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No matter how I tried to love this new work from C de la B I failed. Based on a Spanish film that tells the story of the closing of a transvestite cabaret, I was perhaps expecting moments of sadness and of exuberant joy. All I got was sadness. Initially impressive in its simplicity and the poignant movement of the elderly performers who, when frozen, regained the elegance of their previous stage personas, it soon became repetitive. The soundscape, dotted with great songs, was also mournfully dark and droning. And where was the joy? Was their life so sad, so tawdry and so lacking in dignity. The vision of a stooped and overweight man in a sequined dress clomping down a red carpet told me only one thing and that was that their lives were wasted and futile. Surely there must have been some romance, some love and some happiness? Not in this drab and overlong production.

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 11 May
Rating:
Andrew Kay

Five performances for an audience of five. It’s intimate, really intimate and it’s about intimacy too. Not for everyone perhaps but I loved this confrontational group of works that will no doubt court controversy in the weeks to come. To talk of the content would be to destroy the work on every level. What I will say is that the intellectual content far outweighs the visual. 5×5 is a cohesive group of ideas that works well enough, but I did crave some more visual poetry. Last year’s one-on-one Basement experience was visually more satisfying but only Adrian Howell’s Foot Washing back then had the depth of this years work. All that said, I enjoyed a great deal of this, the harmony singing, the humour and the brazen cheek and I left feeling charged and stimulated.

The Basement, 10 May
Rating:
Andrew Kay

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre is a creation from the wonderful mind of Kev F Sutherland, a Scottish comedian and comic strip writer. Set behind a similar stand to Punch and Judy’s (except, Kev’s of course, was swathed in tartan) this show was original, comically spot-on and certainly swerved off the beaton track as far as puppet shows go. With one puppet (or sock) on each hand and Kev crouched behind the set, he worked his magic with his puppets with expert timing and vocalizations which created a notable difference between the two characters. The comedy banter between the two puppets was amusing and the show was spiked with songs that are or have been ‘popular topics’ such as a cover of Eric Clapton’s ‘Layla’ re-written to incorporate everybody’s favourite instrument, the vuvuzela, or to be more precise what the puppets would like to do with said vuvuzela. Definitely one to catch if you can; how to surmise The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre? Darn it, he’s good.

Komedia, 7 May
Rating:
Melina Greenfield

I am a materialist when it comes to Shakespeare. I appreciate a solid production, first class acting and a light editing of the text. This had all three. But when it comes to costumes and scenery, I hate those productions dressed down so much they seem like extended drama classes. Material things, as Shakespeare’s Globe proved with this joyful and very funny re-imaging of Midsummer, can add layers and intrigue that breathe new life into one of the world’s best known English plays.
The setting was 1930s England; Puck (Bethan Walker) a cabaret star, Theseus and Hippolyta Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, and Brideshead-style teddy bears were used for one of the magic spells.

The cast made good use of the beautiful setting, at times sprinting around and through the audience, sitting among the picnicking crowds and teasing them. At one point limelight-stealing Bottom (Will Mannering) ran amok with some stolen strawberries and threatened to throw himself off the crumbling stone wall.

The actors flirted, reviled, joked and jilted with gusto and glamour, exactly as you’d want them to, adding new physical comedy to the text and sparking off each other to the delight of a sell-out crowd. A perfect way to spend a summer evening.
St Nicholas Rest Garden, 21 May
5/5
Rachel Pegg