Avenue Q’s been
around for a while now and it’s a show I’ve been meaning to see for ages. But I
only saw it for the first time this week: the UK touring production from Sell A
Door Theatre Company on its stop at Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre (5th
July 2016).
I really enjoyed it. A lot of it was a very funny take on
the kind of twenty-something angst that I think a lot of people feel
post-university. The opening lyric to one song was ‘What do you do with a BA in
English?’. I have a BA in English, and it’s a question I still haven’t really
answered satisfactorily, ten years after graduation.
Right now, my answer would appear to be: get a job to pay
the bills – preferably one you don’t hate; read books on the commute to and
from said job; write a blog about your occasional visits to the theatre.
Well, it’ll do for now.
And that’s what Avenue
Q’s final message was. Yes, it’d be great to have a ‘purpose’ (a concept
they explained Sesame Street-style on
overhead TV screens), but actually most things in most people’s lives are
pretty fleeting. Even Donald Trump is only ‘for now’.
So this grown-up Sesame
Street, populated by unsentimental muppets who swear, drink, have sex, and
sing songs about racism and internet porn, ends up being oddly reassuring.
Part pastiche, part glossy musical, part offbeat and a bit
fringey – I know so many people who’d enjoy this show.
Catch it in Eastbourne until Saturday 9th July!
Friday 8 July 2016
The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk - Kneehigh
The Flying Lovers of
Vitebsk was a small, intimate piece in the small, intimate setting of the
Globe’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse on 2nd July 2016. Lyrical is the
best word I can think of to describe it.
Every movement in Kneehigh’s Flying Lovers is as carefully choreographed as the words are written. And this flowing movement, combined with the vivid live music, makes for an unusual, charming, and – yes – lyrical piece of theatre.
Just two main cast members, plus musicians, play out this tale of the artist Marc Chagall’s life with his wife Bella. I knew next to nothing about the Chagalls before seeing this. I was not familiar with his work or with hers. But that didn’t matter. Their work, their outward-facing lives, the historical context are all part of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, but also somehow outside of its gaze.
Above all, this is a tale of two people. Small and intimate. And I found it a very thoughtful exploration of an individual’s creativity, and how that interacts with everyday life, the wider world, and those you are close to.
Some years ago in Cornwall, I saw Kneehigh’s Midnight’s Pumpkin. There was aerial work in that – trapezes and such – and I was sort of expecting something along those lines in The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk. I suppose it would’ve been difficult in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, but it would have been wonderful to see these lovers actually take flight.
As it was, though, the movement was beautiful, and I was smiling almost throughout the whole piece.
Lyrical really is the best word I can think of for it.
Every movement in Kneehigh’s Flying Lovers is as carefully choreographed as the words are written. And this flowing movement, combined with the vivid live music, makes for an unusual, charming, and – yes – lyrical piece of theatre.
Just two main cast members, plus musicians, play out this tale of the artist Marc Chagall’s life with his wife Bella. I knew next to nothing about the Chagalls before seeing this. I was not familiar with his work or with hers. But that didn’t matter. Their work, their outward-facing lives, the historical context are all part of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, but also somehow outside of its gaze.
Above all, this is a tale of two people. Small and intimate. And I found it a very thoughtful exploration of an individual’s creativity, and how that interacts with everyday life, the wider world, and those you are close to.
Some years ago in Cornwall, I saw Kneehigh’s Midnight’s Pumpkin. There was aerial work in that – trapezes and such – and I was sort of expecting something along those lines in The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk. I suppose it would’ve been difficult in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, but it would have been wonderful to see these lovers actually take flight.
As it was, though, the movement was beautiful, and I was smiling almost throughout the whole piece.
Lyrical really is the best word I can think of for it.
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