The Cardboard Kitchen Project

          I was intrigued when I was asked to review this show. A cardboard kitchen? I went along hoping for something interesting and new. However I'm sorry to say I left rather deflated.

          The show is on at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre as part of the Camden Fringe Festival. The theatre is above the Lion and Unicorn Pub, a lovely modern pub on the corner of a quiet residential street. Away from the main hustle and bustle of Camden. It was so relaxing I was glad I had time to take in the pubs atmosphere before the show. Not to mention it has a lovely little pub garden. anyway, the theatre itself is like the majority of pub theatres in London. Upstairs and small. It was also surprisingly warm.

          I sat three rows from the front and realised something annoying. The seating is all on the same level. Well some seats further back are raised by maybe two inch but not enough to make any difference. This means you struggle to see the stage, which is just part of the floor. I knew this would likely be a problem, but I don't know the show so I might have been wrong. I wasn't. She sat on the floor for what felt like half the show. I dread to think of the poor people sat at the back of the audience. What exactly could they see? probably the head of the person in front of them and some disembodied voice complaining about the husband she left in Singapore. 

          Varshini Pichemuthu, a recent graduate from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with a masters in Applied Theatre, was the actress in this show. She has a wonderful voice, so I was looking forward to listening to it for an hour or so. I was unfortunately disappointed however with her overall performance. Towards the end, as the show was progressing, she seemed to relax but this was certainly not the case at the. She had been very robotic and there was nothing naturalistic about her performance. I couldn't believe a single part of it. I also feel the show was maybe half an hour too long. There was a lot of filler. going over the same material multiple times, or using the same 'gag' such as trying to put the cardboard kitchen together.

          Maybe the issues I had with the show were with the writing rather than the performance, but either way I felt it was just far too long. The story was there, but not very developed and this didn't help in keeping my concentration. It just dint go anywhere. Its always a bad sign when I keep looking at my watch. the director has called it a "really relatable story around a space in our lives that we don’t often think about." Now I tend to think about my kitchen a lot. Its the heart of the home. when there are gatherings its where much of the time gets spent. It needs to be practical but also be friendly and inviting. This made the story totally unrelatable. I still don't understand why she was sent a cardboards kitchen. How's that going to make her feel any better or make her want to spend more time in the kitchen. I just don't get it.

          I'm sorry to say I was left disappointed. I can see it has potential, but it really needs to have some drastic work done to it.

FORM

          FORM is a show from theatre company Rendered Retina. Using 20,000 paper balls, the show takes audiences on a hilarious and moving journey of one man's attempt to escape routine, to wonderful worlds and whisk you away on a visual voyage. This show uses no spoken word (except grunting), physical theatre, clowning/mime all of which is nicely pushed along with original music.

          When I was invited along to see this show, I was rather excited. With a concept that sounded interesting and at a theatre I'd never been to before (the Camden Peoples Theatre) I was waiting with anticipation for the show to start. It won 'Best Show' at Paris Fringe 2018 and was the winner of the Les Enfants Terribles Award 2017 so I had high hopes going into the theatre.

          I wasn't disappointed. Its not an over exaggeration to say I think this is some of the best pieces of theatre I've ever seen. The three performers, Tom Mangan, Alex Mangan and Jordan Choi have such great chemistry and energy together. They complement each others performances perfectly, bringing just the right amount of energy to the show. The relationship and trust they've built over the 11 years they've known each other is all too clear, with the production running like a well oiled machine. 

          I was transfixed throughout, unable to look away. In fact the whole audience was engulfed by the brilliance of this show. We were all completely silent except for the moments of laughter we collectively experienced out of pure joy from what we were watching. An imaginative show that took as all along for the ride, bringing us as an audience into their world. And what a world that is. I didn't want to come back to reality. The 20,000 paper balls were used brilliantly to push along the story and act as a base for every scene. With the entire stage being used there was never a dull moment. They all use their bodies and faces very expressively, and even though they don't talk you know exactly what their characters are thinking or how they are feeling. Yes, sometimes the facial movements can be a bit over the top, but in a way that added to the show rather than distract form it.

          I know this is a rather short review but I really cant say any more. There is nothing to criticize (other than the fact the waiting area at the theatre is rather small). It was simply perfection. If you have the time, you MUST see this show. I will certainly be interested to see how this theatre company develops and to see what they do next. They say on their website "We want our work to leave lasting images with those who see it." They have certainly achieved that with me.

For more information about theatre company Rendered Retina, click here
To find more information and/or book tickets for FORM (at 2019 Camden Fringe), please click here

Come Fly With Fred

          Come Fly With Fred was inspired by many honest and moving interactions with London’s homeless community, and created with the hope to shed light on the rollercoaster life thousands live everyday and make you chuckle along the way. For the show, one joins Fred on his daily search for friendship in an explosion of circus, spontaneous puppetry beat-boxing, break-dancing physical comedy and original spoken word. I was intrigued to be invited along to see what this show was all about.

          I saw this show while it was on at The Space on the Isle Of Dogs, London, a theatre space I've been to s few times before. As I've said before, its an interesting space in a converted church. It also has a reasonably priced bar/restaurant above it though this has very limited space.

          Come Fly With Fred is part of the Send in the Clowns Festival, a fortnight of foolery showcasing the best in clowning and physical comedy. It was also part of the line up for the 2019 Camden Fringe. There was seating for just 28 people (less than the theatre space can normally hold) and I'm sorry to say even then it wasn't full. The stage was also virtually empty, with just a blue bucket to one side. I sat down and looked through the information I was given upon entering the theatre. I saw three words and my heart sank. Continuous audience interaction. I hate audience participation/interaction at the theatre. Sometimes it can be ok, maybe in an improve show someone shouting a theme or theatre style. Actually the majority of productions at Shakespeare's Globe have some form of audience interaction and they do it brilliantly. For the most part though as soon as I see audience participation my heart sinks. I go to the theatre to be entertained by actors/performers. I don't come to the theatre to be part of the entertainment myself. That's why I'm in the audience and not on the stage.

          My overwhelming feeling while watching this show was that of awkwardness. I know the subject of homelessness was bound to be slightly awkward, however the room was overwhelmed by that feeling. It didn't help that the majority of the show was silent with the exception of the odd strange sound made by the performer, Lucas Bailey. This meant for most of the time the theatre was in complete silence, creating a feeling that wasn't the most comfortable. This may have been the intention, however it was far too overpowering for me to be fully engrossed in the show. Saying that, Lucas was a very talented performer having a plethora of skills that he made a point of displaying, from juggling to beat-boxing. His skills though couldn't break the awkwardness though. There were however funny moments in the show, but even these didn't save the show for me.

          There was a moment of spoken word, and this was the most powerful and emotive moment of the show. I would much preferred the show to have consisted mainly of this as I feel it could have been far more impactful. I also was taken by how quickly Lucas was able to change between different states of emotion and mental stability.

          This show is meant to make one think about the holes community and the struggles they go though in their lives on a daily basis. One moment however failed in this endeavour massively. Towards the end of the show 5 members of the audience were invited up on stage to take part in what can only be described as a human band/orchestra. The only assumption I can make is they were representing the different noises of London, that can often become be the metronome to a homeless persons life. After a while each member of this human band was then given a hat to ask the audience for money, like many homeless people do on the stress every day. This was clearly meant to be a moment where they were meant to feel the awkwardness of how this can often feel. Most of them however took it as a complete and utter joke, fake crying and making it into a piece of overacted comedy. In fact making the audience laugh at this poignant moment. I found this wholly disrespectful to not only the piece itself but for the performer wo for the past 35 minuets had pout his all into trying to make is feel a specific way.

          The shows ending was powerful, with Lucas sat alone at the back of the stage with his hat on the ground as though asking "can you spare some change". The reality for the majority of the homeless community. He then proceeded to go through the actions of getting ready to spend a night sleeping on the streets, with a clear emphasis on this being a scary and often dangerous experience for many in the homeless community. The powerfulness of the ending and of the spoken word however failed to redeem a piece of theatre I found mostly awkward (and not in the way I assume they intended). It could have been so much more powerful and I left slightly disappointed.

(I was struggling to give this either two or three stars, but I had to make a decision as I don't do halves)

For more information about Come Fly With Fred, please click here

For information about the homeless charity Centre Point, please click here 

Man Number Five

          This show, which will be at Edinburgh Fringe from the 19th - 24th August (2019), promotes itself as a one woman show exploring 'themes of romance, consent, sex, comedy and women'. It also says that the rise of the Me Too movement makes this piece highly relevant. I was intrigued when I was invited along for a preview performance. 

          I unfortunately must say I was slightly disappointed by the performance. The preview took place at Ram Jam Records, a lovely award winning live music, comedy and theatre venue in Kingston Upon Thames. In fact it is the only pub theatre space in Kingston. It has a wonderful atmosphere with lovely background music playing from the moment I entered, with the soft glow of candle light. It refers to itself as "Kingston's best kept secret", though I'd say maybe it was even London's. I would go so far as to say its one of the nicest pub theatres I've ever been to, seating just 60 people in what it refers to as 'Jazz club style'. I was shocked to find just 8 people were in the audience for this show, one being the director and two being the actresses parents. I decided I shouldn't let this formulate an opinion in my head before the show started, but I wasn't overly impressed after it was over.

          The work portrays the real life story that leads to the writer and actress, Julia Bentley, being sexually abused. She says she was desperate to release something that had held her back for so long. I know that this piece was probably exceptionally hard for her not only to write but also to perform. I in no way want to diminish her experiences or how she may have felt at any given time, but I need to look at this objectively as a piece of theatre.

          Julia performs the piece perfectly. She displays pain, anger, confusion and lust spliced with comedic moments of joy. She really portrays the conflicting inner most thoughts of a women exceptionally well. Not that I'm overly familiar with these thoughts seeing as I'm a man. The show felt exceptionally disjointed at the start, and I found it hard to follow. It was setting up the situation and character, but it was done in a very confusing way. After a while the show, and Julia, got into the flow and I began to be able to understand the show a lot better. She exposing the sex positive attitude of modern women and stamping all over the term 'slut shaming'. Why cant a woman date multiple men at the same time? "You need to have five men at any one time - one for ever weekday". Different men fulfilling different needs but being just as annoying and complicated as each other.

          Julia is currently studying a BA in Acting and Contemporary Theatre at East 15 where she says her passion for writing has been ignited. I'm sure with a little improvement and finding her true voice her writing will massively improve. At the moment though, its very obviously a piece written by someone fairly green in the writing world.

          The more I settled in the more I understood what was happening and how things were going. I just think the writing needs some more development. Saying that though, the ending was phenomenal. Its just a shame it could all be that way. The last five minuets or so were full of raw emotion that was exceptionally hard hitting, very moving and brutally honest. I felt her pain, anger and confusion. The girl with the power becomes powerless. Just as you have been beaten by the emotion and left in shock, Bentley askes the question; "When did no become a turn on? No. That's not sexy, right?"

          Overall a competent piece, though I feel the writing needs a little more development. An exceptionally poignant work that I feel is coming at a time where women are feeling more empowered to speak out about their experiences. I'm sure this will be one of the most emotionally shocking pieces of theatre at Edinburgh Fringe this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if its one of those pieces people cant help but talk about.

You can find out more and book tickets for the performances of this show at Edinburgh Fringe, here.

For other 2019 Edinburgh Fringe shows and performances here.