‘Riot’ at Bristol Old Vic

“An ëpic tale of viølence, greed and chëap sofas”

Riot was a sell-out success at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and has since toured all over the UK and US. Now it’s back at the Bristol Old Vic, where it’s creators The Wardrobe Ensemble debuted it in June 2011.

It’s another sterling example of the kind of home-grown talent we’ve come to expect from the excellent Bristol Old Vic and it’s various programmes that encourage and nurture young theatre-makers.

Riot is based on a true story of a flatpack furniture superstore (no prizes for guessing which one) that hopes by opening 24/7 it will meet the demand of bargain-hungry Londoners eager to snap up an amusingly-monikered lamp and a sofa bed.

Directed by Tom Brennan, Riot has a brilliant cast of nine who combine comedy, acting, song, dance and mime to recreate the horror show of the grossly over-crowded Edmonton furniture store, which thought it had followed all the necessary safety guidelines.

All of the cast bring something special to the show, but particular stand-out performances come from Tom England (as the unfortunately named James Blumpt) and Jesse Meadows (in a delightfully understated role as the confused Swedish sales assistant Janna). The absolute highlight for me was the amazingly choreographed fight/dance between Fiona Mikel and another cast member… mind-boggling in its intricacy.

The Wardrobe Ensemble is one to keep an eye on. For sure.

Riot was performed at Bristol Old Vic. 

The Wardrobe Ensemble returns to the Bristol Old Vic with 33 from July 10-13.

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

Two Kneehigh productions at the same time in the one theatre? Oh, Bristol Old Vic, you are truly spoiling us.

While Steptoe & Son continues to preside over the main theatre, downstairs in the Studio Bristol audiences are indulged with a second helping from the Cornish theatre company, and this time it’s something completely different. As always with Kneehigh, you must expect the unexpected, and A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings delivers surprises by the bucket load.

Inspired by the work of Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, A Very Old Man… incorporates the theatricalities of Kneehigh with skilled puppetry from Little Angel to create a beautiful and majestic piece of inspired theatre.

Set in an unnamed small fishing town, we meet the inhabitants… who are miserable due to the crabs running riot all over the place, their stagnant lives and the child who is getting sicker and sicker. When out of nowhere, a strange creature flies over and lands in their midst… he is a very old man with enormous wings. And their world changes in an instant.

The crabs vanish, the child gets better… and many more miracles start to take place. So many that the townspeople become convinced that the sad creature they’re keeping cooped up in the chicken pen is in fact an angel.

What unfolds is a tale of morality, greed, desire for celebrity and fortune. As visitors flock from across the world to meet the ‘angel’ for themselves, the once humble townsfolk start to get ideas above their stations… and something needs to change.

A Very Old Man… is an utterly delightful show, performed by four extremely skilled puppeteers (Sarah Wright, Roger Lade, Avye Leventis and Rachel Leonard) who all blend seamlessly into the set design to control the enormous constitution of puppets that have been so carefully constructed. From a priest to a chicken, and a small boy to a cycling aide, all of the many puppets are created with such attention to detail and great charm. With music from Kneehigh regulars Ian Ross and Benji Bower added into the mix, this is truly a show to cherish.

Having never seen a full-length adult puppet show before, I am now a complete convert and will definitely be seeking out more.

For more information and to buy tickets (or to take advantage of one of the several Bristol Old Vic offers surrounding this show), please click here.

Suffrage Plays – edited by Naomi Paxton

As regular readers will know, there’s nothing I like more than a book about the suffragettes. And the latest such book to land on my desk is a particularly exciting one because it is looking at an aspect of the movement that is rarely covered – and even more rarely covered in such depth.

The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays has been carefully edited by Naomi Paxton, and alongside the scripts for eight short plays written during the suffrage campaign, is a considerate and detailed introductory essay by Naomi about the origins of the plays, plus introductions and photos to each play about the authors. It’s a compact little tome at just 136 pages, but there’s still a heck of a lot crammed into those pages.

Perhaps the most well known of suffrage plays is How The Vote Was Won, which was written by Cicely Hamilton and Christopher St John in 1909. It’s a wry little vignette set in a well-to-do drawing room of an ‘anti’, who is suddenly invaded by various female relatives who seek sanctuary with him because (according to the government) they have no independent rights.

And alongside a few other short plays of a similar nature, there are also a handful of monologues. The Mother’s Meeting by Mrs Harlow Phibbs, from 1913, sees Mrs Puckle dressed in the suffrage colours of green, whit and purple, and talking enthusiastically about the hard work she does in order to even be recognised as the mother of her children. On the other side of the coin is the monologue An Anti-Suffragist by HM Paull from 1910, which features an ‘anti’ setting out her stall about why votes for women are an abominable idea – while, of course, actually selling the idea to her audience.

What’s most notable from these plays as a whole is the wit, warmth and humour within them. Even though the writers were all so passionate about securing votes for women (and many endured prison and force feeding along the way), they manage to keep their senses of humour to help spread the message about how important the franchise is. Such an attitude also flies in the face of the commonly touted idea by the ‘antis’ that suffrage campaigners were a bunch of frumpy, lumpy old witches with no sense of joy.

This book of Suffrage Plays is a very important one, and Naomi has carefully unearthed a huge treasure trove of valuable material that is crucial to helping historians understand better the work of our foremothers in the campaign for the vote. What’s even better is that now eight of these plays are available in this book, it means theatre groups now have the script to be able to perform these plays again and ensure the message is never forgotten.