REVIEW: Outside by Orange Tree Theatre (Online)

Following the first instalment of ‘Inside’ performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, we are back with the second half, ‘Outside’ continues the theme of short plays written by emerging and established writers. Small disclaimer there were some technical difficulties in the performance I watched but the Orange Tree Theatre provided a complimentary ticket to watch another show, so massive thank you for their kind gesture. 

Firstly the design element of the stage was created by Camilla Clarke and I loved the use of the scattered plants to give a real authentic feel to the play being set outside. This combined with the soft, warm lighting provided by Rajiv Pattani really had me immersed in the spring/summer vibe of the three pieces. 

REVIEW: Inside at Orange Tree Theatre (Online)

After one whole year, yes you read that right, of the Orange Tree Theatre being closed due to the pandemic they have re-opened with a pool of new plays, written by a handful of fairly new writers, pooled into two different nights; Inside/Outside. The show I watched was ‘Inside’. Three different plays revolved around the stories of the elderly women and the things they have encountered during a pandemic.

The first show was ‘Guidesky And I’ by Deborah Bruce, a one-woman show, that highlights the loneliness of an elderly woman and her connection to a scammer online. 

Samantha Spiro manages to keep the pace of the show inviting me into the characters personal life, as we watch the daily conversations we all have with ourselves when we imagine no-one is watching us.

REVIEW: The Musician: A Horror Opera For Children at The Belfast Children’s Festival (Online)

Due to the pandemic, the Belfast Children’s festival that takes place annually has been moved online, and therefore allowing me to watch ‘The Musician: A Horror Opera For Children’ performed by the Belfast Ensemble. The story tells the back story of the life of the infamous ‘Pied Piper’ and how he became what he is known for today in the storybooks. But is he the good-hearted hero we all really know?

The setting is a full view of the orchestra with a small raised stage in the centre where the actors performed the majority of the performance. At the start of the show, I was confused at first at the mixture of spoken word narration followed by the operatic sounds repeating what the narrator had told us. With this continuously happening, I found the beginning a slow burner and not very riveting. This however did change when the musician, played by Paul Carey Jones entered the stage, picking up the pace of the production.

REVIEW: Jina and the STEM sisters by HMDT music (Online)

I took a visit (online of course) to watch an educational show called ‘Jina and the STEM sisters’. The show involved a little puppet named Jina. We followed her through a forest where she encountered several different empowering women through the ages. I think the message was wonderful as the aim of the STEM Sisters project is to inspire young people, especially girls to engage with and hopefully pursue an interest in STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. 

Puppetry was how the characters were portrayed in the story with a different range of puppetry skills, beautifully acted by Ruth Calkin and Nix Wood, that at times had me completely immersed in the characters and with the realistic movements, bringing the objects to life, which I found fascinating.

REVIEW: Songs For A New World (Lambert Jackson Productions)

Back to theatreland with ‘Songs For A New World’, a Lambert Jackson Productions, directed by Séimí Campbell takes us back in time to life in the first lockdown, as we see the development of Jason Robert Brown’s song cycle portrayed by four well known Musical Theatre artists; Cedric Neal, Rachel John, Rachel Tucker & Ramin Karimloo. The collection of songs examines life, love and the choices that we make as it transports audiences through time and space. The piece has made many songs centre around the state of the world in Summer 2020 and gives a reflection on this. 

The first thing I will say is that as soon as ‘Opening: The New World’ begins I immediately got goosebumps. There is something about Jason’s music that will always bring nostalgia and a massive well done is needed for Josh Winstone and the band for collectively producing such a wonderful arrangement. The setting is very zoom style with all actors performing the work into their cameras/iPhones. With this, it gives a raw and unpolished finished as we enter their personal homes during life in the first lockdown, shout-out to Rachel John for colour coordinating her outfits with the things in her kitchen and garden. 

REVIEW: My Mix(ed up) Tape at the Living Record Festival

The third and final review of a show from the amazing Living Record Festival, a celebration of digital art taking place between the 17th January to 22nd February. The festival takes place digitally to provide access to theatre for everyone world-wide, with a platform of over 40 independent artists and theatre companies from across the world streamed for you to enjoy at the click of a button. 

 

This one was a digital R&D project created by Katie Payne, with direction from Catherine Paskell of Dirty Protest Theatre, a Welsh theatre launched in 2007, that has showcased work from over 200 artists across Wales & England and a superb platform for independent works. The project was called ‘My Mix(ed up) Tape’ a short sharing of a play about a 30 something woman called Phoebe, or ‘P’ for short, trying to navigate us sporadically through her cousin Caroline’s wedding party back in her hometown in the Welsh Valleys.

REVIEW: Ain’t No Female Romeo at the Living Record Festival

This is my second review of a show from the amazing Living Record Festival, a celebration of digital art taking place between the 17th January to 22nd February. The festival takes place digitally to provide access to theatre for everyone world-wide, with a platform of over 40 independent artists and theatre companies from across the world streamed for you to enjoy at the click of a button.

Today was ‘Ain’t No Female Romeo’ a digital art journey by Lita Doolan Productions. Through the self-documented video entries, we see that the main character is on a journey via the means of social media (Instagram) to either find or connect with this person called ‘Peter’. The online pursuit takes the leading lady across the world to find some poster in a subversion of the classic tale of Romeo & Juliet.

From the offset, the piece has a frantic like tendency, with the quick changes of self-tape monologues to cryptic text messages. These short burst videos of seemingly random videos demonstrates both the fragility of the main woman and also gives an insight into the sporadic nature she is going through to find this virtual lover. Also, the way that the videos are edited and portrayed gives the impression of someone who is completely new to Instagram, where they post everything and anything, which can be interpreted as a naive beauty but I found after 10 minutes it became slightly irritating.

REVIEW: Alright, Girl? for the Living Record Festival Online

This piece is one of many from the Living Record Festval, a celebraton of digital art taking place between the 17th January to 22nd February. The festval takes place digitally to provide access to theatre for everyone world-wide, with a platform of over 40 independent artsts and theatre companies from across the world streamed for you to enjoy at the click of a button. 

When it comes to expressing Art, for me, personal poetry is the most exposing and raw material you can give to the audience. In this soundscaped binaural recording, Maria Ferguson debuts her poetry collecton of “Alright, Girl ?” Accompanied with a soundscape created by Chris Drohon, this piece is a personal exploraton of class, gender and belonging set in and around the characteristc East End of London.

To begin, before you even press play, get a pair of headphones to listen to this piece as you enter a whole new world with a stunning soundscape that travels with you throughout Maria’s story. Sound designer Chris Drohon has created a naturalistc element that gave me the illusion of going on a walk through a park, which is fittng as that’s been the highlight of these lockdowns?! The binaural experience was completely new for me, and it was thoroughly enjoyable giving the calming podcast feel to the whole performance, apart from the slight jump scare I got from the pigeons.