Welcome to Cabaret – our special focus for this issue of Total Theatre. Providing a bit of sparkle on these dark winter nights is Anne-Louise Rentell who tells a tale of baubles, bellowing and bare bums in her exposition of the intertwined relationship between cabaret and performance art. David Bere goes underneath the arches of Bethnal Green to take a peek at the very successful Sunday cabarets hosted by Shunt, and I slink around the back streets of Brick Lane with Duckie, whose latest promenade piece combined cabaret with site-specific performance.
Our new feature – InBox – is an e-mail questionnaire, and the first respondent is Tim Etchells of Forced Entertainment, who enters the 'confessional box' with his customary wit and a willingness to bare his soul.
Elsewhere in the magazine, you'll find the usual eclectic mix of artist diaries, company profiles and special interest articles. In this third category, we have a look at the current state of the art of puppetry written by Penny Francis, who it can be said has done as much as anyone in this country to further the cause of puppetry and animated visual theatre. Michael Chase from the Mask Studio explains his use of the four temperaments in his innovative mask workshops with actors, and Caroline Thompson tells us why the Tooba school in Canada was the right training course for her.
An unusual form of artist's diary is presented by clown Rupert Green and photographer Mari Mork, who have recently collaborated to explore the possibilities of twinning these two forms. Samantha Ellis spends time with the People Show, who've been devising innovative theatre since the 1960s, and filmmaker Christopher Hall gives us an insider view of multimedia company Third Angel. Michael Lister from Avanti Display tells us about his wild and wet education project that led to a performance in the fountains of Trafalgar Square.
As always, plenty of reviews – from BAC's Octoberfest, the ongoing LIFT festival and venues (and other sites!) from around the country.
All that and the Circus Arts News supplement too – a feast for fools and others to get you through the Saturnalian season.