Review: The Rooms at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

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The Rooms
Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre
Until Saturday 31^st October 2015

The Alphabetti Theatre is a real hidden gem in the centre of Newcastle. The Rooms are 3 short plays that take full advantage of the unique space that exists underneath New Bridge Street.

Three talented young actresses are able to hold the audience in their grasp. The strong scripts often provide more questions than answers.  The loose ends suggest a greater depth to the subject matter.

The audience is divided up into three groups, each group enjoying the 3 shows in a different order.

First up tonight was Dreaming Is Free by Michael Brown. As you enter Jessica Johnson is lying on her single bed.  She has woken up in a room but isn’t entirely sure how she ended up there.

As with all 3 productions, the audience is stood up around the space as the performance unfolds. Jessica springs from her bed and draws the audience into her performance. As she stands up, and stares you in the face, you will become drawn into the performance. Under Matt Jamie’s direction this is not a passive form of theatre.

The monologue suggests a captive girl who dreams on seeing the outside world. The person that she describes as a “kind friend” is probably far from it. There are many questions that are left unanswered as you leave and that is perhaps what makes it such a powerful realization.

After a short interval the group were escorted into another room to see Paper Walls by Nina Berry. A number of comments about The Rooms on Twitter refer to the intense experience. Indeed as Arabella Arnott rips the paper off the walls whilst looking for something one is drawn into a personal hell. A lady undergoing intensive treatment, a baby that is missing and a partner that has kept her in this place. Powerful and, indeed, it is very intense. Lee Rosher has directed a profound and passionate experience.

The third show had a change in pace. As Rosie Stancliffe led the group through the corridors at the rear of the venue it is clear that this is not going to be a conventional show.  

Meat Factory by David Raynor looks at meat production and convenience foods such as chicken nuggets. Rosie is Shirley Dobson OBE, one of the North East’s leading business women. Not shy to brag about her achievements she is looking for investment to increase production.

Rosie’s performance is as funny as it is shocking. As she stares maniacally into your eyes and offers you the food products you know something is not quite right. Director Ali Pritchard has created the most interactive of the three shows.

The three actresses were simply stunning. Jessica Johnson, Arabella Arnott and Rosie Stancliffe are both believable and captivating. The audience is very close up to the action, sometimes painfully so. The tickets are limited and already audiences are booking return visits with new groups to share an experience like no other in town. 

The Rooms are three experiences that are well worth seeking out.

Read the original North East Theatre Guide Preview: http://nomorepanicbutton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/preview-rooms-at-newcastle-alphabetti.html

This review was written by Stephen Oliver for the North East Theatre Guide from Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com). Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo

The Rooms: Video Trailer -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOBECiKaPiU

Performance Details

When:
Bar Opens 6.30pm. Performance starts 7.30pm

Where:
Alphabetti Theatre, The Basement 18 Newbridge Street West Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AW
Ticket Price:
£8 / £6
Running Length:
Approx. 1 Hour 15 minutes (including 3 x 15 minute intervals)

Capacity is limited –booking is essential.
Please be advised that this a promenade production, where audiences will be watching the show on their feet.

Website: http://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/whats-on/24-whats-on-articles/144-the-rooms

Ticket website: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/100136

Preview: The Rooms at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

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The Rooms
Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre
Monday 19^th- Saturday 31^st October 2015

The Rooms is a harrowing and chilling immersive promenade production created for Halloween made up of three short plays situated in three rooms not normally accessible to the public, in the depths of Alphabetti Theatre – underneath the old Odeon Cinema.

Paper Walls written by Nina Berry
Directed by Lee Rosher
Performed by Arabella Arnott
Mary is trapped, with thoughts that aren't hers. A truth buried beneath false stories and harsh punishment. She knows the answer is somewhere, and if these walls could talk...they'd tell everyone.

Dreaming is Free written by Michael Brown
Directed by Matt Jamie
Performed by Jessica Johnson
I do not remember getting to this room. Just waking up in bed with my kind friend sat in that chair. He was very sad and told me it was too dangerous to live with him anymore. It would not be safe to leave the room until he said so. I was desperate to get out to see the moon and stars….But he brought them to me.

Meat Factory by David Raynor
Directed by Ali Pritchard
Performed by Rosie Stancliffe
Here at Quick N Easy Meat Based Products Ltd there are no problems, only opportunities. Come and look around...taste the future.'

The Rooms: Video Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOBECiKaPiU

Performance Details

When:
Bar Opens 6.30pm. Performance starts 7.30pm

Where:
Alphabetti Theatre, The Basement 18 Newbridge Street West Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AW
Ticket Price:
£8 / £6
Running Length:
Approx. 1 Hour 15 minutes (including 3 x 15 minute intervals)

Capacity is limited –booking is essential.
Please be advised that this a promenade production, where audiences will be watching the show on their feet.

Website: http://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/whats-on/24-whats-on-articles/144-the-rooms

Ticket website: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/100136

Preview: Soapbox Tour at Newcastle Alphabetti

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Public Address - THE SOAPBOX TOUR

Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

Wednesday 14^th October 2015

– Spoken word artists not afraid to explore real life issues –

Public Address: The Soapbox Tour is a unique, theatrical spoken word show, giving voice to the passions and stories within us all. Directed by award-winning writer, performer and theatre maker Hannah Silva, the show features an ensemble of dynamic spoken word artists. Justin Coe delivers an entertaining coming-of-age tale exploring sexuality, whilst trans poet AJ McKenna looks at love in its many guises through an interactive, fierce but fun poetry-live-art crossover; Jasmine Gardosi shows searing intensity in a powerful snapshot study of mental health, as Shagufta K presents a web woven from the mythological past to the urgent present. 

Henry Raby, Justin Coe, Jasmine Gardosi, AJ McKenna,

Shagufta K, Helen Seymour, Ingrid McLaren, Keisha Thompson

Photo: Suzi Corker Photography

This diverse group has been brought together by Apples and Snakes, England’s leading organisation for spoken word. Guest artists Henry Raby (York), Keisha Thompson (Manchester), Ingrid McLaren (Nottingham), and Helen Seymour (Canterbury) will join the ensemble throughout the tour. In the South West, budding poets from Plymouth Young Writers Squad will also perform.

Justin Coe, Jasmine Gardosi, AJ McKenna, Shagufta K

Photo: Suzi Corker Photography

Produced by Apples and Snakes, England's leading organisation for spoken word and performance poetry, Public Address demonstrates and nurtures the skills and diversity of writers prevalent on the UK spoken word scene, whose written skills and dedication to the craft are responsible for the art form's recent explosion into the mainstream. Public Address will open in Newcastle on Wednesday 14 September before setting off on a national tour. On Sunday 25 October, the ensemble, along with the four guest artists, will give a flagship performance of the newly commissioned work at Bloomsbury Theatre Studio, as part of Bloomsbury Festival.

Hannah Silva, Public Address Creative Director, commented: 'Working with such talented and dedicated poets from across England has been a pleasure and a privilege. The artists have taken the opportunity to take risks with their work both in terms of content and performance, directing them has been a thrilling and rewarding experience.'

Shagufta K

Photo: Suzi Corker Photography

Lucy Crompton-Reid, Apples and Snakes Director, commented: 'I’m very excited about the forthcoming Public Address: The Soapbox Tour, and particularly pleased that for this – our third national Public Address Tour – we have been able to commission original new work from eight fantastic, diverse and thought-provoking spoken word artists and performance poets, with the support of the John Ellerman Foundation. I can’t wait to see the show – directed by the pioneering artist Hannah Silva – which I’m sure will be a thrill for all audiences, whether or not they have experienced spoken word before.'

Tickets:

Apples and Snakes presents The Soap Box Tour on Wednesday 14th October 2015.

Bar Opens: 18:30
Show Begins: 19:30
Tickets: £5 Ticket Online Link

The Alphabetti Theatre.

18 New Bridge Street

Newcastle-upon-Tyne,

NE1 8EW

www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk

On Tour:

Wednesday 14 October, 7.30pm Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle NE1 8AW


Saturday 17 October, 8pm          The House, Plymouth University, Devon PL4 8AA


Sunday 25 October, 7:30pm        Bloomsbury Theatre Studio, London WC1H 0AH
Monday 26 October, 7:30pm       Nuffield Theatre, Southampton SO17 1TR
Friday 13 November, 7.30pm       Hexagon Theatre, Mac Birmingham, Birmingham B12 9QH

Ticket link for Hanzel Und Gretal http://rftk.bigcartel.com/product/hanzel-und-gretyl

www.facebook.com/AcousticCircus

Preview: Call Mr. Robeson at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

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From Carnegie Hall to The Alphabetti.

Award-Winn​ing Play Comes to Newcastle

Call Mr. Robeson

Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

Wednesday 7^th- Saturday 10^th October 2015

Call Mr. Robeson, an award-winning play which received a standing ovation at New York's Carnegie Hall in February 2012 and was staged in London's West End in October 2013, is to be performed at The Alphabetti Theatre between Wednesday 7^th - Saturday 10^th October 2015, as one of the highlights of Newcastle's Black History Month events.

Photo: Carol Rosegg

This rollercoaster journey through actor/singer Paul Robeson’s remarkable life highlights his pioneering and heroic political activism as well as his music. It features Ol’ Man River and other famous songs, much fiery oratory, and a defiant testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Written and performed by Liverpool-based playwright and singer Tayo Aluko with piano accompaniment by Glen Giffney, Call Mr. Robeson was chosen by The Guardian’s theatre critic Michael Billington as his top pick for things to see in London in January 2011.

Photo: Carol Rosegg

It has sold out several other established theatres around the UK, including The Lowry, Belgrade Coventry, Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, The Bolton Octagon, and Liverpool's Everyman Theatre. All seventeen performances of his recent tour of New Zealand and Australia also completely sold out.

During October 2014, it enjoyed a 4-week residency at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden, where BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends presenter Clive Anderson saw it and later described it as one of the most memorable plays he had seen in 2013.

Photo: Carol Rosegg

Among the many awards in the Call Mr. Robeson cabinet, the latest was won at the Atlantic Fringe in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada in August 2013, where from an international field it was awarded Best Musical Performance. It also won Best Solo Show at the Stratford-upon-Avon Fringe in 2013 and the Argus Angel Award for Artistic Excellence and the Best Male Performer Award at the Brighton Fringe in 2008.

What some critics said:

"First-rate. A fine job” (4 stars) The Guardian

“Simply told but immensely powerful.” (4 stars) The Scotsman

"A thrilling, moving and marvellously entertaining musical drama. ... totally soulful and convincing" Latest 7 Magazine

“Aluko is a force of nature. Never less than utterly believable” (5 stars) British Theatre Guide

“A stunning piece of musical theatre” (5 stars) Fringe Review

“A must-see experience. A treasure of a show. TOP PICK!” D C Theater Scene

Aluko, who has performed the play on stages across the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Jamaica, said, “It was interesting to see that Newcastle was where people turned out in greatest numbers to hear Jeremy Corbyn speak, filling the Opera House with a contemporary socialist message. Paul Robeson would have done that ten times round in his day, with songs thrown in. I look forward to sharing his inspiring story at the Alphabetti - and selling out too!”

Click to view trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjoqM-VzG5E&feature=channel

Tickets:

Call Mr. Robeson. A Life, With Songs. Written and performed by Tayo Aluko, with Glen Giffney, Piano.

Directed by Olusola Oyeleye, Designed by Phil Newman

Wednesday - Saturday, October 7 - 10, 7.30pm

The Alphabetti Theatre.

18 New Bridge Street

Newcastle-upon-Tyne,

NE1 8EW

www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk

Tickets £8 (£6 concessions)

Age Recommendation: 12+

Review: Up the Nerd Punks at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

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We would like to introduce to the North East Theatre Guide... Matt Cumminsas guest reviewer:

Henry Raby – Up the Nerd Punks

Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

Saturday 1^st August 2015 and then Edinburgh Fringe (see below)

Henry Raby

Dinosaur punk rockers, David Cameron reincarnated as a Pokemon character, the Bedroom Tax, and an analysis of gender roles in “Hey Arnold!” is just a taste of what you can expect in Henry Raby’s excellent show “Up the Nerd Punks”. There’s so much crammed into this piece that a taste is all that a short review can provide, and anyway to appreciate it fully you have to see Henry dance his way through it. He has an infectious energy and he exploits it to the full. Stood mostly on tip-toes, he delivers at top speed what starts as a re-write of Punk rock history (woven, somehow into palaeontology) leaves you feeling energised and excited. I wanted more.

His show is “more ramshackle than other shows” he warns us, but the disclaimer is unnecessary. Raby is extremely capable and very funny and despite these protestations to the contrary we feel very safe in his hands. This is a poet who knows what he’s doing. The poems may be about blue tack and gamer-boys’ untidy bedrooms, but the show is carefully crafted and considered, often with a deeply political as well as a personal message. Behind this dancing, friendly, energetic nerd is a brain, and a man who has clearly loved, and been alone, and been scared and fought for what he wants. And also a man who considers “1984” a friend and who wonders, via a story about writing a letter to himself, whether the real horror of our current situation is that it is the dystopian future that we worry about.

This show is extremely difficult to summarise. There is the familiar and the unfamiliar – he is at pains to try to explain what “cosplay” is to the uninitiated – the political and the personal, the polemical and the poetical. It’s a must see, very good indeed. “Up the Nerd Punks” indeed.

This review was written by Matt Cummins– thanks Matt,

Edinburgh Fringe Tickets:

Up The Nerd Punks by Henry Raby is part of PBH Free Fringe, showing from 23rd – 30th August(6.15-7.15pm) at the Stafford Centre (venue 175)

Website: http://freefringe.org.uk/edinburgh-fringe-festival/up-the-nerd-punks/2015-08-23/

Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

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We would like to introduce to the North East Theatre Guide... Matt Cumminsas guest reviewer:

Matthew MacDonald – Something Wicked This Way Comes

Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

Saturday 1^st August 2015and then Edinburgh Fringe (see below)

This is a deceptively simple show and if you are a fan of story telling and fairly tales, it’s not to be missed. You’ll get more than you bargained for.  I certainly did, and the “more” comes in some pretty dark colours.

Matthew MacDonald

In between working at a call centre and attempting to forget the experience of reading Bruno Bettleheim’s Freudian analysis of fairy tales, Matthew MacDonald has crafted what begins as a romp through familiar territory. We’re with characters that we know but their world seems a little more real that we are used to. We’re removed from the landscapes drawn by Disney/Pixar, however, and instead sent skittering back through centuries of our own storytelling culture to half known and half remembered characters such as the Green Man, The Queen of the Fey, Mab, and the Tooth Fairy, the latter in an incarnation that sends a chill up the spine. These are creatures dressed in things that they really shouldn’t be, characters you really don’t expect. One can’t help feeling that this is a resurrection of sorts, of something that we used to know collectively, but now don’t. An excellent enterprise indeed.

A mixture of prose and poetry, this is a perfect example of how a poetic sensibility can be employed to write stories. And delivered in Matt’s charming, warm, inviting voice it is a pleasure simply to sit and listen. It draws you in. But what you don’t realise is that you are being softened up. Obviously I can’t tell you what you are being softened up for, but what I will say is that if you like your meat rare, you won’t be disappointed, and if you are a vegetarian then you are likely to have that position reinforced. This is an easy show to recommend. Go and see it; you’ve nothing to lose – except perhaps that night’s sleep.

This review was written by Matt Cummins– thanks Matt,

Edinburgh Fringe Tickets:

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Matt McDonald is part of PBH Free Fringe, showing from 8th – 15th August (6.15-7.15pm) and 16th – 22nd August (2.15-3.15) at the Stafford Centre (venue 175)

Website: http://freefringe.org.uk/edinburgh-fringe-festival/something-wicked-this-way-comes-2/2015-08-08/