Author Archives: Andy Roberts

About Andy Roberts

Andy Roberts is a theatre & performance maker with Bootworks Theatre company, he is also a director of the company. He has an MA from Chichester University and currently Administrates The ShowRoom Theatre Chichester.

Il Pixel Rosso: And the Birds Fell from the Sky

And the Birds Fell from the Sky is an immersive video goggle experience with a rich mix of sound, scents and film – an emotive journey where you’re placed at the centre of the narrative as its lead character.

The company kick off the performance quite gently as a softly spoken guide gives you instructions through your headphones, but after a few small tasks later we’re ready for the journey ahead. Combining wheelchairs and car excursions, the performance shuttles on and it’s not long before you encounter a group of Faruk clowns. Their crazy anarchic behaviour is unsettling, but you find yourself wishing the madness to escalate. The most overpowering experience of the piece is the smells in the car: as the rich scent of whiskey spraying from a clown’s mouth stings your nostrils it really draws you into their world.

The performers handle you with care, but I left with the feeling that the moments of interaction could have been a bit more hands on to match the anarchic temperament of the Faruk clowns. There were, also, a few clichés in the video track and at times the headphones of the person sat next to you can be heard. These things are easy to ignore but at the same time do momentarily break your engagement.

The narrative has a poetic rhythm, but it’s hard to follow and there’s a mythology behind the characters and plot that isn’t brought fully to light. Yet, as with most immersive experiences, I found myself enjoying getting lost in the poetic yet chaotic world around me. I can imagine some audience members maybe being put off by the disjointed narrative, but this performance is all about the ride, and it’s one that lingers with you for some time after.

www.ilpixelrosso.org.uk

Rumen Gavanozov: A Day in November

A Day in November is a gentle encounter with a puppet and his puppeteer, Theater Atelie 313’s Rumen Gavanozov. We meet the Old Man, the puppet, who is nearing the end of his life at the ripe old age of a hundred. He’s a strange dithery entity who’s controlled tenderly by Gavanozov, slowly popping and plodding around the space in a state of unrest and puzzlement.

The pace of the piece is slow and nothing much happens – this is more an exploration of the lonely moments before death. All the pitfalls of old age make an appearance as the puppet constantly falls asleep, gets confused at his own reflection and forgets his name.

The slow pace of this production pulls the spectator into a smooth almost dream-like state – if in a better venue Gavanozov may have had more luck keeping us focused, but due to noise pollution this temperate performance couldn’t find its rhythm. Gavanozov has made a clear decision to keep the piece as silent as possible, with little music, leaving the atmosphere quite cold throughout.

The real heart of the performance is Gavanozov’s relationship with the Old Man, like that of a son looking after his aged father – at times he’s tender and caring, then frustration clouds over and we feel the inevitable end closing in.

A Day in November may not be for most audience members, but there’s something praiseworthy in its simplicity.

www.atelie313.com

Suitcase Royale: Suitcase Royale in Zombatland

Suitcase Royale are back with a new bag of scrapyard tricks, and this time they’re up against zombats (half wombat, half zombie). Imagine trying to tell the tale of George A Romero’s Night of the Living Dead with just a few instruments and a pop-up set made of cardboard and wonky ply, and that’s pretty much how an evening with this Aussie trio goes.

With a rustic aesthetic and jazzy double baseline rippling deep through the speakers it feels as if the audience has been placed within a 70s B-movie. The Grogan brothers, Darren (an ex-cricket champion) and Mayor, are in for trouble when an unhealthy infestation of zombats takes over the Blue Lagoon Caravan Park.

A man called Stranger who wields a crumpet-launcher moves the plot along as we dive deeper into the ridiculous and absurd. Theses guys have definitely watched a lot of horror movies and they parody these clichéd filmic moments with great comic timing.

The plot moves at a strange pace as ad-libbing is something of a trademark for this company – they place great emphasis on trying to create an event for the spectator, which makes for a great hour of theatre but at moments can really slow down the pace of the piece. The injection of musical interludes is at times misplaced but still underscores the atmosphere nicely.

With hundreds of cheesy one-liners which work only because this Aussie trio are so good at getting you on their side, Suitcase Royale deliver another great hour of theatre comedy, but something tells me we still haven’t seen their full potential.

www.thesuitcaseroyale.com

New Art Club: Quiet Act of Destruction

New Art Club –Tom Roden and Pete Shenton – are well-known for their unique blend of comedy and dance, but this year they have something a little different in store for us. Upon entering the space the audience are quickly split into three teams: Meldreth Village, Melbourne Village and The Woods. Tom and Pete each captain a village team and it’s not long before points are flying up on the scoreboard.

In ‘an overblown pompous manner just for comical effect’ – their words – the pair start to explain the fabulous attractions these two villages have to offer: fine establishments like Snipers hair salon and the OneStop, which even has a post office inside, and let’s not forget the wizard/skunk that lives in the woods (a role for a worthy audience member). But the main focus of the story is the shocking news that Meldreth train station may have to change its name to include Melbourne. Let the games begin as we are immersed in an epic village war.

The energy of these two performers is kept at such a constant high that we can’t help but get carried away as we all take part in a series of bread-throwing battles, tug-of-wars, animal cries, and toaster flinching – and that’s just to name a few. It soon turns into madness, but Pete and Tom control the crowd with absolute ease – at this particular performance one audience member was willing to wrestle Pete to the ground, just for a stale pancake and an extra point on the board.

The main plot line is interspersed with explanations from the pair explaining the conceptual, high-brow nature of their work – the fact that they are both as good as any other double act on TV. They even hint at the fact that Morecambe and Wise were a little bit crap, a bold statement, but the two prove their point with a wonderful rendition of the kitchen dance, highlighting its simplicity. This device works wonderfully, but only if you’ve seen New Art Club’s work before: the staple of their artistic practice is a gift for turning contemporary dance into comedy with great ease, and the kitchen dance finale only has resonance for people who follow their work.

Tom and Pete are very talented performers and effortlessly get you on side – their comic timing and stage presence is fantastic and even without their unique dance routines this piece will still entertain almost anyone.

www.newartclub.org

The River People: Little Matter

The River People, previous Total Theatre Award winners for Lilly through the dark, are back with their own unique brand of folk storytelling, combining puppetry and music as we follow the tale of a young man who has hit hard times and lost his way in the world.

The real standout of this production is the gypsy wagon the show is housed in, a wonderfully quaint portable venue that engrosses the spectator – a perfect place for stories to be told. Walking up to it stationed in the middle of a car park isn’t the greatest stetting for this venue, as I imagine its placement in rural festivals like Latitude must increase the magical quality of this production tenfold. But nevertheless once you are inside you soon forget about the outside world.

The company’s performances set the tone perfectly with subtle but controlled handling of the stage’s various props and contraptions. The new venue gives each of them the space to break out of character and really embrace the audience, which is a great step away from their previous staged performances – there is a quality of openness that fits this company’s artistic/performance register perfectly.

The only thing that lets this production down is the story being told, which at times is quite flat in places, and goes off on tangents that don’t really help move the narrative along. The music and puppeteering is very inventive and the company have taken a few risks with their material, which takes quite a few dark turns.

If you are a fan of old fashioned storytelling then The River People and their gypsy wagon will be right down your street. Let’s hope this company keeps bringing stories to life with their lovely bespoke puppets and wonderful music, because if not for the weak plot this show would be an all-round winner.