Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Incomers

'The Incomers' at the Bike Shed Theatre

I loved it.

The Incomers is a story of sex, drugs, and perfectly seared scallops. Throughout a wedding anniversary dinner party we see the at first sensible-seeming characters fall apart as a French woman (and a fair amount of cocaine) cause them to examine their lives and secrets.

The language is poetic without it feeling like one very long poem and the acting is brilliant. There's also some very funny and clever use of music and lighting.

Recommended to anyone with a slightly dark sense of humour.

****

A side note on audience dynamics. I can't say I usually much notice what my fellow audience members are up to during a play. But for this performance about 80% of the seats were occupied by high school students, and it made a strange difference. They laughed at different parts than I did, and some of them audibly cringed when the actors took their clothes off. They may have been old enough for the play (I'd say they were all around 15/16) but they didn't seem mature enough, and it made the atmosphere a bit tense.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

What's On, 22nd-28th April

The Misanthrope - Exeter Northcott Theatre
A Molière classic mockery of manners and morals set amid 17th century French aristocracy. Tuesday - Saturday, 7.30pm. There's also a Saturday matinee at 2.30 Tickets £12.50 - £20.50
(I'm going to try and cram this in to my calendar)

The Incomers - The Bike Shed Theatre
What starts as a simple celebration between four friends quickly unravels with one revelation after another until we become aware that no one has been telling the truth to anyone about anything for a very long time. Tuesday - Saturday, 7.30pm. Tickets £7 - 10
(I think it's written in verse, I'm looking forward to seeing it)

Friday, April 19, 2013

The Disappearance of Sadie Jones

Hmmm, my first review, here goes....


'The Disappearance of Sadie Jones' by Hannah Silva at The Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter

Well, it's not a play for everyone. It's one of those plays that is more about artistry, and clever use of set and language - rather than about an interesting story.

Writer/director Hannah Silva has used a minimal amount of props and cast to portray the story of a macabre unstable woman dipping between fantasy and reality. The audience is swept along, not entirely sure of where the fantasy ends and the reality begins. You mustn't spend too long puzzling over this or you'll end up as mad as Sadie - though her encounter with a greengrocer selling apples would do that to anyone.

The language is lyrical with plays on synonyms, repetition and timing. The set is interesting with parts like minimalist modern design and parts like a child's graveyard. There are flashes of humour in the story but overall it's quite dark.

I don't think I'd recommend this play to most people, but if you love the art of theatre and dream-like strangeness it's definitely worth checking out. It is on at The Bike Shed until 20th April. Tickets £7-10.

***

Monday, April 15, 2013

What's On This Week

The Disappearance of Sadie Jones - The Bike Shed Theatre
Sadie Jones wants to disappear. She walks a tightrope between reality and her imagination; a chaos of words, and silence.
Until the 20th April. Tickets from £10
(I'll be seeing this during the week)

'Allo 'Allo - The Barnfield Theatre
Based on the old TV show abouRené, the hapless café owner in the town of Nouvien in war-torn occupied France, as he and his wife, Edith, struggle to keep for themselves a priceless portrait of the ‘Fallen Madonna with the big boobies’.
Until the 20th April. Tickets from £11
(I loved the TV show as a child, but I'm not sure the humour will have stood the test of time)

Lie Back and Think of America - The Cygnet New Theatre
A multi-role WW2 comedy-drama written and performed by Natalie Wilcox.
Only 18th April. Tickets £8

Punchdrunk: The Drowned Man

A new trailer for The Drowned Man has just been released. Looks intriguing!

(warning: contains flashing images)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Good Times

I'm in a good mood for two reasons
1. I'm using this post to test posting blogs and images from my mobile
2. Recent theatre ticket purchases :)
  'Venus & Adonis' by Isango Ensemble at the Globe later this month
  'The Drowned Man' by Punchdrunk at a secret location in London in September.
Had to book that last one very early as tickets sell out quickly, but I was able to use the last of my Christmas theatre tokens so at least it was affordable

Monday, April 8, 2013

Exeter, City of Theatres

Just a list off the top of my head to lay things out.

Exeter is a very theatre-friendly city as evidenced by the fact that we must have one of the highest theatre-to-population ratios in the UK.


Other theatre-ish performance spaces
And then there's Kaleider, who do non-site-specific performances. And I'm sure there will be more to come.

So plenty of places to start looking for works to review!