Ellen Thorpe, ArtERY live: Edinburgh Village Hall 2012

Name of company	Whitebone Productions/ Joe Bone
Name of show	Bane 2
Genre	Theatre
Venue	Pleasance Dome
Date	25.8.12

Review Having seen Bane 3 I wanted to see another part of the trilogy and this did not disappoint.  To think Joe had worked every day of the Festival  (I saw Bane 3 early on) it is quite staggering and a testament to his energy.  It’s a great  one-man show, no set or props with live guitar accompaniment.  See what I said earlier, my praise applies here too.   The only gripe was that his following had built and though we arrived in good time it was packed and the room was so hot it became really uncomfortable.  I still enjoyed the show and want to book the show.

Why is the work suitable or not suitable / ready for rural touring ?	Ready to tour, highly suitable and of high quality
Why would you book them ?  or  Why wouldn’t you book them ?	Yes
Why would it be worth pursuing this company to consider work in the future? Or not  ?	It’s good work and will work in community venues

Ellen Thorpe, ArtERY live: Edinburgh Village Hall 2012

Name of company	Catherine Wheels in Association With Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh
Name of show	The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk
Genre	Children’s theatre
Venue	Traverse @ Scottish Book Trust
Date	25.8.12

Review The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk is a brilliant family show dealing with name calling, bullying and the rest.  The actor was fabulous really engaging and energetic.  He tells us about a friendship between 2 boys, both outsiders who became close until one day it all changes.  The audience sits around the edge of the performing space or on mats and the performer uses all the clear space between, walking, running, jumping.  It has great pace and energy, the language is rich and the story believable and funny, one become really engrossed. The children were really taken and hung on every word.  Excellent show.

Why is the work suitable or not suitable / ready for rural touring ?	Yes and it could and does tour.
Why would you book them ?  or  Why wouldn’t you book them ?	Excellent high quality work.
Why would it be worth pursuing this company to consider work in the future? Or not  ?	Yes

Ellen Thorpe, ArtERY live: Edinburgh Village Hall 2012

Name of company	Shona Reppe
Name of show	The Curious Scrapbook of Josephine Bean
Genre	Children’s theatre
Venue	Traverse @ Scottish Book Trust
Date	25.8.12

Review Shona Reepe arrives on stage in a white coat and presents herself as a ‘doctor’ of scrapology!  Apparently a study of scrapbooks - she draws the audience in to discover and interpret the clues the scrapbook gives up page by page.  Wonderful set and props, all used to great effect, lovely shadow puppets. Interesting use of video and sound. A gentle, comic romance, this is a wonderful show for all ages, a beautiful love story, a detective story where the dusty book reveals clues, page-by-page and we are drawn into an enchanting world.  We discover who Josephine Bean was and much more.  Shona Reppe is a charismatic performer, inventive and creative in telling the tale and deciphering the clues in the scrapbook.    The children were captivated and everyone loved the show.

 

Why is the work suitable or not suitable / ready for rural touring ?	No, Shona doesn’t want to tour this one.
Why would you book them ?  or  Why wouldn’t you book them ?	No, see aboove
Why would it be worth pursuing this company to consider work in the future? Or not  ?	Yes

Ellen Thorpe, ArtERY live: Edinburgh Village Hall 2012

Name of company	Dugout Theatre
Name of show	Inheritance Blues
Genre	Theatre
Venue	Bedlam
Date	24.8.12

Review Inheritance Blues is an excellent show, a great atmospheric piece of work.  The band booked to play for a gig are edgy and not enjoying the prospect of being 'locked in' the pub in a snow storm in Dorset at a daytime wake, which few people have attended and the remaining 3 being the 3  sons of the deceased.  All this sounds downbeat but is very funny and highly entertaining.    We learn more about the brothers and their relationships.  What's remarkable about this is the cast of 6 are all equally great actors, singers and musicians, they work well as an ensemble, sing well together, accapella and blues songs and are also fantastic musicians playing a range of instruments and the sax duet is wonderful.  Not for rural touring but watch those people, each individual performer is good in their own right and sure to be doing exciting work in future.

Why is the work suitable or not suitable / ready for rural touring ?	Not suitable, it would be expensive and difficult to stage.
Why would you book them ?  or  Why wouldn’t you book them ?	No, not appropriate work.
Why would it be worth pursuing this company to consider work in the future? Or not  ?	Possibly

Ellen Thorpe, ArtERY live: Edinburgh Village Hall 2012

Name of company	SNT: Molly Taylor
Name of show	Love Letters to the Transport System
Genre	Theatre
Venue	The Assembly Rooms
Date	24.8.12

Review Love Letters to the Transport System  is a well-crafted piece, beautifully performed by Molly Taylor who also wrote (researched ) and director the work.  It’s not a play but rather very fine storytelling with an engaging actor sitting on a bus seat, there’s no action but Molly changes position from time to time so it’s not completely static.  Her delivery is engaging and she tells the story of falling out of love and falling in love and meetings and the best of times and thinks about how she arrived at place and met her lover and wishes to ‘thank’ the public transport drivers who played a key role and delivered her to her destination with love.  She sets about writing to various transport organisations to say a personal thanks to the anonymous people whose work contributes to our life but we don’t know them or thank them for what they do …  An engaging piece of storytelling beautifully executed.   SNT (Scottish National Theatre).

Why is the work suitable or not suitable / ready for rural touring ?	Could be suitable.
Why would you book them ?  or  Why wouldn’t you book them ?	Not sure I’d book this production but molly is a fine performer and no doubt will produce other wonderful pieces.
Why would it be worth pursuing this company to consider work in the future? Or not  ?	Yes, see above

 

Ellen Thorpe, ArtERY live: Edinburgh Village Hall 2012

Name of company	Chris Goode & Company & The Unicorn Theatre
Name of show	Monkey Bars
Genre	Theatre
Venue	Traverse Theatre
Date	24.8.12

Review Monkey Bars was interesting experimental theatre where adults speak the words of children. The ensemble behave and relate to one another like adults, the situations are adult and the whole presentation is subverted by the words of children.  As the audience arrived white light boxes inhabited the set and marked the performing space.  An actor sat on a light box and strummed a guitar and quietly sang a song and when you listened carefully, the words were nonsense and he was crooning to a jelly!  The set was simple, and each scene was punctuated by the actors moving the light boxes and the props around, and a general rearranging and re-positioning of the set.  All the actors were excellent; it was enjoyable to watch a good ensemble piece.  Some scenes involved the whole company and others only 2 or 3 of the players.  Though it was interesting as a piece of theatre it wasn't clear what the purpose or intent of the work was or whether the experiment worked or not.   To make the work the company asked thirty eight to ten year-olds to tell them us about their lives, their thoughts, their world.   The innocence of the dialogue was quite touching and the last question hung in the air ‘what is t like to be an adult’….

Why is the work suitable or not suitable / ready for rural touring ?	No suitable, it would be expensive and difficult to stage.
Why would you book them ?  or  Why wouldn’t you book them ?	No, not appropriate work.
Why would it be worth pursuing this company to consider work in the future? Or not  ?	No

Ellen Thorpe, ArtERY live: Edinburgh Village Hall 2012

Name of company	Temple Theatre
Name of show	Unmythable
Genre	Comedy, family show
Venue	Zoo
Date	24.8.12

Review Unmythable is a 3 hander ensemble piece.  Great show, highly energetic, good music, acting and singing as well.  The show takes you on the quest to bring back the Golden Fleece.  All the greatest Greek are here.  We meet just about everyone, including, Jason and the Argonauts as the audience are taken on the journey and meet legendary heroes, deadly monsters, see epic fights and more.  All brought alive in an unmissable adventure.  This show suitable for all ages, for everyone ages,  eight to 88 the blurb says and I would agree.

Why is the work suitable or not suitable / ready for rural touring ?	Ready to tour and of high quality, great family entertainment.
Why would you book them ?  or  Why wouldn’t you book them ?	To present quality, accessible work that is great fun and highly entertaining.
Why would it be worth pursuing this company to consider work in the future? Or not  ?	Would work very well and be enjoyed by venues,