Sometimes I review shows that aren’t really my kind of thing but are seemingly very good at the thing they do and other people seem to get a lot from them.  Then I have to try to be honest about my own experience whilst acknowledging the clear quality of the work. This intelligent clown show […]

My preferred search engine informs me that Coccinellidae is the proper (Latin) term for the family of beetles commonly referred to as Ladybirds. The relevance of this to the show is unclear to me, except for the fact the performer ends up dressed as one. When I first saw the title I suspected this would be […]

The light is dim (an amber glow), the stage is empty, and seemingly bare – but no, the floor is strewn with sand.  We are in a desert. We are in the land of the archetypal. We see one young woman, and a group of men – shadowy hooded figures. Nomads, ancestors? Who she is […]

‘Come now, come now, each woman and girl… Take your courage, as the flames they curl. We may burn at the hands of some men, But from that fire we shall rise again!’ This song of the female phoenix starts and finishes the show – and on second singing, we are urged to join in. It’s […]

Three women of different ages, dressed in odd-bod multi-coloured knitted sportswear, make separate entrances, rolling, tumbling or running in from different parts of the Spiegeltent. They group around a table covered in a crocheted blanket. Two have chairs, one has forgotten her chair (she steals one from an audience member, giving him the blanket). ‘Hello […]