REVIEW: The Clown of Clowns, as part of the Arcola's Opera Festival 'Grimeborn'

Part of the Grimebourn festival at the Arcola Theatre, this is truly a show of two contrasting halves. In the first part, the audience are treated to a rather melancholy and sombre interpretation of Pierrot Lunaire that is difficult to understand.

Formed of a selection of 21 poems from Otto Erich Hartleben’s German translation of Albert Giraud’s cycle of French poems, Schoenberg’s melodrama doesn’t feel as though it has much purpose. This is where Constella ballet and orchestra come in.

REVIEW: Ghosts from a Perfect Place at the Arcola Theatre

This month, and until 11 October, the innovative Arcola Theatre in Dalston presents Sarah Stribley’s production of Philip Ridley’s Ghosts from a Perfect Place. This is quite literally an explosive new production, as the playwright from East London gives us a story of fire, flames, and the burning scars that ghosts from the past can leave behind.

The two acts are incredibly different, which makes this play very exciting. In the calm Act I, we are introduced to Torchie, who’s lived in London’s East End all her life and is waiting for her granddaughter Rio to come home, and Travis, who is about the same age as Torchie. Behind his glamorous appearance and stories, he makes us uneasily wonder why he is also waiting for Rio in this old deteriorated kitchen. Later, the explosive Act II reveals that Travis, who was a feared gang leader over 30 years ago, finds himself threatened by a whole new gang breed and faced with his ghosts. Rio, a beautiful blonde gang leader dressed in gold and obsessed with fire, as well as her two “Disciples”, will try to make sure he regrets those he hurt.