvised comedy show by the UK-based improv troupe The Noise Next Door which was performed live as part of The Living Record Festival 2021. Using suggestions from a live audience on Zoom, the ensemble devised a 60-minute performance on the spot with quickfire scenes and oddball characters that had us laughing without a break. The show relies on techniques and methods of improvisational theatre (or simply improv, as some better know it!) which is a form of spontaneous storytelling based on suggestions by the audience, making it an interactive and immersive experience for those watching. Whereas typically you’d find the quartet, consisting of Matt Grant, Tom Livingstone, Sam Pacelli and Robin Hatcher, playing at comedy clubs and fringe venu...