(4 / 5)
A simplistic staging – we are greeted with a blank space, the floor filled with cylindrical tubes and in the corner, a dolphin.
Immediately this is comical and theme of comedy runs through this clever piece to counteract the raw topic. Tell Me Anything is the theatrical adaptation of David’s teenage years with his first love, who happens to have an eating disorder. This takes over their love and their relationship, as we see his side of the story. This is a new take on such a topic, seeing it through the eyes of a loved one, without the character whose disorder it is. David makes it very clear that his development of the piece isn’t without his former girlfriend, and now friend, Kate’s input and knowledge of the piece.
With mostly a true narrative, excerpts from his diary, emails and memories, it’s hard not to feel warmth in the piece and the love he had at the age of 15. Unfortunately the only thing with this is that is feels a little fairy tale; the ‘true love’ tales of conversations, feelings and interactions seem so blissful that at times it’s hard to really believe such things; the performance then feeling a little fantasy like – or maybe that is just the cynic in me talking?
David interacts with us constantly – his narration directed to us, involving us by asking us questions and also asking us to close our eyes and put ourselves in his shoes – this feels intimate and struck a chord with myself as being asked to envisage someone we love just as he describes his love for Kate, bringing up personal feelings of loss, love and all the in between.
The lovey dovey nature, soon takes comical turns when he creates satires through his energy and vocal inflections to show the silly nature of 15 year olds. And then it gets dark – his anger, his hopelessness and his pain shines through, even 14 years later it is evident on his face and in his performance. A theme throughout is that it isn’t about him, it’s about her, but this shows exactly how invested he is in his story to show both sides, without the other participant.
The lighting is simple, and it changes to flicker when anxiety and anger rises. The tubes are like a minefield, or like ‘treading on egg shells’ as he manoeuvres himself through them– the more the story deteriorates and their relationship does, the tubes and their movement by David as less controlled and begin to fall. An interesting representation of control and descent of happiness. And of course, the dolphin. The representation of being the dolphin who gently helps and nudges those in need, is brought in as support, strapped to David’s back, and later, is let out of air and crumbles as David does.
Tell Me Anything is full of theatrical symbolism, heartfelt emotion and a real life and raw story. A piece of theatre that resonates with anyone who has tried, hopelessly, to help someone they love.
https://www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk/shows/tell-me-anything/
Tag Archives: Hannah Goslin
Review Give Me Your Love, Ridiculusmus, The Bikeshed Theatre by Hannah Goslin
(4 / 5)
Back into the underground bunker of The Bikeshed Theatre, this week sees the company Ridiculusmus who have been bringing funny yet thought provoking theatre to venues such as Battersea Arts Centre, Soho Theatre, Barbican, National Theatre, Royal Court and The Arts House, Melbourne for around 20 years.
Artistic directors and performers of this piece Give Me Your Love, Jon Haynes and David Woods take a look at PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) within a former soldier of the most recent of wars in Iraq, basing this in West Wales. They take a humorous look at this condition but filling it with strong metaphors which in balance work well to really make us think about the disorder.
The majority of the 1 hour show is mostly purely a conversation between Zach who is in a cardboard box, for his own safety (or so he believes) and his friend, Ieuan, and occasionally his wife Karen. With all of these characters, we never see their faces. Karen is in a different room shouting through the wall; Ieuan Is trying to get into the room through the chained door, his only presence represented by his speech and his hands/arms peeking through and of course our main character, Zach, is always in the box. This interesting take on theatre is brilliant and simplistic. It takes a lot within creation, writing and the skills of the performers to be able to bring such comedy, the issues and pure emotion to an audience without much physicality or facial expressions.
The narration is great; it is as if the characters are having a simple chat, going back to the issue at hand but occasionally having a moment of off topic interaction. Somehow this makes the unordinary visuals seem very naturalistic – with Welsh accents as well, are perfect and I guess with the sing song nature of the Welsh accent, adds to the humour.
Taking my parents, we later discussed how clever and important this piece of theatre is, and whether the performers themselves were Welsh as they seemed to be on point with Welsh humour. I do wonder whether some humour was lost a little on the audience as it did touch upon things that we agreed may be more comical to the Welsh or those familiar with Welsh culture and humour. Despite this, there was plenty of comedy and strong emotional moments that visibly effected the audience in obvious ways.
Give Me Your Love is such an important production to see – Zach is seen to say that he has put himself in the box – and while this is represented physically, it also has huge representation to how we see PTSD ourselves. How society coaxes suffers into this one box and not taking in that each person is human and different. If you do not get a chance to see this production, so many emotions and thoughts will be starved of its theatrical influence.
http://www.ridiculusmus.com
Review The North! The North! The Bike Shed Theatre by Hannah Goslin
(3 / 5)
Entering into the underbelly of The Bike Shed Theatre, we are greeted by a solo man dancing vigorously to unidentifiable music. The North! The North! Sees the story of one man in a post-apocalyptic / alternative universe to our world as we know it. The story features a narrative that is wildly imaginative and creative, and extremely unusual. People have deformities, the world has had shortages and events during the 1970’s/1980’s that never happened in our world – essentially anything and everything is possible.
This one man show is full of energy, changes in characters which still always feel like that have a sense of the main character, adding to the strangeness of the story and is impressive with the detail from speech to action to stage and how It is all memorised.
Speaking of stage – while small, the stage is full of technological surprises. Projection is used heavily with a Mighty Boosh-esque cartoons to give place, to show props and add to the storyline. This involves being precise and well-rehearsed which he is. Each time, it brings a new joy and intrigue.
The performer himself is endearing and speaks to us like we understand this world – something so extraordinary, he does not dumb down his tale and we feel engaged and interested.
A strange but interesting production – my mother who attended said she felt as if she had ‘been involved in his own personal acid trip’ – which easily sums up this adventure.
https://www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk/shows/the-north-the-north/
Review, Rob Auton The Sleep Show, Exeter Phoenix by Hannah Goslin
(4 / 5)
Rob Auton’s The Sleep Show is like something I have never experienced before. This sounds negative but it is meant in every positive way.
The premise of the show is looking at sleep through comedy and spoken word. Beginning with a ‘support act’ which is Auton himself, we are eased into his unusual sense of humour and warmth as he engages with us personally. The support act is against the show’s title, but more giving us an introduction, a literal warm up to pumping music, and made us feel as if Auton was our friend, not just a performing stranger.
The Sleep Show itself was a roller coaster of emotions. Moments are of elation with comedy, ad libbing and times of going off topic. Auton is not afraid to come away from structure and script to find different paths, always returning back somehow but this shows skill and a comfortability in his performance style.
Other parts see a real deep and meaningful look into sleep, into the way we live, metaphorically and literally and brought new perspectives, poetic and theatrical approaches to the subject and was a beauty to listen to and watch how invested he is in his skill.
We found during the show the unfortunate events that come with such performances – hecklers. A woman who openly shunned the performance and Auton to his face, showed little respect and perhaps a naivety/lack of understanding of the performance type. Auton does well to change this into humour, taking my tweet to him earlier in the day and assigning the reviewer status to her. Without owning up, it was interesting to see how he used life events not only in my contact with him but in the relationship building with this woman and how he is able to think on his toes to come back in control.
Auton reminds me a lot of a mixture of James Acaster, The Mighty Boosh and Rick and Morty. A certain cup of tea, I really enjoyed the new and interesting approach he brought to the stage and encourage everyone to try him at least once.
http://www.robauton.co.uk/sleep-show
Review La Strada, Exeter Northcott Theatre by Hannah Goslin
(4 / 5)
Set in a timeless existence, La Strada sees the story of a group of misfits, a young girl is sold to a Strongman performer and meets and develops friendships, experiences with and learns from.
The proscenium arch set is the usual theatrical setting, however the company set up a changeable area with the use of props and staging to give the impression of different places and different venues. This works well with the idea that the story is set anywhere, at any time, with the bohemian costumes and dirty travelling circus attire.
One thing that I am a huge fan of and which was implemented well in this production is all the performers being involved at all times. A strange and different group of people, whether a prop, part of the stage, a character or providing the music/soundscapes, they were always involved, drawing our attention to the main action. This shows a great interest and investment in the production and an energy that was constant.
Each character was haunting, had their own comedic moments, but added to the atmosphere of fear, of confusion and oddness that the main character of the little girl experiences. A naive girl, the performer did well to transform her simple, youth to someone more profound and strong by the end. Her physicality and facial expressions were simple but well completed for the character, and her ability to admit humour from the script with what seemed like complete ease made this bohemian alternative world seem realistic.
The performers all used their physicality to represent parts of the stage and the story – from the motorcycle the Strongman drives to the metaphorical waves representing the young girl’s emotions. Again, this was well invested in and made the production feel a little more out of the world and again, place able on any time line.
And finally, the use of live music, taking the performer’s skills an adding it to the production made this feel more cosy, as if we were joining in a small community and provided an unusual but catchy background.
La Strada is comical, haunting and just a little bit clever – well worth the watch!
https://exeternorthcott.co.uk/calendar/la-strada/
Review Caitlin, Light, Ladd & Emberton, Theatr Brycheiniog by Hannah Goslin
(5 / 5)
As a huge fan of Eddie Ladd, Deborah Light and Gwyn Emberton, I have been excited to see Caitlin for a long time – missing the chance when it came to London, my visit to Brecon happily coincided with their Welsh tour.
Directed by Light and choreographed and performed by Emberton and Ladd, the story of the piece is based upon the poet Dylan Thomas’s wife, Caitlin, her turbulent life with the Swansea celebrity and her alcoholism beginning before and continuing after his death.
Set out in a circle of chairs, the story unfolds before us as an AA meeting but the words are simple sentences and the rest purely physical. The chairs soon became metaphors and symbolism for lovers, baby chairs and Thomas’s gradual success until his death where he (literally) falls from grace.
https://youtu.be/_21dOoSAqWc
I do feel slightly biased in the fact that these three dancers are such huge inspirations to me, but I couldn’t express how fluid and creative the movement were. Times where you could only imagine pain and impact of the body seemed so gentle and as if they did not hurt the performers was astounding. And they used every bit of space and every chair. It was a wonderful take on Caitlin’s life.
My only argument would be that I wanted more of the physicality and less of the chairs. While I completely understood the reasons behind the chairs, as a fan I just wanted more – perhaps that’s just me being greedy!
To accompany, the music was interesting, with no social/cultural significance but only to heighten the movement. And no particular theatrical lighting, giving the room a naturalistic feel rather than something created for theatrical purpose.
Caitlin, as all of Light, Ladd and Embertons work as a group and as individuals is a triumph. A beautiful representation of love, addiction and pain.
Directed by Deborah Light
Devised with and performed by Eddie Ladd and Gwyn Emberton
Sound by Siôn Orgon
Costumes by Neil Davies
Images by Warren Orchard
http://www.gwynembertondance.com/caitlin/
Caitlin – spring tour 2017
27-28 March // Aberystwyth
2 April // Laugharne
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/caitlin-by-light-ladd-emberton-laugharne-shows-tickets-31967232854
5 April // Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon
http://www.brycheiniog.co.uk
8 April // Theatr Ardudwy, Harlech
http://www.theatrardudwy.cymru/
11-15 April // Chapter, Caerdydd/ Cardiff
http://www.chapter.org/caitlin-0
21 April // Ffwrnes, Llanelli
http://www.theatrausirgar.co.uk/en/
23 April // Llandrindod Wells
http://dawnspowysdance.org/events/
25 April // Barry Memo
http://www.memoartscentre.co.uk/events/caitlin-2/
28-29 April // Galeri, Caernarfon
http://www.galericaernarfon.com
4 May // Taliesin, Swansea/ Abertawe
http://www.taliesinartscentre.co.uk/
Review Wild Card, Dan Daw, Sadlers Wells by Hannah Goslin
(4 / 5)
Over at Sadler’s Wells we were taken into a smaller studio to the side of the usual theatre. This venue was very welcoming and intimate which I thought was ideal for the dance come performance arts pieces.
Both pieces were conceived by Graham Adel noted for his work challenging the social norm and focussing on people.
First half of the show was a piece called Gender F**k (er). Featuring one woman, Keren Rosenberg, the 50mins performance aimed to cross the barriers of gender. A relatively slow piece, Rosenberg transforms her body from masculine to famine throughout with astonishing movement and physical change. There are times where clothing or props are used to help create these different ideas but the transformations are fluid and at times mixed showing stereotyped differences but also highlighting realistic opinions of little difference .
Very adult in its content, it is quite raw and almost hypnotic as Rosenberg manages to fill the space with her movement.
The second half saw Dan Daw in On One Condition. The set was a like a above view / blueprint version of his family home giving it anonymity but also taking away any emotional ties. The piece shows his life in a snapshot with short spoken tales and movement to catchy music.
Daw has a disability that affects his movement but uses this to create beautiful images and movement highlighting a key message in the piece about not letting things stop you in your dream and the ability for everyone to do anything. It isn’t a hindrance but actually inspiration and used to its advantage.
He’s also very comical, not only poking fun at himself and at his disability but wider humour in satire of dance themes and genres. What I loved so much about this piece was the sheer intelligence in the concept and creation but also the honesty.
Two very different pieces, it was interesting to have a mixture of concepts and the clever ways both Graham and Dan Daw create a narrative; sending out vital messages about today’s society.
http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2017/wild-card-dan-daw/
Review Custody, Ovalhouse by Hannah Goslin
(5 / 5)
It is hard to ignore a storyline such as Custody.
Based in Brixton, Custody, created by Urban Wolf and written by Tom Wainwright tells the fictional tale of a young black man’s death in police hands. As we have seen over the years of news reports with the similar headline but we only see the headline as voyeurs. This production takes the heart and soul behind these and gives them a face in a 2 year play by play of how the family of this fictional yet very real character process through this tragic event.
There’s moments of comedy for light relief, a little of black humour and satire of stereotypes but also such fantastic theatricality.
While there is music, the performers create soundscapes through sound and words. They build this into themselves physically and while it would seem a low physical production, you can tell it takes much hard work and perfection to get all of the timing and embodiment just right.
And the set is fantastic. Move able, dark and deep to bright, white and clinical. We never meet Brian he is spoken to as if he was there but we essentially feel his presence in the performers emotions. And these emotions are natural and relatable.
Attention to detail is key – the weight of Brian’s memory is represented by bags that each performer wears, very little are these let go until they let go of him.
Custody is everything you want in a production, it has heart, theatricality and sends a message.
http://www.ovalhouse.com/whatson/detail/custody-by-urban-wolf
Spice Time Credits- The day I went from Londoner to Tourist
As some of you may or may not know, Get The Chance Wales has a lovely relationship with Spice Time Credits.
As reviewers we earn our credits from our reviews and they can be used for pretty much anything.
Today is my last day in London for a while as I traipse off to America for a bit. As a self confessed Londoner of 2 1/2 years I thought I’d be a tourist for the day and use my Time Credits.
I previously took my parents to the Tower of London – astounded at the money saved and value of experience we got from this.
getthechance.wales/2016/08/17/spending-time-credits-tower-london-hannah-goslin/
Today I saw parts of London I had never seen- views from the MBNA clipper that floated us down the Thames, going crazy fast when water seemed more open – which was tonnes of fun.
The famous Tower Bridge- looking down at the small ant like people below through the glass floor. Queasy feeling this experience but ever so cool none the less.
As most Londoners know – most things are within walking distance. So I trotted up to The Monument. An almost non recognisable statue in a city of architecture, The Monument is to commemorate the Great Fire of London. Inside are 311 steps – and boy does it feel it! While I’m hardly fit, even the fittest struggled but it’s well worth it for the beautiful view at the top and the certificate you get at the end for climbing it.
Finally a short distance away is St Paul’s Cathedral. Well recognised and providing cameos in plenty of TV and films, it is a highlight of London. Inside is ornate and rich, the ceilings phenomenal and gold, with beautiful imagery. To reach the very high up whispering gallery in the main dome, it’s another never ending staircase but very much worth it for what you see.
Time Credits have allowed me to experience parts of London I do not think I ever would have chosen to see on my own and felt like a wonderful reward.
http://www.justaddspice.org/get-involved/get-started-with-time-credits
Review, Big Guns, Yard Theatre, by Hannah Goslin
(3 / 5)In The Yard, this quaint and interesting theatre in a industrial state is flooded in red lighting, with two ladies eating popcorn, 3D glasses on and sat comfortably in a cut out piece of staging.
The music is ominous and leads us not to expect what we will witness the next hour or so.
Basic in its approach, Big Guns is filled with lighting changes from house lights, the red flooding, darkness and torches. The ominous music constantly giving us this uneasy feeling.
The performers perform a hour long duologue which aims to delve into the violence, danger and fear of every day, this increasing in today’s society. And while this is essentially a duologue, I was dubious a few minutes in as to whether this was all there was and was it worth it.
But somehow, the way the performers brought the stories, the thoughts, the emotions, the sense of fear was well done and I increasingly felt uneasy and a little scared of my walk home.
With recent attacks in London, daily negative news on our television screens and newspapers, the presence of social media ever apparent, the narrative hit the nail on the head and summed up our ever increasing danger.
Big Guns is certainly an interesting piece of theatre with an unusual approach and interesting set, lights and sound.