The Terrible Tales of the Midnight Chorus

Adrian G. Velazquez — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:05:54 +0000

With quite a bare stage, and 5 performers on it, The River People have created a little gem of a show in the 2010 Fringe. Accompanied by three talented musicians, they tell three little stories with the aid of puppetry, songs and slaps-tick vaudeville.
Edward Wren is fantastic as the storyteller, his voice enchanting the audience. But he is not the only highlight in this cute production, since Kate Hadley, Claire Harvey, Mandy Travis and Amy Tweed also excel, their constant presence on stage full of character and silliness. The four actresses reenact Wren’s word, with the aid of a beautiful puppet who’s interchangeable face plays a major part on the narrative.
Only issue with this quirky and beautiful production is that the tales per se are not tightly constructed. The Vanishing Boy is split into three segments throughout the whole production, which makes it a bit disjointed. The other two segments, though with some stunning visuals (the puppet flying around grabbed to the moon, for example), don’t have great resolutions, which leaves you with a sense of wasted opportunity.
In saying that, this is a show where the whole makes up for its parts, and as such, it is a joy to watch. On top of that, seeing the delight with which all actors play their parts is contagious, and you leave with a happy feeling inside.

4/5

Dance Doctor, Dance!

Anna Price — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:25:03 +0000

Dance Doctor, Dance! is an interactive talk about the psychology of dance, covering topics such as the emotion in dance and what a person’s dance style reveals about him or her. It is a mixture of video footage, dance demonstration and a lecture from Dr Peter Lovatt, psychologist. The audience are invited to share their interpretations of the dancing shown, and to join in with basic routines (don’t panic, nobody has to get up on stage!).
Dr Lovatt has carried out extensive research on the psychology of dance. It is a fascinating subject, and one he is clearly passionate about. Dr Lovatt’s delivery makes his subject matter entertaining and accessible to the audience, and the video clips are well used to support this. However, at times, he seems almost too keen to make his point, glossing over audience ideas which do not support his own.
Although Dance Doctor, Dance! is listed under “Dance and Physical Theatre” and described as a show, it is very much a lecture, albeit an engaging and interactive one. It might have been more accurate to describe it as such and list it in the event section with other talks. Also, as a talk, it would have benefited from a question and answer session at the end since there were issues raised, but not fully explored, in the talk itself. Having said that, there is a web page detailing the experiments (and also some of the dancers who will be performing during the talks) so it is worth checking out if you would like more information.

3/5

hairline.org.uk » Bedlam Theatre

The Terrible Tales of the Midnight Chorus

Dance Doctor, Dance!