North East Theatre Guide

Looking at theatre and the arts across North East England, the North East Theatre Guide continues to celebrate culture in our region. If a link is labelled #Ad: Tickets are now available from one of our affiliate ticket suppliers. The ticket company will also be the official supplier of tickets for the event. This means we receive a small share of the sale. Clicking on these links helps us to cover the costs of producing the NE Theatre Guide free of charge to both our readers and theatres.

Showing posts with label Apples and Snakes. Show all posts

10/10/2015

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

16/09/2015

Review: Grandad and the Machine at Newcastle Live Theatre

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The Ultimate Steampunk Fairytale

Grandad and the Machine
Newcastle Live Theatre
Wednesday 16^th September 2015

Jack Dean delivers a classic piece of storytelling about a young girl that understands that her Grandad knows a thing or two about machines.

It is the day before Imogen’s eighth birthday and she has been sent home from school. Again. Living in an era when the Great War has ended, thanks to great machines that are now found under the seas and misogynistic attitudes come easily in society. She is told that girls don’t go to university or becomes engineers. Indeed, it was when a lad suggested the limitations of girls that Imogen had to prove him wrong. That’s why she was sent home.

Though they live in London, her father has not lost his Yorkshire roots. He proudly wears his cloth cap and tells his daughter, in a dodgy accent, the rules that Yorkshiremen go by. Do all, see all, say nowt. Eat all, drink all, pay for nowt. He struggles with a London lifestyle in which everything seems to have a price.

An announcement on the radio suggests that the buried machines have risen from the deep and are heading north to London. Father decides it is time to head north immediately as his father will know what to do as he had worked on the machines during the war.

The rich story that follows is pure Jackanory for adults. Let’s face it, many adults in that show’s 30 year run were brought up on fabulous narrative. Jack Dean’s skill is pulling together the various elements of the story through different voices and props. His engaging style ensured that the show drew the audience in. This was no story for small children but it lit up the inner child. Exciting moments involving evading capture from ticket inspectors to flying in a Zeppelin combined with the emotions that come from a loving father daughter relationship. The puppet of Imogen prompted a number of reactions from the audience.

The icing on the cake is the original musical score by Jack Dean that was performed by Josh Lucas. The multi-instrumentalist was armed with loop pedals which added to the atmosphere. The overall effect was reminiscent of Jeff Wayne’s War of The Worlds – another example of storytelling that is still the 39^thbest selling album of all time. People love to hear a great yarn and Jack Dean’s tale is worthy of a much bigger audience.

Grandad and the Machine is a sublime piece of storytelling that will have you hooked until the end. Roll on the next show from Jack Dean.

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

On The Web:

Follow updates from Jack Dean and Grandad and the Machine on Twitter:
@mcjackdean / @littlemightyuk / #GrandadandtheMachine

Cast & Creatives:

Written, performed and with music byJack Dean
Directed by Polly Agg-Manning
Dramaturgy by Alex Chisholm
Design by Sophie Mosberger
Lighting Design by Sam-Hollis Pack
Musician / Technical Stage Manager Josh Lucas
Produced by LittleMighty

Read the original North East Theatre Guide preview LINK:

Tour:

CamdenPeople’s Theatre, London Tuesday 13th - Thursday 15th October, 7:30pm

Jack Dean’s other events can be found here: http://www.jackdean.co.uk/Gigs.html

http://jowheretogo.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/pandsmusic-interviews-hanzelundgretyl.html

23/08/2015

News: Great Northern Slam - Slammers Wanted

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The Great Northern Slam

Slammers Wanted

In November Radikal Words is running a poetry slam. Sixteen poets will enter the ring, the poets will perform in pairs and the audience will vote on who goes and who stays.

Only one will be the winner and carry away the fantastic prize of £40.00 and the prestigious title of Bare Knuckle Poetry Slam Champion 2015.

It’s slam poetry but not as we know it, it will be brutal, there may be blood, the ring will be littered with the verbs and adjectives of the fallen but from the sweat and spit will emerge one winner to take the prize and the title. Are you big enough to take part? Do you have four poems of less than three minutes in length?

It will be a night of fun and noise and the chance for one person to be Bare Knuckle Poetry Slam Champion 2015.

email radikalwords@gmail.com or message on Facebook Radikal Words to enter

Bare Knuckle Poetry Slam 2015

Northern Stage

Newcastle

Thursday 5th November

05/08/2015

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/

08/03/2015

Review: Grand Opening at Alphabetti Theatre

The Fringe Comes To Newcastle In This Perfectly Formed Little Venue

Grand Opening

Alphabetti Theatre

7^th March 2015

Hidden away in a basement under Market Street West is a real gem of a venue. It is well worth seeking out and the forthcoming programme is packed with real potential.

A city isn’t defined by the big venues, that pull in Lionel Ritchie or some former west-end production, but by the quality of the smaller spaces. It is apparent that Artistic Director, Ali Pritchard, knows what facilities are needed to create such an exciting space.

The first part of the fun is finding the venue, the small blue gate next to the NCP car park has never stood out. Now it leads to an underground venue that has a real Berlin feel. The licensed bar has soft drinks as well as tea & coffee too. Prompt friendly service was maintained throughout the evening.

The bar leads into a comfortable seating area which has a wall with the names of the generous crowdfunders whose philanthropy enabled the venue to happen.

Beyond a curtain lies the theatre itself. A simple box with black walls, a white ceiling and a stage in a corner – this is the ideal size for the fringe events that made Edinburgh famous.