Writings

Mirror, Mirror on the World: A Bouffon Seduction in Catalonia

May 24th, 2014 by

It is Maundy Thursday, the eve of the holiest day of the year in the Christian calendar (Good Friday). Here in the ancient Roman town of Vic in Catalonia, a procession is taking place. Processions of penitents are the norm across Spain in Holy Week. Wearing face-concealing black or purple pointy hats, dressed as centurions, […]

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Sparkle and Dark: Killing Roger

May 23rd, 2014 by

Young company Sparkle and Dark have been creating and touring puppetry-led visual theatre since 2009. Their work has followed an interesting trajectory, moving from the sort of fantastical storytelling that is puppetry’s natural habitat into more serious subjects: 2012’s The Girl with No Heart tackled the impact of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from a child’s point […]

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The Brighton Laboratory: The House Project

May 23rd, 2014 by

Housing, especially here in the south east, is currently a national obsession. The premise of The House Project, which draws together sociological and economic research about housing use in Brighton with drama, feels not only timely but almost pathologically compelling. An estate agents’ tour of the sort of grand old villa in Brighton that these […]

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Brian Lobel: Mourning Glory Part 2: Purge

May 23rd, 2014 by

We take our seats in the theatre and there on stage, behind a table with his laptop, is Brian Lobel. Above and behind him is a projection screen. Large white seconds count down one minute. Three years ago, during 50 maniacal hours spanned over five days, he played a brutal game of Facebook friendship maintenance, […]

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Zoo: Enhanced Dance to Disguised Music

May 23rd, 2014 by

Zoo is the company of Swiss choreographer, dancer and performance maker Thomas Hauert, here in collaboration with four other European artists. Enhanced Dance to Disguised Music is a highly conceptual piece for the over-fives, matching the playful disjunction of John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (1946-8) with a dancer similarly encumbered by a changing […]

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