As life goes on, it is becoming clearer that society is becoming lonelier, mental health is on the downward track, and its affecting the young and the queer community in a disastrous way.
Sweet Beef, with their show, Crying Shame, aims to bring this epidemic to light, using verbatim interviews mixed in an unreal cabaret, where we are reminded that, while we may be suffering, we are not alone.
While this sounds intense and deep, there are elements of comedy within, in a little bit of a bittersweet way. The characters are all clowns of some sort, with clown-like names, make up and crossed cabaret/circus outfits. They start out engaging us as any cabaret show: we have the compare, the introduction to different acts, they interact with us like friends and welcomed guests… but as time ticks on, it becomes more unhinged, the characters break down, it all goes wrong. There’s this philosophical approach to the production, almost starting with “putting on a smile” to engage us, but pushing us away as soon as things become too much and too real – it resonates, if not ambiguously.
The characters are each fully formed and so when they break, it is very clear that their clown facade has disappeared. However, some moments of chaos were almost too chaotic. Each breakdown seems to draw the other characters out and it becomes a little overwhelming, with competing voices and faces engaging you. The compare continues to keep peace until they themselves break and we get this beautiful moment of their reflection, of a slower and calmer analysis of loneliness. If there were more peppering of this, it would feel more poignant and not at a high energy level that felt a little hard to keep up with.
Crying Shame is visually beautiful, with a socio-political approach that is needed since the pandemic and in an ever downward spiral in our mental health system. It is an important and clever production, but needed a occasional change of pace to allow us to sit in our thoughts on the topic.
The best thing about the Fringe are the hidden gems. It’s often rare and difficult to find, when the “hidden gems” get critical acclaim and become the talk of the festival. However, this production was certainly one that should have been picked up as a real gem.
Tit Swingers is a punk concert meets unapologetic history re-telling of notorious pirates of yonder time. Anne Bonney, Mary Read and Calico Jack (though he is only the pretty male face in the background) tell us the tales of their seven seas and ambiguous sexuality and how they became feared pirate women of history.
The stories are told through a combination of original sea shanties, punk music and stand up/story telling, with electric guitars, bass and a live drum kit. The songs are catchy, they are engaging and every essence of Punk. Instantly, I knew this was my kind of show. It was one of those “musicals” that you want the CD afterwards (and saying CD shows my age, wait until I ask for a cassette…).
The interaction between the three characters is faultless, comical and with a sexual tension that could be cut with a knife. There is a real “girl power” element, with Calico Jack, part of the story, but in the position of arm candy; a serious change to the social norm. They are all fun, powerful and, while there is clearly some script or guidelines to the narrative, it feels much like we are included in a tale spoken on the spot, with the characters bouncing off one another, ad-libbing and engaging us. Sadly, the performance I went to only had a handful of audience members, and those who were not the most confident in engagement and so this led to the occasional awkward pause, changing the atmosphere. Not a fault of the performers or the content, but it sadly created drops at times that were not deserved.
The story is also very educational; while it wouldn’t be advised to bring kids, for the language and sexual references, it did deliver a element of learning that I feel many would enjoy history more if told in this media. It’s modernised, with current language and slang, and the way that the performers deliver it has you listening to every word. Names I had heard of, but not really engaged with, I came away with brand new knowledge and more love of history, and pirates.
Tit Swingers is a golden nugget of the Fringe; music, sex, comedy and pirates … I’m not sure what else you would want from a show. But you definitely come away with something extra special as well.
The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff runs a Community Ticketing Scheme. The Scheme supports a range of eligible people to access a FREE performance. You can see some of the performance’s available this week 23-30/09/24 below. If you are interested there is link to the eligibility criteria and a sign up form below.
Dennis Rollins & Royal Welsh College Jazz: Calypso Cymru
Thurs 26 September 2024 7.30pm
Dora Stoutzker Hall
£7.50-£15
Musical memories from the Windrush Elders Cymru are re-imagined through the musical artistry of jazz giant Dennis Rollins together with Samuel Dubois on steel pan, Cameron Pierre on guitar and Royal Welsh College’s jazz performers. Breathing new life into the calypso-classics of Lord Kitchner, Harry Belafonte, Mighty Sparrow, Monty Alexander and more, the gig will also feature new calypso/jazz arrangements of Jump in The Line, Brown Skin Girl, Angelina and Sly Mongoose. It’ll be sure to have you dancing in your seats!
“It’s going to be a pleasure to return to RWCMD for an expansion of our 2023 collaboration, Calypso Cymru. Here, our connection is the song.” Dennis Rollins
She was fame hungry, he was doomed to follow her. As one hit wonders, this is a story of their big come-back. With Sandy’s determination and Bruno’s blissful devotion to her, they are here; not by popular demand, but by sheer defiance.
With striking aesthetics and a rousing soundtrack, THE BAND is a quirky, humorous display of desperate ambition and blind affection told through awe-inspiring dance, theatre and circus.
Funded by Arts Council England. Developed with the support of Greenwich & Lewisham Young People’s Theatre, as part of Progression (an Arts Council England funded project). Supported by Greenwich Dance and Jacksons Lane.
Join the award-winning ORA Singers for their inaugural Graduate Composers’ Showcase, the culmination of a brand new scheme designed to celebrate the rising stars in composition. Hear the five exceptional new voices in contemporary music: George Parris, Liberty Richardson, Tomos Owen Jones, Emma Pascoe, and Jorge Ramos, with additional ORA commissions from acclaimed composers, Paul Mealor and Odaline de la Martinez, alongside renaissance masterpieces
Exploring the connections between musical traditions and the natural world, Making Tracks brings together exceptional musicians from all corners of the globe. Collaboration has the power to foster a deeper appreciation of both biodiversity and cultural diversity, and this autumn, Making Tracks visits Cardiff for the first time with a fresh line-up of eight musicians performing a captivating programme of solo and ensemble music.
You can find out more information and book ticket here
Information on The Community Ticket Scheme
RWCMD is a performance venue with a range of theatres. We work to support the public to watch the full range of performances, many of which are free and happen regularly, like AmserJazz.
We specifically focus on supporting people who may face barriers to coming to the College. If you are a member of one of the groups below and are interested in seeing a performance at RWCMD for free, please fill this form or phone our Community Engagement Partner – Guy O’Donnell at 029 2034 2854
People from the areas of Cardiff:
Ely,
Caerau,
Canton,
Riverside,
Grangetown,
Butetown,
Adamsdown,
Splott,
Rumney,
Llanrumney,
Trowbridge
Llanedeyrn,
St Mellons
Pentrebane
Asylum seekers and refugees (Referred through membership with partner organisations)
Disabled people (Referred through membership with partner organisations or evidence of status)
Tempo Time Credit network members
Care experienced children and young people.
Groups and individuals supported by Race Council Cymru and Chinese in Wales.
We are keen to learn more about what barriers to study or live performances exist and how we can work to remove them. We seek to learn, share and work with a range of communities.
If you have any queries or you would like someone to speak to your group about the Scheme, please contact Communities Engagement Partner – Guy O’ Donnell.
Guy works on delivering a wide range of engagement activity, working across every aspect of the College with potential students, community groups, schools, colleges, audience members, partner organisations, decision makers and the wider public. You can email him at this address guy.odonell@rwcmd.ac.uk
Everyone has a Kate Bush story. Whether you’re a big fan, have only ever heard her from Stranger Things, met her or know someone who knows someone who has met her. She is a staple of the 70’s and 80’s. So what’s the best thing to do with this love in 2024? Go and see a theatrical homage to the great.
This is not Kate Bush, this is without her and to some level, a love story to a childhood. Sarah-Louise Young is our Kate Bush, intimately telling us about growing up, with every element of comedy in her re-telling of wanting to wear spandex and the practice she has undertaken to move just like the great Kate.
The audience is full of those who love Kate, who have been dragged along, who have only heard a few songs, and we all collect together as Young brings us in with comical outfits, movements and “scenes” playing out Kate’s songs. She uses puppetry from a giant eye, to a mop, which weirdly still feels like something Kate Bush would do. But it brings it down from being a tribute act to something more avant garde and stylistic.
Young is very personable; she is in the audience, speaking with different people, bringing them on stage to party with her and we are all welcome in the room like old friends. She shares her love of Kate with us and so this barrier broken down between audience and performer helps us get on her train.
And it would be amiss to forget her phenomenal singing voice – while I’ve not seen anything else from Young, there’s a sense that, while you could close your eyes and swear Kate was in front of you, she effortlessly seems like a performer who is talented in changing her voice and still keeping the range and impact.
An Evening Without Kate Bush balances seamlessly the bridge between a tribute act and a fantastic piece of fringe theatre. With Kate Bush rarely in the public eye, Young’s talent is the closest you will get to a concert by the great moor dancing singer.
One thing I felt I missed this year at Fringe was circus. Not that there wasn’t plenty to see but it was one of those years that it just didn’t come my way. So to be able to see this beautiful piece, N.Ormes was enough to satiate that thirst.
N.Ormes is by a circus duo who aim to break down pre-conceived ideas about bodies and gender. By subtle changes in costume, lighting and the swapping of “roles”, they conduct an acrobatic dance to show the extent to which the body can go, no matter the gender.
The piece is fully mute and so much of the story line and emotion is brought through facial expressions and gestures; we begin with the concept of their love, then the exhaustion of the relationship but as it continues, the physical strength between the two genders projected on stage shows an ever swapping support of one another, physically but also emotionally. There are moments of comedy, nothing laugh out loud, but a smirk or a chuckle on the ordinary interactions of two humans… while it happens mid-air is another matter, however.
The two conduct feats that you can only dream of; being pushed up high by feet, in a sitting position, to only come back to the unusual seat, a seemingly small woman able to lift a tall man by just her head and so much more – we know circus artists are super human but they cleverly do this in a way to juxtapose the norm of what we usually see in a circus show.
The production ends with subtle lighting on their bare torsos while they continue acrobatics and it is just beautiful. The bodies merge into one and we are just left with skin and muscle – no idea the gender or the person. It is quite poignant.
My only negative is that the production felt consistently at one note. I wanted there to be a bit where it sped up or got intense but it didn’t quite reach that change. But none the less, it was certainly art.
N.Ormes is a powerful display of physical exertion with all pre-conceived ideals and gender norms thrown out the window. I just wanted something to break up the steady pace they had set.
I’ll be honest – I had no idea about the Gwyneth Paltrow Ski incident. Maybe I’ve been under a rock. But in a way, this was a great introduction, with all the drama and opportunity to make the story even more theatrical.
If you are like me and been under a rock, Gwyneth Goes Skiing looks back, with artistic licence, at the recent court case between Gwyneth Paltrow and the ordinary member of the public, Terry Sanderson, after a collision in the Utah mountains. Awkward Productions have of course interpreted and hammed up this story for our entertainment.
I was introduced to Awkward Productions with Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story only a few months ago, coming out in stitches and with an appreciation for this company’s approach to theatre. Perhaps my expectations due to this were too high, as this particular show didn’t give me the same wow factor.
Compared to Diana, we see more from the company’s production and Joseph Martin’s portrayal of the ordinary man out of the spotlight was hilarious, with moments of ad lib executed perfectly and still in character. Linus Karp, our Gwyneth is also comical but the character felt too much like their Diana character, with the same narrative hooks, movements and gestures. Karp is a fantastic as a performer, but for me, there was just too much similarity between their two characters for me to be allowed to be taken over by the story line.
Like Diana, audience interaction is paramount and this is done really well, with multi-media use and a surprise in the audience choices. The audiences themselves also gave in fully and this made hiccups or narrative surprises very funny and added another level to the production.
While everything at Fringe is shorter, at just over an hour however, this show felt as if it needed just a bit more trimming. The start was delayed slightly by the sold out audience and therefore, while running over schedule anyway, it lead to a lot of quick dashes by the audience. And perhaps it was this atmosphere, but it felt as if our court scene took a while to reach its conclusion. It was a shame to feel this way and with it running over, it felt as if attention in the room was slightly lost.
Gwyneth Goes Skiing is every bit silly, camp and melodramatic. With a few tweaks, this could easily be up with Awkward Productions Diana: The Untold and Untrue story as a masterpiece of fringe theatre.
Off the beaten track for a more curious endeavour in London. A queer reimagining of Shakespeare with Antony and Cleopatra. Conceived and directed by Robert Chevara, this was a simple affair made better with a intimate venue.
We see a lot of the typical things asscotaed with gay men…clubs, dancing, leather, cross dressing, poppers almost other delights. I’d say this worked to an extent wondering if this play has ever had this tenet before. It is condensed into a 70 minutes so there is little time to truly develop things organically. Like the blasting club beats, you have to get lost in the heat and sweat of it all. Antony is William McGeough perhaps the strongest in the show. Lots of rage and sultry allure on this fallen Roman. Cleo is Jonny Woo, who steals the show with wild dress up, camp personas and a swooping mood swings.
Stripped back with the two leads and thier assistants: support was that of Charmian and Dolabella. Alexis Gregory and Jonathan Blake in these roles work well, moment of blissful camp elevate the Bard’s word for lines that might not necessarily funny. Both had seriousness too when needed, the weight of the lovers romance begets tragedy for all involved. Moments of karaoke helped soften the mood. Its usage did not overbear, though any more would have done so.
Some of props and costumes use is clever. Cleopatra’s wonderous death crown and jewels have to be seen to be believed. No asp in site for her tragic end, instead a more piffy shot of smack it would seem? Stroves lights upon the wall and ceiling are effective, not over used in moments of attack nor movement. There is a fair bit of back and for between the audience, I found myself moving over front and centre that I was.
This should find an audience, its queerness shot through and it had its moments.
1975. An empty Broadway stage. It’s the final audition stage for a brand new musical and only eight dancers will make the cut. The stage is bare, we can see the inner workings of it all including being able to see the stage-hands as they move the set pieces across the stage. The first round of cuts take place and seven leave the stage. We are left with our final 17 performers.
This is the musical that revolutionised Broadway when it opened at the Shubert Theatre in 1975 after a number of workshops and an off-Broadway run. With music by the legendary Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante, it was a huge hit, winning nine Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1976.
This touring version is based on the 2021 Curve Leicester production with Adam Cooper and Carly Mercedes Dyer reprising their roles of Zach and Cassie respectively. They are joined by a hugely talented cast who recount the real-life stories of dancers who faced these gruelling auditions, recorded in late night sessions by the creator of the show, Michael Bennett. What I really loved about the show was the delivery of these testimonies; you can feel the weight and the truth of these stories echoing from across the ages.
The bareness of the stage and to view the inner workings of the theatre eerily reflects how Director, Zach encourages the seventeen performers before him to lay bare their souls. Individuals struggle with what they should tell him, which is hugely amplified by Larry who ‘features’ them by live streaming their nervous faces onto a huge screen behind them. I really enjoyed this aspect; the idea of the chorus line is to ‘not be seen,’ to become one of the dancers and to not stand out or draw the eye. But the chorus line is still made up of individuals; human beings with their own hopes, dreams, egos, fears, their own stories. The use of the camera really helps this to shine through. Even when there is action on the front apron of the stage, Larry shows us the inner workings of the people behind the chorus line.
It goes without saying (in this sort of show) that the dancing is spectacular. When they dance as a whole, the effect is dazzling. Huge kudos to Ellen Kate, the choreographer of the piece. Being sat in the circle allowed me to really appreciate the formations as they stretched into the depth of the stage. The singing too is excellent, as an ensemble and individually, the talent on display is exceptional. I particularly enjoyed ‘At The Ballet’, ethereally delivered by the trio of Sheila, Bebe and Maggie (played by Amy Thornton, Lydia Bannister and Kate Parr respectively), ‘Sing!’ delivered with fantastic comedy and dancing by Kristine and Al (Katie Lee and Joshua Lay), ‘The Music and the Mirror,’ stunningly delivered by Carly Mercedes Dyer is danced and sang to perfection and, ‘What I Did For Love’ in a heartfelt rendition by Diana (Jocasta Almgill) and the Company. Of course, ‘One’ is a triumph, a stunning end to a musical which flies high with dreams, brings us to the depth of human emotions, makes us laugh and cry in equal measures.
I highly commend the production and its well-deserved place in the history of Broadway and musical theatre as a whole. Touring and West End productions are stunning, dramatic affairs with huge sets, beautiful costumes, jaw dropping effects. It’s refreshing to see the ‘bones’ of a production, what makes up the incredible productions we have the pleasure of seeing here in Cardiff; to see the blood, sweat, tears, joy and fear that go into the creation and casting of Musical Theatre’s biggest shows. This show truly is a ‘singular sensation’ and one that cannot be missed.
Nia Gandhi and Rhys Parry Jones are a tour-de-force in this two-hander play from the newest company in residence at the Sherman Theatre, Red Oak Theatre. Red Oak have set out to be a design-led company and this is clear from the offset with the stylish ‘forest canopy’ above the performance space, featuring various elements that will be used throughout the play. The canopy creates intriguing swirls and patterns across the stage and dapple the actors’ faces in a poignant reminder of the play’s key theme of nature healing us through grief.
Gemma Prangle makes her playwrighting debut here and the piece is one that came about quite unexpectedly for Gemma. In a similar fashion to the way grief itself grows, changes, adapts, the writing of this piece found a way to be told through Gemma. I found that there were lots of moments throughout that particularly resonated and I enjoyed the counterbalancing of speech between David and Mali, his 17 year old daughter. There was also a clear link here with Gemma’s dancer and movement director work; clever use of space and bodies; the space used to great effect and even each actor being utilised to their full potential in fluid (or not so fluid, as the mood dictates) movements across the floor creating tableaus that make us laugh or equally bring us close to tears.
Nia Gandhi captures the essence of Mali with ease; she bounds across the stage with childlike enthusiasm at first and her delivery of the comedy lines at the beginning especially are expertly handled. Her relationship with her father, David, is delivered with balance and poise. She has exuberance on one hand and quiet contemplation on the other. It is an assured performance from a gifted actor.
Rhys Parry Jones is also fantastic, the timbre of his voice perfectly counterbalances the quieter, more contemplative Mali. Line delivery is very good, the moments of comedy drawing laughs from the crowd but he is devastating in his moments of grief and anger. He stares into the very souls of us as audience members, his eyes reliving every moment of his wife’s impending death and his outburst at realising she was gone absolutely broke my heart.
Particularly worth mentioning is the ‘birthday scene.’ Mali, seemingly oblivious to the inevitable demise of her mother, pulls together decorations, puts on her mother’s best shoes and dress and sings along to ‘Uptown Girl.’ The entrance of David into this ‘happy’ scene is truly heartbreaking and was an image that stayed with me long after I’d left the studio. It is the perfect way of showing how each of us deals with grief in different ways and the splinters that occur in our relationships when these ways of coping do not quite match up.
Splinter is a difficult but truly worthwhile watch. There are content warnings galore and it is hard to listen to the raw, unfiltered emotions but they are emotions we can recognise all too easily in ourselves. A mention though to the volume of lines; as someone who struggles a little with hearing and due to the piece being in the round, I sometimes struggled to hear certain lines when the actors were turned away from me. I found myself leaning forward in my seat as I did not want to miss a single line! However, this is a small thing in an overall assured and confident first production from Red Oak Theatre and Gemma Prangle. I look forward to seeing what they will come up next!
Going into this production, I didn’t think I would be witnessing something so deep. Who thought Spam would evoke such political discourse and commentary on colonialism. Sierra Sevilla combines this and more to bring us this deep and intimate one woman show.
For The Love of Spam tells Sevilla’s personal story, of growing up in Gwam, living in the USA and moving to the UK, where her home comfort was … Spam. Spam has a warm place in her heart, of childhood and home life and of her origin, and a reminder of simpler times. She reminisces fondly on her past, with slightly darker jokes regarding wishing for natural disasters because it meant no electricity and therefore a dinner of spam. But there is sadness and there is negativity, from other cultures where they turn their nose down at the canned meat throughout her life, in a way, hurting not just the spam, but her.
As we continue, we are driven into a much more political conversation, highlighting elements between Gwam and the USA, which I, embarrassingly, had no idea about. From a bouncing, bubbly and jokey performance, it suddenly becomes dark and we are asked to reevaluate our lives and what is important. Sevilla does well to lull us, through dancing, high energy and puppetry to reach this point. This way, it becomes a unexpected plot twist – using imagey projected, she gut punches us with this realisation. Ending the show, we are in a contemplative position, through a nuclear countdown, as we are asked to question what we would do in our final moments. It is deep and sometimes a bit awkward, as Sevilla makes her favourite dish on stage.
While being brought into comfort to only be brought out of it worked really well, I do wonder whether this was a point for a more shocking ending; while the silence and contemplative finish was unique, it potentially petered a little. There was invitation to join on stage but this was signposted to only one and, while the essence was to bring us intimately in, it felt slightly selective and voyeuristic. I do wonder whether there was a point where we could have all joined and been more a part of these final moments.
For The Love Of Spam was an unexpected and interesting production; intimate and funny, the political and social commentary was equally alive and proved educational as well as entertaining.
Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events. / Lleisiau amrywiol o Gymru yn ymateb i'r celfyddydau a digwyddiadau byw
(3 / 5)
(4 / 5)
