Hill Street Theatre
Mon 22 Aug
Genre. Children’s theatre
Cloud Men are very elusive creatures who live far up in the clouds. Cloudia has spent all her life looking for them and has collected evidence – tiny cloud shoes, a cloud bag and cloud footprints. Eventually she finds one collects him in a jar, but lets him go. And that’s about it. The story is well told by the quirky solo performer and the set and puppets are so cute! I loved it. Puppetmaker Ailee Cohen also worked on the Man Who Planted Trees
Suitable for Rural Touring: Definitely
Age: 4 upwards
Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Pants on Fire
Pleasance Dome
Mon 22 Aug
Genre: Theatre
Set in the war years of the 1940’s, 7 actor/musicians take on a host of greek myths, with each story taking the theme of love and transformation. The show combines, music, song, dance, film, puppetry and storytelling into a fast paced inventive, funny but at times I felt a slightly frantic mix.
There are some great theatrical devices. Flats are constantly being moved around to make the actors appear and disappear. Narcissus in love with his matinee idol image on a video screen. Cupid appears as a puppet and Hermaphrodite is pursued through a sea of cardboard waves.
Suitable for Rural Touring? The show would work well, but could be too big for a lot of our venues.
Age: 12? Upwards
The Alchemystorium. Gomito
Bedlam Theatre
Mon 22 Aug
Genre. Physical Theatre
A delightful show that left everyone with a smile on their face. 3 hapless characters run a café of sorts, dispensing coffee and a little magic. For the price of a cup they will also provide you with a new partner (if you sit on the front row!). The friends are endearing and delightful to watch. The trio work in choreographed harmony.
Things start to unravel as 2 of the friends fall in love, making 3 a crowd and threatening their business and friendship. The three innocents suddenly experience the pain and passion of new love. And how important friends are. The show is performed with no words, just sounds and a soundtrack. It’s funny and a little bit sad and totally captivating. The three performers are very accomplished.
Would it work for Rural Touring?
The set is quite cumbersome and uses both sides, so is wheeled round during the performance. This would rule out smaller venues. More importantly quite a lot of the action takes place near the floor, so sightlines would be a problem for venues without raked seating. If this could be overcome, it would definitely work for rural touring.
Age suitability 13+
Length 1hr
Barbara - Highlights
No comments:
Post a Comment