Writings

Traverse Theatre Company: Ten Plagues ¦ Photo: Richard Campbell

Traverse Theatre Company / Mark Ravenhill / Conor Mitchell: Ten Plagues

August 7th, 2011 by

In London the plague came in 1665: ‘one hundred thousand dead but I alive’. This is not the opening line from Ten Plagues but the ending, the epilogue, a joyful ‘I will survive’ statement from our protagonist, who has worked his way though fear, disgust, panic, loneliness, isolation, superiority, and humility to reach this point of liberation. […]

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Roland Schimmelpfennig: The Golden Dragon ¦ Photo: Stephen Cumminsky

Roland Schimmelpfennig: The Golden Dragon

August 7th, 2011 by

‘Take care not to tread on the props,’ says the usher as we enter the space – an empty space save for a row of tawdry everyday objects and accessories placed at the front-row audience members’ feet. There’s a few plastic toys, a pair of spectacles, a walking stick, a wok. Some green Lycra leggings, […]

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Gandini Juggling: Smashed!

Gandini Juggling: Smashed! / Blotched

August 6th, 2011 by

Bringing circus, theatre and dance together the Gandinis, a juggling troupe led by Kati Yla-Hokkala and Sean Gandini, made their way to the National Theatre’s Watch This Space over the weekend. Given the fact that their two headline shows, Smashed! and Blotched, were both commissioned by Watch This Space – Smashed! for last year’s festival,Blotched for this year’s – it was […]

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Wired Aerial Theatre: As The World Tipped

Wired Aerial Theatre: As The World Tipped

August 4th, 2011 by

Directed by Nigel Jamieson, Wired Aerial Theatre’s As the World Tipped is a large-scale outdoor spectacular that takes as its subject the Copenhagen Conference and the subsequent failure of world leaders to initiate any meaningful directive on climate change. It starts well. A large, square white stage is occupied by scurrying suits who move from desk to […]

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Dog Kennel Hill Project: Hinterview

Dog Kennel Hill Project: People Working Projects: Hinterview & The Devil And The Details

July 31st, 2011 by

Hinterview sees Henrietta Hale, assisted by Ben Ash, attempt to draw into a physical form of expression conceptual ideas taken from interviews she conducted with people in their places of work. Concepts such as as success, happiness and fulfillment placed in the context of a contemporary economic/social climate result in concerns of collapse, strife, and renewal. […]

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