‘It’s a bit like swimming in a loch, it’s fine after a few minutes,’ says one of the stalwart crew for Allotment, to help the rain-soaked audience along. We are also told cheerfully that ‘it’s a British show with British weather’. In some ways they overcompensate: every effort is made to keep us comfortable, with ‘speed […]
Writings


Backhand Theatre: Images
August 16th, 2011 by Charlotte SmithImages explores urban isolation through spoken word, dance, circus and some projection. It’s billed as a promenade performance, so is perhaps wrong for the space at C eca, because all this seems to mean is that some of the audience have chairs while others sit on the floor. The text, by Jake Linzey of Backhand Theatre, […]

Frisky & Mannish: Pop Centre Plus
August 16th, 2011 by Charlotte SmithFrisky & Mannish really do cut the mustard. I’m not just talking about the Cluedo-style yellow bodice that Laura Corcoran sports as part of a poptastic outfit. Over the last three years, they have been a smash hit at the Fringe. They deliver on their reputation. They’re good, and they know it. Pop Centre Plus sends […]

Inconvenient Spoof: Naïve Dance Masterclass
August 16th, 2011 by Andy RobertsMatt Rudkin left the world of professional dance to take a job in the Metropolitan police, but, after some time spent riot training with his new friends, a chance meeting with a busking hula princess (represented to us in the form of a small toy) lead to an epiphany, the development of naïve dance, and […]

Counter-Active: Traumatikon
August 15th, 2011 by Charlotte SmithTraumatikon is certainly ambitious in scope. A 26-strong cast creates vignettes within a café and circus setting, using figures from history including Robert Mugabe, Muhammad Ali, Frida Kahlo and Virginia Woolf. Counter-Active cite the work of Tadeusz Kantor as an influence: the piece was produced in collaboration with two former members of Cricot2. It also aims […]