Stage: Fringe Benefits
Exciting new work at Upstairs At Three & Ten and The Warren
One of the joys of Brighton’’s festival and Fringe is seeing new work by new companies, new actors and new writers. Over the last few years Upstairs At Three & Ten has proved itself to be a great venue for finding this kind of work and last year their new enterprise The Warren added to the city’s theatre presence in an excellent way with some great new productions over the month of May.
This year is no different and Nichola Haydn and James Weisz have programmed an amazing list of events for both venues that will no doubt see them at the forefront of the city’s theatre offering this Fringe. Here are just a few that have caught our eye.
Maggot by Old Saw
The Officials checked my blood. My DNA. My genetics. Something had gone wrong. They examine him. Watch him. Cut him. He bleeds like me. But he is not like me. In a dystopian future where only one race of man exists, the birth of a genetic anomaly sets into motion a series of events which lead one woman to discover the truth about the society in which she lives.
Upstairs At Three & Ten, Sat 4–Thu 9 May
179 Hackney Road: The Bridge Theatre Company
179 Hackney Road by Frazier Flintham interweaves three stories spanning 60 years with young people at the heart of the narrative. Taking place in one location with scenes in 2013, 1983 and 1953, this piece of new writing places the lessons of the past alongside the promise of the future.
The Warren, Mon 13 May
Absence: Broken Silence Theatre Company
During a rainy morning in a seafront café, two couples debate their futures. One romance has just blossomed. The other has already ended. Will either relationship survive? A darkly comic new play featuring alumni of RADA and the Royal Court. Absence explores our attitudes towards relationships and mental health in the 21st century.
Upstairs at Three and Ten, Mon 27 May, Sat 1 & Sun 2 June
Cold Comfort: Otherplace Productions
Kevin hasnt been home for 20 years. Now, at his father’s wake, he’s telling some home truths. McCafferty’s hypnotic wordplay creates a humorous, haunting portrait of love, frailty and loss. A compelling voice among the latest generation of Irish playwrights, McCafferty defies stereotypes and assumptions. Pádraig Breathnach gives a searing solo performance as drunken, broken Kevin. Directed by Ine King.
The Warren, Tues 14 & Mon 20 May
Dinner: Thrust
Paige has created a dinner like no other. Served by a silent waiter sourced from an obscure website, she opens her home to an artist, a scientist, a sexpot and a burglar. “Moira Buffini’s delicious bad-taste comedy is Abigail’s Party transposed to the haunts of the well-heeled middle classes… funny and vicious.” (The Guardian).
The Warren, Mon 6, Wed 8, Fri 10 May
