Bristol’s Festival of Physical, Visual and Experimental Theatre
Running across Bristol between the 9th and 27th May

Mayfest has been running for five years now and has become a major highlight in Bristol’s theatre calendar for anyone interested in performing arts. The festival has always previously been based at the Bristol Old Vic but due to its refurbishment, Mayfest has been taken city wide for 2008. Expect a collaboration of experimental theatre taking place in venues and site-specific locations across Bristol including the Tobacco Factory, the Alma Tavern, Arnolfini the Wickham Theatre and Circomedia. As always the festival is an exciting mix of local, national and international artists with new, fresh young companies presenting work alongside those that are established from the UK and beyond. This is a festival not to be missed.

Everything gets going on Friday 9th May with SHIFT by the acclaimed Gravity and Levity; a large-scale promenade piece with a great deal of aerial work. This collaboration of choreographers from Vincent Dance Theatre and Stomp is taking place in the Ciromedia church on Portland Square as is a suitably impressive and dramatic way to kick-off Mayfest.

Other highlights include a weekend of local work at Wickham Theatre including Niki McCretton’s ‘Space 50’ – a show which stemmed from her fascination with space travel – and ‘In The Shadow Of Picture Frames’ by local contemporary circus and physical theatre troop Green Eyed Zero. The local theme is continued at the Tobacco Factory with work from new Bristol based companies FairGround, Kettle of Fish, Tinned Fingers, Lost Spectacle and Precarious. Days later the same intimate space houses the internationally renowned Ridiculusmus (who recently celebrated 15 years of performing at the Barbican in London) bringing their dark, wonderfully provocative and down-right dirty show ‘Tough Time, Nice Time’.

If all this wasn’t enough the Arnolfini is showcasing Tim Crouch’s award winning ‘England’ which will intriguingly be performed amongst the gallery’s current exhibition and also the Cirocmedia church houses the legendary Russian company BlackSkyWhite with their terrifying and brilliant piece ‘Astronomy for Insects’.

There is so much to look forward to at Mayfest this year that I just can’t wait! See you there!

www.mayfestbristol.co.uk

Selina Orrell