Sadly unable to attend LOVE SONG DEDICATIONS (WITHOUT RICHARD MERCER) on the night I had nominated to go with my friends, I texted next day to see what the show had been like. “Energetic and clever and the finale is amazing!” one thumbed back, with appropriate emoticons. Having actually got to the show this evening, my work here is pretty much done . . . because that’s what I saw too. Doubly sadly, I don’t have emoticons but in general terms . . . :-):-):-) . . .
For anyone confused o.0.0.o by the name of the show . . . Richard Mercer was a radio host who had a show called Love Song Dedications which ran 3 hours on a weeknight, late, for 17 years. It was a much loved program and all sorts of people would ring and dedicate, obviously, a love song. And the host was warm with a unique baritone voice that men, women, young, old poured their heart out to. The show ended in 2013 with Trisha Yearwood’s ‘How Do I Live (Without You)?‘ Continue reading LOVE SONG DEDICATIONS (WITHOUT RICHARD MERCER): A CURE FOR ALL ILLS→
WYRD: THE SEASON OF THE WITCH draws on the tropes of urban legend to rework Shakespeare’s Scottish Play into a striking new narrative that follows the rise and fall of a powerful warrior identified only as ‘Our Lady.’ Her insatiable ambition makes her a target for the malevolent Wyrd Sisters who have their own designs for the infamous Scottish noble.
The high energy and tightly choreographed performance will feature Shakespeare’s original text cut from Macbeth, reordered and stitched back together with toe-tapping 50s pop songs, powerful choral speaking and high energy movement. Wyrd is a truly unexpected performance of the Bard’s ‘unlucky’ play. Continue reading WYRD:SEASON OF THE WITCH→
These four short plays by Samuel Beckett are performed within sixty minutes without an interval, and showcase some of his finest work. Typical of Beckett’s plays, his stage directions are always exactingly detailed and precise, preventing any changes/interpretations being made to his plays.
Always stitched within his unflinching need for perfection including precisely chosen words, are his quite extraordinary and often absurdist examinations of the human condition.
Every theatre-goer has a different experience, and form their own vivid interpretations of what they see and what they hear, because of the numerous theatrical aspects contained within every Samuel Beckett play.
Phillip Ridley’s harrowing play of grief and the impact of post traumatic stress is given the full on, in your face treatment, under Claudia Barrie’s direction. The play opens with loud heavy guitar sounds before a stark, all white room is suddenly and intensely illuminated. A single figure is screaming and begging for his life. The stage goes black. Continue reading Shivered @ The Pact Theatre→
Ellen Williams and Neil ModraETheatre Excentrique: Antigone by Jean Anouith
My friend has two sisters and I only have a brother. Familial practices, allegiances and secrets lie at the dichotomous heart of Theatre Excentrique’s ANTIGONE. A modern audience does not bear the weight of Antigone’s terrible ancestral turmoil but this sparse, drum punctuated production encourages each responder to bring their own sibling background to the interpretation.
On the surface, Antigone appears to be driven by a spiritual imperative to ease the wandered suffering of her dead brother’s soul but politics and power are encountered first in the domestic setting. My friend and I saw different shows. Both engaging, then absorbing, then intriguing: but different. We never really recover from family. Continue reading Antigone by Jean Anouith @ The Pact Theatre→
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