What can you see with your eyes closed? Do you see darkness, or the imprint of light, or a treasured memory? This new production by Company of Sirens, in collaboration with Sight Life Wales, explores the shores of memory and time, the footprints we leave there and the people with whom we travel it. 

Beautifully directed by Chris Durnall and Angharad Matthews, With Eyes Closed features performers with sight loss telling stories of their their lives, loves and dreams. The piece originates in a series of taster drama workshops through the Llanover Hall Charity which pre-dated and subsequently continued throughout lockdown. The performers are all so natural on the stage that I was stunned to learn this was their first foray into acting. Precision is difficult; making it look natural is almost impossible – and that’s exactly what they achieve.  

This is a theatre piece that moves and breathes like the tide. The stage, transformed into a tranquil shore by Cara Hood’s effective lighting, is the stage for sharing memories, pieces of our lives buoyed by the waves and washed in by the tide. Company of Sirens have always had an innate sense of the ways music and memory intersect, and the music, beautifully played live by Stacey Blythe, is present but not invasive, and it glimmers like sunlight on the ocean. Tales affecting in their simplicity, are told with honesty, joy, and laughter – and, like a wave, the performers often move as one, rising and flowing together as the music shimmers like the sea around them. 

Funded by Arts Council Wales and the National Lottery, each story has been filmed professionally and will be shown in the Wales Millennium Centre as part of their Festival of Voice in November – but there’s something special and distinctly irreplaceable about experiencing this piece live; an honesty, an authenticity and a gentleness to the piece which caught me quite off guard. It calls you to wonder what you see when you close your eyes, the paths you could walk guided by memory alone, and who you walk them with.  

With Eyes Closed is playing at Llanover Hall Arts Centre Cardiff from 27-30 October at 8.00 with an additional performance at 2.00 on Saturday 30^th. Tickets are selling out and Friday is already sold out.

Being back at the Sherman Theatre

When I had an email through: would you like to volunteer via the Sherman 5 project, for the “Radical Reinventions” short plays, part of the Back in Play Festival at the Sherman theatre this week, I was immediately excited again.

Radical Reinventions have taken classic stories and cleverly reinvented them to tackle issues of today. Each play is set in the studio space with cabaret style seating, a warm cosy space, dressed with table lamps and dazzling chandeliers, you instantly feel relaxed upon entry.

The first of the two plays I attended was “The Love Thief”, directed by Nerida Bradley. To my surprise, this play was written and also performed by Rahim El Habachi in monologue style. Rahim excelled at the opportunity to shine as a multi-talented creative, being one to watch going forward. ‘The Love Thief’, takes the Greek mythology tale of Prometheus and remakes it that Prometheus steals love from the gods. Every time there is to be pain caused in the story via love, (or lack of), Prometheus would break into belly dance. Dressed head to toe in belly dancing attire, Prometheus would dance whole heartily to fantastic eastern music and with moves that shook the studio. With the play tackling dark social injustices, the break out in dance and music was the distraction needed before Rahim continues to indulge us in more emotion. The play left you thinking about subjects that are often overlooked but made you look at them from an inside view, which was for me, in hindsight, was the most interesting part of the play.

The second play “Tilting at Windmills”, directed and written by the extremely talented Hannah McPake and performed by Mared Jarman is inspired by the very long classic Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes. To the viewers delight, the play was extremely light hearted and fun in the story telling although as the story progresses the realisation of loss and barriers were to emerge, with the story telling and the personal life of the character playing the same. The smiles of the audience and audience interaction happened instantaneously on entry whereby audience members were asked to take on characters within the play. As well as audience members to take on characters in the play so did a plant, a mop head, a monkey and a narrator through the bellowing speakers of the studio, making a monologue projection interesting at every moment.

The young actress Mared Jarman was an exceptional professional who put every ounce of energy into her performance and whom I would actively follow for any future performances. With lots of people experiencing loss and having to overcome more than usual in today’s climate, I believe this play has a beautiful message to portray but in a not so heavy on the heart way which for me had a very healing effect.

Would I recommend the Back in Play Festival at Sherman Theatre to others? Absolutely! If you like myself, have found getting back into your old self before lockdown restrictions, a bit of hurdle then do not delay in booking on. The plays, lasting only 30 minutes gives the viewer a short, sharp shock of creativity which will get you motivated and wanting more.

Death Drop is the ultimate triple threat: it’s a Drag Comedy, a murder mystery, and a musical extravaganza – and it’s here to slay. Premiering on the West End in December, the star-studded UK Tour is making a brief pit-stop in Cardiff for only a few days – so sashay your way to the New Theatre and catch it while you can!

It’s 1991, and Lady von Fistenberg (Drag Race UK star Vinegar Strokes) has gathered a gaggle of celebrity frenemies to her mansion on Tuck Island to celebrate Charles and Diana’s anniversary – only for the guests to start dropping dead. This isn’t your grandmother’s murder mystery – and when it comes to the jokes, there’s no such thing as ‘too far’. Produced by TuckShop and Trafalgar Theatre Productions and written by Holly Stars (who also plays all three Bottomley Sisters), the show is essentially Murder on the Starlight Express: a campy, chaotic riff on the whodunnit where the one-liners fly so thick and fast, they make panto look slow.

Drag legends Willam and Ra’Jah O’Hara lead an all-star cast including Vinegar Strokes (reprising her role from the original West End lineup), Drag Race Down Under’s Karen From Finance, and drag kings like Richard Energy and George Orell who deliver some of the show’s best and most bonkers lines. The cast are incredibly game and bring a fun, raucous energy to the stage – I truly can’t remember the last time I laughed as much as I did in Death Drop.

Directed by Jesse Jones and with original songs by Flo and Joan (Oopsie Whoopsie is a real earworm), the show is a boozy, bolshy bit of escapist fun. Justin Williams’ set looks as if Dr Seuss designed Liberace’s living room, and Isobel Pellow’s costumes are a feast for the eyes: case in point, an outfit of Willam’s made entirely of bandanas (even the boots! I seriously want a pair). It leaves no 90s reference unturned and no innuendo unmilked – it’s daft, it’s dirty, and it’s an absolute delight.

Funny, filthy and fabulous, Death Drop is anything but a drag. If you’re averse to a bit of blue (cheese or comedy), you might want to give this one a miss – but if you’re up for a night of glitz, glamour and giggles, you can’t get better than this.

Death Drop is sashaying its way through to Saturday 23 October at the New Theatre.

“Remember me more than a fighting man and the choice I made for the greater plan”

‘Our War’ is directed by Andrew Ashaye & produced by Imole Theatre Company (Lola Oteh). Our War is an emotionally compelling story from the lens of the fellow Nigerians Ola, Tommy and Christian, as they travel from their native land Nigeria. Encouraged to partake in World War II as Nigeria at the time was a British colony; which left young men & women feeling as if they had no other choice or say in the matter, just wanting to make their mothers proud. Nigerian men & woman were not only having to leave sunny Nigeria, their families & parents; but the feeling of hope, unknowing whether they’d ever get reunited with their loved ones again. A flight with no guarantee of return, but of the sounds of explosive nuclear bombs, the height of World War II became their history.

After the play, I was keen to speak with Lola Oteh to hear what sparked her interest in the concept of ‘Our War’. Lola mentioned it was when she’d realised the vast absence of African & West Indian soldiers who were not widely acknowledged or recognised in being Britain’s key players fighting for the country.

Once Ola (the nurse), Tommy & Christian arrived to Britain, they experienced the national terror of war on the battlefield and the harsh realities of being Black in the army and in the local community. This entailed not only segregation for the coloured but their uniform differences to.

In conversation with Lola Oteh & Andrew Ashaye after the play, it became clear that Our War came together after an abundance of research from various sources from black cultural archives, etc. was carried out. Where autobiographies, real names, times & untold stories were incorporated into the play to ensure they portrayed life as realistically as possible during that era. Perfectly depicting the characteristics, mindsets & attitude of those in authority as well as the veteran desperately missing their motherland. ‘Our War’ perfectly dramatises the bravery of forgotten heroes, Black African and Caribbean men and women who contributed and made sacrifices for the war effort in Britain.

This production was majestically infused with elements of Nigerian culture through compelling dialogue & sweet singing in Yoruba; penetrating the audience hearts. Lola Oteh’s cultural influence was deeply embedded to create a platform in which original and innovative stories could be told. Drama and performance was greatly used in ‘Our War’ to magnify history bringing the past back to life and giving us a voice to stories that might not always be heard.

In this interview Rhys Payne interviews Hamed Amiri writer of The Boy With Two Hearts, adapted by Phil Porter now showing at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff.

You can find out more about the production and book tickets here.

Get the Chance supports volunteer critics like Rhys to access a world of cultural provision. We receive no ongoing, external funding. If you can support our work please donate here thanks.

The Sherman Theatre is well and truly Back in Play! The festival, which has everything from stand up to monologues to young writers showcases (all done in short form to allow you to safely see as much or as little on offer as you like), is headlined by ‘Radical Reinventions’, four short plays which put a new spin on a classic work of literature. (Hamlet is a F&£$boi and The Messenger, which both reinvent works by Shakespeare, premiered earlier this week).

The Sherman always has a knack for getting at the sinew and bones of a story, and this series is no exception. Performed in a socially distanced and visually striking cabaret setting (imagine that the Phantom of the Opera designed a circus tent and you’re halfway there), The Love Thief and Tilting at Windmills are two joyously irreverent and transcendent plays which argue that, while love may seem futile and dreams impossible, the adventure makes them worth the risk.

The Love Thief is written and performed by Rahim El Habachi and directed by Nerida Bradley, and is based on Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. Dressed in flames, Prometheus steals love instead of fire and gives it to humanity so they can love whomever they love regardless of gender. El Habachi, an actor and belly dancer, commands the stage from the second he appears – sensual, ethereal and lyrical, he relays his story like the Emcee via Elvira, all mischief and mysticism. The play gives a god’s eye view of modern Britain, its imperial ghosts and their ungodly scions who make it their life’s work to make life difficult for anyone they deem to be ‘different’. It also highlights the personal toll of activism, and how important it is to fight the tide of hatred and bigotry even when it threatens to consume you.

Tilting at Windmills is written and directed by Hannah McPake and performed by Mared Jarman, and is based on Miguel de Cervantes’ The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. Jarman is chaotic, heroic and mesmeric, gallantly sprinting around like Lancelot on a sugar rush. Using basic props and a whole lot of chutzpah (not to mention a rollicking Knights of Cydonia needle drop), Don Quixote and Sancho Plant-za attempt to squeeze a near-one-thousand-page book into a breathless (and hilariously meta-textual) thirty minutes. Cervantes makes an appearance as a Zardoz-like disembodied voice that boasts of his own greatness – opening up interesting avenues of the dialogue between authors and those adapting and performing their work, and how radically reinventing a text is what keeps it fresh, alive and relevant.

Ultimately, Prometheus has to decide whether hope is worth all the pain and the not knowing whether things will ever get better, and Quixote/Mared has to decide whether to stay in the fantasy or live in the real world. And yet, neither choice is a binary between staying or going, fantasy or reality. There will always be pain, and uncertainty – but there will always be hope, fun, and magic, hidden between the margins.

The Sherman is most definitely Back in Play and back to stay!

Back in Play season at the Sherman Theatre: 8 – 30 October

Review by
Barbara Hughes-Moore

Get the Chance supports volunteer critics like Barbara to access a world of cultural provision. We receive no ongoing, external funding. If you can support our work please donate here thanks.