Monday 8th until Saturday 13th March 2010 @ Theatre Royal, Bath
To be able to successfully investigate the dark crimes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a detective must be of a certain disposition. The fear of lurking top hats and supernatural extremities ready to blind the entire religious and moral framework of the innocent appears significantly more real in Victorian England. Not that Sherlock Holmes, the Baker Street investigator, feels this terror necessarily. He is able to clear the mist and enter the mindset of the villain. Working with the clues, Holmes is able to form linear reason from explosions of distress. However, no man lives without enemies, whether they are internal or flouncing about the place in stark life. The Secret of Sherlock Holmes at Bath’s Theatre Royal is a short exploration into the horrors of Holmes’ continuously stirring mind. Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday 4th until Saturday 6th March 2010 @ Bristol Old Vic, Bristol
Firebird Theatre have done something unique; they have created a Tempest that is almost unrecognisable. Gone are the bold flourishes of soliloquy and eloquent declamations of human angst and power that one expects from Shakespeare’s play, in fact, Shakespeare has little place in this production. His themes of human suffering, love and the wielding of power against those ostracised by a judgemental society however, are present in full strength. Read the rest of this entry »
The last couple of years have seen a surge in Westcountry, and particularly Bristolian, comedians slowly taking over our screens, radios and stages. Has something happened to warm the public at large to the Bristol twang or is it all a massive, hilarious coincidence? Who knows, but let’s find out a bit more about some of Bristol’s funny sons…
Wednesday 24th until Saturday 27th February 2010 @ Bristol Old Vic, Bristol
Tom Wainwright is a Bristol-based writer/performer with a taste for the sinister and the absurd. Pedestrian is his latest project; a dark and brooding one-man fairytale of epic proportions. Our journey begins with Wainwright reliving a dream of his, walking down a generic, pedestrianised highstreet - walking but going nowhere – and all the time pursued by a giant goldfish. Onstage it is just him, a real goldfish swimming beside him in a bowl and a screen that’s decorated at various interludes with tempo and mood setting images full of subtle metaphor. Wainwright is talking to us fast and frankly, describing everything and everyone he sees (chuggers, pretty girls, empty Woolworths), but he’s always on edge, paranoid and unsettled. What slowly emerges is a dark, nightmarish fairytale where the rules change every minute and you have no idea who we are going to meet or where we will turn next.
Thursday 11th February until Saturday 20th March 2010 @ Tobacco Factory Theatre, Bristol
These are momentous times for Bristol’s renowned theatre company, Shakespeare At The Tobacco Factory: Two years ago they had their first guest director in the form of Jonathan Miller’s Hamlet, last year was their tenth anniversary season, six months ago saw their first ever co-production as they put on Uncle Vanya at the Bristol Old Vic and this year they are revisiting one of the bard’s plays for the very first time with A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Thursday 11th until Saturday 20th February 2010 @ Bristol Old Vic, Bristol
Pun’s have always been a favorable way of referring to situations; ‘I love you’ being the ever merry pun. In William Wycherly’s rompy restoration drama, The Country Wife, the pun and its playful uses account for the play’s erection. As we enter the romantic season of St Valentine, with love hearts spraying the window displays of shops across Bristol, The Country Wife is an accurate seasonal selection, with love, sex, lust and impotence as the main themes; the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School have the perfect material to entertain their horny mid-Feb audience. Read the rest of this entry »
Wednesday 10th until Sunday 28th February 2010 @ The Brewery, Bristol
Ivan is a pencil pusher for the Russian government in the most boring and nondescript office in the world. For years he has turned up for work every morning, gone through the obligatory vocal and physical exercises and then sat down to work at his desk, having no idea what his job actually is. That is, however, until an ambiguous inspector is sent down from Head Office. Ivan must blag and improvise his way through this report, being sure not to stray from the party line (even as it changes hourly), or he’ll loose everything. Read the rest of this entry »
Wednesday 20th until Saturday 30th January 2010 @ Bristol Old Vic, Bristol
Wowza! So that was Bristol Ferment; an abundance of brand new theatre being showcased by some of Bristol’s very best writers, actors, dancers, musicians, poets, puppeteers, directors and producers throughout the Bristol Old Vic in a hectic and crammed two weeks. Some days had up to six different work-in-progress pieces on show for members of the public to come and share their thoughts on and with each and every performance packed out by eager crowds, there was the real feel of a festival about the building. Read the rest of this entry »
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