REVIEW: Lost in Love | Flow Stage Productions

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Reviews, Theatre

Aug 6-30 | On Demand | Fringe Player | Get Tickets

Follow Emily through her emotional turmoil as she struggles with losing her boyfriend and her best friend. With questionable coping mechanisms and seemingly sketchy avoidance strategies will Emily confront her demons? And will we learn what really went on?

Filmed in a studio theatre this one-woman show utilised the technical aspects of theatre well, separating settings with lighting and sound. This showed great ingenuity of design which was only enhanced in the editing for online viewing.

A little confused at times and an undeveloped story which comes to its climax in the last five minutes with limited explanation throughout of the protagonist. Emily comes across a little superficial, but with some reworking of the script and more details of her story drip-fed throughout the audience would have a mystery to solve and the impact of the ultimate twist would be far greater.

A stunning performance from Rachel Pryde and a great script from Nathan Keane and Megan Bowie. With a little more work I think this could be an incredibly impactful piece of theatre.

The Arts Business Top Tips:

  • There are so many perks to doing a show with one member of cast. Here Rachel Pryde carries the show with such passion and skill it is impossible not to remain engaged. If you’re a small scale company or you’re just starting out having just one performer can be a cheap and effective way to get your work out there.
  • SPOILER ALERT: By taking a theme like abusive relationships this piece could immediately do a lot of good in the world. Consider working with charities, researching grants, touring into schools or unis or even community centres to get shows like this off the ground. There is an abundance of potential opportunities out there for a moving monologue like this one.

REVIEW: Sugar | Mabel Thomas

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Reviews, Theatre

Aug 6-30 | On Demand | Online@theSpaceUK | Get Tickets

 

A new writing, from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduate Mabel Thomas, spanning a decade of a young girl’s escapades through puberty as she attempts to understand what it is to be empowered as a woman.

Is female empowerment the act of taking control over men? Is it found in ignoring silly, immature, little boys? Or do you need to one-up men to find the ultimate strength as a woman? And will this journey truly lead to happiness?

There’s a lot of good theatre in this show. Mabel Thomas gives an impassioned performance on a topic which is clearly very important to her. The way the piece is edited is uniquely original giving it a mockumentary, monologue feel. And the aesthetic created is perfect to universally reflect a young girl’s bedroom and could be taken from any point in the characters teenage years.

A great show for premiering at the Fringe and I can’t wait to see what she does next!

 

The Arts Business Top Tips:

  • Write about what inspires you! Especially if you’re an actor. This will make it easy for you to relate and adapt to the material and generally provide a strong and believable performance.
  • If you’re stuck in your bedroom, don’t be afraid to make theatre in your bedroom. It was most definitely the perfect setting for Sugar and I imagine if it toured into venues the bedroom would be recreated for the stage, so pretty much a win all round!

REVIEW: Dishonour | Mimi Ndiweni

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Reviews, Theatre

Aug 6-30 | On Demand | Fringe Player | Get Tickets

 

A one-woman show exploring the realities of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the present-day UK.

I need to begin by saying WOW! Mimi Ndiweni performs this show superbly taking on the roles of all characters within the production. Each character is clearly distinguished with their own nuances, accents and postures in a way that allows the narrative to flow seamlessly engrossing the audience into the action.

From the 5-year-old girl who is blissfully unaware of the dark truth’s of the world, to her father who outwardly campaigns against female circumcision, to his mother who has grown up unwavering in the beliefs and customs of her tribal culture, each one is well rounded and believable.

Terrence Turner’s storytelling is so compelling as we switch from a radio interview in which the father is openly campaigning against the practice of FGM to the kidnap of his daughter to have the ritual performed on her.

I would love to see a sequel exploring the aftermath of the event discussing the cultural divide between the characters and creating a clearer understanding of all viewpoints.

A must watch, but not an easy watch.

 

The Arts Business Top Tips:

  • If you find yourself a remarkable performer like Mimi Ndiweni to play all the roles in a script like this one, it can be more powerful a statement than having a full cast. Not only is it more cost-effective but from a design aesthetic it works leaving audience gripped to every word of the narrative.
  • The minimalist staging choices, for example, using limited props, instead miming items with well-timed sound effects mean this show can be taken anywhere, into any venue with a small team making it not only cheap to tour but more accessible to smaller communities who need to be educated in FGM.
  • FGM is still practised today worldwide but I’ll be the first to admit I know very little about it. Shows like this one are so important and can be used to inform and create a wider understanding of important topics. When creating work from scratch you may want to think about if there are any causes you are passionate about and would like to raise awareness for, taking this show as inspiration.

 

REVIEW: Ain’t No Female Romeo | Lita Doolan Productions

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Reviews, Theatre

6th-30th August | On Demand | YouTube | Get Tickets

 

An experimental one-woman show exploring the moving journey of a woman ghosted, reaching out on Instagram to find their lost love.

Lita Doolan really pushes what a monologue is in this production integrating every art form under the sun into this performance, mixing photos and film clips with video selfies to tell the story of a woman looking for answers.

The image work is beautiful juxtaposing street scenes with abstract moving patterns filmed from life. By retaining the sound of each piece of film the footage is edited in a jarring way to reflect the emotional rollercoaster taken by our heroine.

This modern interpretation of Romeo and Juliet employs quotes from the original text alongside Instagram hashtags to aid with the storytelling together with really poignant monologues and spoken word style performance.

Doolan demonstrates there is a fine line between love and obsession, as she seeks (or stalks) her Romeo and gets to the bottom of her parting with such sweet sorrow.

The Arts Business Top Tips:

  • Taking William Shakespeare as a starting point means you’re already creating a talking point with a pre-existing audience, he is of course arguably the most prolific playwright of all time. There will always be people interested in the Baird so there will always be people interested in modern-day retellings or reinterpretations. After all, everyone remembers 10 Things I Hate About You.
  • Incorporating art forms from film to photography or parlance to poetry can only add to your performance and overall vision. Ain’t No Female Romeo may not use the latest editing techniques or the highest quality film but this only adds to the overall themes found within the show. So, don’t be scared if you’re not a tech wizard, or there’s only one of you to run the entire company, you can still create something magical.