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HELLO THERE. Welcome to the first extended edition of the TW Weekly for 2018, and in a new Monday morning delivery slot! With the summer definitely now upon us, each Monday morning we will be in your inbox with the latest of our Edinburgh Festival previews, as well as our weekly guide to culture in London. We have also just launched a brand new website called TW:DIY which will be offering all kinds of tips and advice for people pursuing a career or business in theatre, comedy or culture at large. Over the summer, TW:DIY will feature loads of interviews with people doing stuff on and off stage at the Edinburgh Festival, offering tips galore on performing and working at the Fringe. To get things started, I did an interview with TW:DIY myself! Before we get going with this week's edition, here are three important updates for all you Edinburgh Fringe people... 1. GET COVERED! To get your Edinburgh 2018 show on my radar make sure you fill out the form on the website. 2. GET NOTICED! To truly stand out from the crowds at this year's Festival you should advertise in one of our two print magazines. Remember, the first one is delivered door-to-door across Edinburgh. Click here for information on how to advertise. 3. JOIN THE TEAM! We are currently recruiting reviewers to join our Edinburgh 2018 team. If you are interested in joining us please send details of your relevant experience and examples of published work, plus what dates you'd be available and what genres you would like to review, to caro@unlimitedmedia.co.uk That's it for now, have a great week! Caro Moses Editor, ThreeWeeks Edinburgh and ThisWeek London |
We love him - to the extent that we once gave him a ThreeWeeks Editors' Award - so we are always pleased when we hear that we'll be able to see Yianni Agisilaou at the Edinburgh Fringe once again. And with a brand new show!
One of the things we really like about Yianni is that he always tackles really interesting themes in his shows. In recent times that's included feminism and The Simpsons, and now he's turning his attention to the subject of technology, artificial intelligence and our human relationships with those things.
As you can imagine, I was keen to find out more, about this new show, about why he keeps coming back to Edinburgh, and, well, you know, what he's been up to lately. Read the interview here.
Yianni performs 'I, Human', and also hosts 'Comedians Against Humanity', at Edinburgh Festival 2018, both at Pleasance Dome from 1-26 Aug.
TW:DIY is a new educational programme from the TW team that will be offering tips and advice to future talent in theatre, comedy and culture at large.
To kick things off we're talking to people who work at the Edinburgh Festival each year to get their perspectives and top tips. We start at TW HQ itself with the editor of ThreeWeeks Edinburgh, Caro Moses. Read the interview here.
This called out to me when I heard about it, mainly because it's a site-specific piece, and I am always interested in that sort of thing, but also because it addresses themes that are relevant to anyone who lives in a big city - gentrification and redevelopment, loneliness, isolation, community.
To find out more about the play, what inspired it and what to expect from it, I spoke to theatre maker Gemma Kerr, director of the show, and the company behind it, High Hearted Theatre. Read the interview here.
The End Of History is on at St Giles-In-The-Fields from 5-23 Jun, see the Soho Theatre website here to book tickets.
TUESDAY 5 JUNE 2018 >>
Shadow Kingdoms | Theatre503 | 5-16 Jun (pictured)
The story of an unlikely partnership, set in the 2000s, forged by a mutual interest in graffiti-ing trains: "Two teenagers; one 'born 'n' bred' Newham; the other a civil war refugee. They don't know each other... yet. But in the night-time cityscape playground of train yards and tube depots, they escape their troubled and isolated lives spray painting London colourful". See this page here for more.
San Domino | Tristan Bates Theatre | 5-30 Jun
"One night in 1939, Carlo, Claudio and friends are arrested in Catania. Condemned without any trial, they arrive on San Domino: a prison island solely for gay men. For all the indignity and squalor of prison life, men previously forced to live in the shadows now have no need to hide who they are. But whatever kind of life they may be trying to build, in the background war is looming". Based on the real life persecution of gay men enacted by Mussolini, check the venue website here for info.
Cafe Society Swing | Theatre Royal Stratford East | 5-16 Jun
An acclaimed show which tells the story of Cafe Society, which was the first racially integrated jazz club in New York, and a the launch pad for the careers of legendary stars of the genre such as Billie Holiday, Lena Horne and Sarah Vaughan. Expect jazz, blues, gospel and bebop, and the story of the venue's struggles from its creation in 1938 through to its demise during the late 1940s. More here.
WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE 2018 >>
Undersong | Ovalhouse | 5-9 Jun
'Undersong' is described as a a live, human surround-sound experience, in which the audience are "wrapped in song". It's the work of Verity Standen, who has a well established reputation for having a very innovative approach to music-making, as she explores the ways an audience can experience human voices, using a range of vocal techniques and harmonies. Nine a capella singers weave amongst the audience and throughout the space creating effects from a whispered duet to a screaming mob. See the venue website here for all the details.
The End Of History | St Giles-in-the-Fields | 5-23 Jun
"She'd seen him before; pink shirt, dark hair, grey suit... jaw. Oh yes, she'd seen him before. He couldn't quite place her face.... What happens when two totally different Londoners find themselves face to face on the worst day of their lives?" A site-responsive piece exploring the impact of gentrification on two very different individuals, which promises to be moving and funny. See the Soho Theatre website here for info and to book tickets.
The Yellow Wallpaper | Omnibus Theatre | 5-24 Jun (pictured)
Yes, based on the short story that many of you will be familiar with, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and it looks great. For those of you less familiar: "Alice has not formed the correct bond with her baby. That's what her doctor and husband say. Isolated from her child and banished to the country for 'rest', Alice falls further down the rabbit hole of her own mind. The wallpaper haunts her. But is she really sick, or are there more sinister forces at play?" More here.
THURSDAY 7 JUNE 2018 >>
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives | Arcola Theatre | 7 Jun-21 Jul
"Baba Segi has three wives, seven children, and a mansion filled with riches. But now he has his eyes on Bolanle, a young university graduate wise to life's misfortunes. When Bolanle responds to Baba Segi's advances, she unwittingly uncovers a secret which threatens to rock his patriarchal household to the core". An adaptation by award winning playwright Rotimi Babatunde of Lola Shoneyin's bestselling novel about sexual politics and family strife in modern-day Nigeria. See this page here for more.
Cyst-er Act | Ovalhouse | 7-9 Jun
This sounds really interesting, a "messy, musical ritual" by Catherine Hoffmann, who draws on her personal experience of having an ovary removed and the stories of of other women's womb difficulties in an attempt to uncover lost knowledge about women's bodies and how these womb things occur through the entertaining media of gospel, "ovary blues" and death metal musical numbers.... Click here for all the details.
I Am Of Ireland | Old Red Lion Theatre | 5-30 Jun
"'A HUNDRED THOUSAND WELCOMES!' But is the myth of open-hearted Ireland which her sons, daughters and visitors love, gone? Humour remains, sectarianism declines but racist violence is on the up - ask the new black priest Father Flannagan. As faith and idealism wane can Catholic Mary, Republican Dominic or Loyalist Derek still believe now, now, NOW?" The latest from regular collaborators Seamus Finnegan, writer of the piece, and director Ken McClymont. All the info and ticket-bookery right about here.
FRIDAY 8 JUNE 2018 >>
Ouroboros | Camden People's Theatre | 8-9 Jun
"Have you ever been absolutely sure of something? Have you looked at a situation or made a decision and been 100% completely, totally and undeniably sure of what you're doing? Are you certain that you can be sure of anything? In this space, there are 4 of us, on stage, performing for you, the audience. The space we occupy is black, lit by stage lights so that you can see us. And we can see you too. This you can be sure of". People Paper Theatre explore the post-truth world. See this page here for more.
Kubla Kahn | Stratford Circus Theatre Arts | 8-9 JUn
Oily Cart present this new work is for young people from age 3 to 19 with profound and multiple learning disabilities, accompanied by their carers: "Welcome to the world of Kubla Khan, a multi-sensory pleasure dome that you can touch, taste and smell. From the sounds of a kora to the feel of a flowing river, experience the temperatures and textures of Coleridge's acclaimed poem as the aroma of incense drifts by". Info here.
Phobiarama | West Handyside Canopy King's Cross | 8-18 Jun
Dutch theatre maker and visual artist Dries Verhoeven's acclaimed installation 'Phobiarama', on King's Cross as part of Lift 2018 invites you to "step on board a political ghost train for an immersive excursion into our contemporary culture of fear, bringing you face to face with the ever-increasing threats and paranoia engulfing a society obsessed with safety and perfection". For all the details, head right this way.
SATURDAY 9 JUNE 2018 >>
The Road That Wasn't There | The Albany | 9-10 Jun
"In New Zealand, there are some 56,000 kilometres of paper roads - streets and towns that exist only on surveyors' maps. Or do they? A young woman strays from the beaten track and finds herself in a paper world. It seems to be a land of possibility, but she soon discovers that things that happen in the fictional world can have frighteningly real consequences". Our reviewer was rather blown away by this brilliant production at last year's Edinburgh Festival, so don't miss this chance to see it, head right this way right now to book tickets.
Violence | The Place | 9 Jun
FK Alexander is the creator of this performance art piece, described as "a meditation on the cruelty of love, the weight of loneliness, the gift of desperation, the freedom of anxiety, the chrysalis of hopelessness, and the power of dreams". It's part of the three day Splayed Festival, which is focused on questioning conventional ideas about femininity. Find information about everything that's on as part of that here, and about this particular show, 'Violence', here.
Twayna Mayne - Black Girl | Soho Theatre | 7-9 Jun (pictured)
Tonight's your last night to see Twayna Mayne in action over at the Soho Theatre, so please don't miss this talented up and coming comedian, Leicester Mercury nominee a couple of years ago, and the recipient of many a glowingly-worded review by highly discerning culture critics. This is the debut hour that's won her lots of acclaim, so you know you can expect a quality evening's entertainment. For all the details hie ye hence to the venue website here.
SUNDAY 10 JUNE 2018 >>
Bitter | New Diorama Theatre | 10-11 Jun (pictured)
"Wendy, Melissa and Mavis, three liberal women enjoying the foul, abject horror of their early twenties, have a lot to say. They're underpaid, overworked and by god, if they have to start a lame-ass sharing group to be heard, they will. Like any organised activity in Britain, there are tears, an accidental murder and copious amounts of guilt about global warming (and maybe also the murder...only joking, who cares!?....nah but we do.....HAHA NO WE DON'T....no but seriously, we're not psychopaths....or are we?....no.)" This looks fun, yes? See this page here for more.
Brazil Diversity | Theatre503 | 10-11 Jun
A collection of eight short plays that promises to reveal "a Brazil beyond samba and football", with a focus on work with a LGBT+theme. The featured pieces tell stories such as that of a young, married woman in the 1960s who cannot forget her female lover, and two gay men forced to marry following a one-night stand, and have been authored by a diverse group of experienced writers. See the venue website here for info.
Not Now Bernard | Unicorn Theatre | 3 Jun-1 Jul
When, as a young adult, I first read the children's picture book 'Not Now Bernard' I was frankly shocked by the neglectful actions of Bernard's parents, and wondered why such a sad book would be aimed at children. But I was wrong, because all the kids love it (I just hope they don't relate to it to much) and of course, not all media aimed at children has to be entirely cheery. ANYWAY, this children' show promises to be vivid, clever and yes, occasionally melancholic. Details right about here.
MONDAY 11 JUNE 2018 >>
Breaking Out | The Bunker Theatre | 11 Jun-7 July
A theatre festival featuring six new plays from emerging theatre companies, staged over a period of four weeks. The featured shows are Poke In The Eye's 'Libby's Eyes'; Sleepless's 'Nine Foot Nine'; This Noise's 'No One Is Coming To Save You'; Paper Creatures' 'Section 2'; Second Circle's 'Kiss Chase' and Leoe&Hyde's 'Guy: A New Musical'. See the venue website here for more about the overall event, and clicky links through to each play.
Jessie Cave - Sunrise | 2Northdown | 11 Jun
We first came to love Jessie Cave at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe back in 2012 and since then she has done much to increase our admiration and pretty much nothing to diminish it. Which is why she's on the tip sheet yet again, this performing her latest show over at 2Northdown. "Here she is, over-sharing like she does best". Amen to that, book tickets here.
Flutter | Soho Theatre | 11-16 Jun
"In gambling as in life, the bigger the odds the greater the rewards. It's 2006, and the local brewery is closing. Will Rose's betting shop be next? Meet the staff and customers of Grosvenor Racing, in Justin Hopper's love letter to the high street bookies". This Wandsworth Fringe success story transfers to Soho Theatre, don't miss this second chance to see it. Info here.
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