Parannoyance
It was at “The Copa upstairs” that Matt Pritchard delivered a hard driving mix of magic and twisted science. By wrapping his head in tin foil, matching socks and even hitting his own finger with a can, he drew the audience to think about an everlasting question “What is Fear?”. As from the very beginning he got laughter rolling along with his adventure on understanding social paranoia. With a projector as his weapon, wit his shield, Dave offers us a show well worth the ticket as well as a cure to any paranoia!
Reviewed by Nicholas O’Brien
Mouche
Tim Redpath is the potent star of Laine Cole’s remarkable one man show Mouche showing at the intimate Copa Upstairs venue as part of Oxfringe. Based on Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico, the enchanting story tells of a frustrated puppeteer who tries to live through his puppets. He is unable to express his feelings for Mouche, an ex-stripper who joins his show which tours France. We do not see the title character but were quickly convinced of her presence on stage. In the same way I also forgot that the many varied and peculiar characters – both human and puppet – were played by one actor. We slowly discover parts of the puppeteer, Capitaine Coq’s past on the journey to the Vaudeville Theatre in Nice with its ‘velvet seats and crystal goblets’ where he and his starry eyed puppets have always dreamed of performing. When the simply-crafted yet charming puppets are laid down at the end one feels a compelling sorrow but the puppeteer’s smile at Mouche as the lights fade leaves us with a glimpse of hope.
Be sure not to miss the last performance of this curiously sensational play at Oxfringe on Sunday 4 April at 7pm.
Reviewed by Scott Newman
Thought Thief
Peter Antoniou was the astonishing Thought Thief in the Copa Upstairs. The convivial and confident mind-reader put on an interactive show which slickly and subtly manipulated his audience and from whom he successfully managed to ‘steal’ thoughts on all but one occasion which he nevertheless dealt with candidly. Volunteers chose random items from a list or drew pictures which Antoniou described whilst blind-folded. Skeptics in the back row shot accusatory glances back at me, seated behind the lighting desk, and at each other, searching for a possible accomplice. All were truly puzzled and delighted by the revelation of indeed how unsafe our minds are, as Antoniou related in between segments how his art has been used for political purposes. They were all matched quite precisely with a pre-determined result written on paper guarded by an audience member, showing the exquisite design of the act.
Reviewed by Scott Newman
Freedom for Tooting!!!
Cosmo jumps into the spotlight armed with his guitar and harmonica, kick-starting a bold and fiery performance. He sports a vibrant Technicolor two-piece suit true to his in-your-face style. His revue features both catchy up-beat tunes and a few softer ones, captivating the unfortunately small audience with its high energy levels at all times, getting people clapping and waving hands in the air. His fast fingers and quick lips delighted the audience with songs in traditional folk style, hip-hop style ‘beat-boxing’ and a even a parody of the Gilbert and Sullivan musical touching on a range of subjects Cosmo feels passionately about including numbers inspired by Orwell’s 1984, racist coppers and forward political messages. His fun anecdotes about gigs in Edinburgh and New York in between the numbers complete the crazy ruthless humour that is Freedom for Tooting.
Don’t miss the last performance on Monday 29 March at 10pm at the Copa Upstairs.
Review by Scott Newman
Lady in Bed
Alison Goldie’s one-woman show, ‘Lady in Bed’, is a real treat. I have to admit I had my doubts at the beginning of the piece, as the technique of ‘turning around to indicate another character’ has never been one of my favourites. The use of mime and discussion of adolescent desire at first seemed a little on the prim and low-key side. However, I was very quickly proved wrong, as ‘stories’ from Alison’s love life, told to her younger self, ricocheted skillfully from the hilarious to the painful to the moving to the heart-warming.
Highlights include some of the cameos that appear, including an over-earnest Relate counselor and a copper that fancies himself as a comedian. The characters of Alison’s various boyfriends are all extremely clear, without venturing too far into caricature, and the humour Alison brings from her background in sketch comedy enhances rather than trivializes these excerpts from her life. Many recognizable dilemmas and situations are drawn up for us, and Alison proves herself an accomplished straight actor, honestly conveying what must sometimes be difficult to put on the stage (all stories that we are told in this show are true).
A fantastic show with some fresh and genuine portrayals of love and sex, and one that is ultimately optimistic. As one of the younger audience members I felt a bit like Alison’s younger self on the stage being told about the future, and I left with a big smile on my face.
Lady in Bed continues at the Burton Taylor at 9.30pm on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd April – highly recommended.
Review by Jenni Mackenzie
Borges and I
Borges and I, by Idle Motion Theatre Company, is a mesmerising and perfectly judged piece of physical theatre. The play tells the stories of Jorge Borges and a reading group in parallel and in doing so touchingly portrays three love stories – that of two people for each other, an academic for their subject and readers for their books. The action switches between the funny and nicely observed narrative of the present day characters and the more stylised, sumptuous story of Borges. The juxtaposition of different tones works well and makes the endings of both strands of the stories all the more touching.
All the performances were engaging and skilfully delivered. The actors worked together brilliantly as an ensemble, making the obviously tightly choreographed transitions appear effortless and natural. The relationships and tensions between the characters were also skilfully played out and never overdone.
The use of props deserves particular mention – the only props used were a few chairs, an umbrella, the actors’ clothes and heaps of books, and the simplicity belied the range of effects the actors achieved with them. I especially liked the use of books to illustrate the narrative – a collection of books could become an aeroplane, a little boy or a whole city. This worked beautifully as a metaphor for how the worlds contained in books come alive as we read them.
The entire production, and all its elements (including the excellent sound and lighting design) worked in perfect harmony, creating an immersive and deeply charming piece of theatre delivered with real warmth. Absolutely brilliant.
Review by Lucy Ayrton
Rob Bailey: the ‘Psychic’ Psychologist
The ‘Psychic’ Psychologist by Rob Bailey is an interesting and engaging hour in which several ‘mind reading’ tricks are performed, but with no pretence that there is any actual mind reading going on – Bailey makes it very clear that the tricks he performs are all based on psychology. As a firm ‘psychic’ sceptic I found this at once an interesting insight into a certain type of psychology, a satisfying two fingers up to mainstream performance mysticism and an opportunity to coo at mind reading tricks, guilt free.
The act consisted of impressively executed complex variations of classic “pick a card” type tricks, and left me genuinely baffled as to how they were performed. However, I would have liked the performance to have dwelt more on the debunking aspect of the show. Ideally I would have liked each trick to be followed by a step by step explanation of how it was done and the psychological factors at play. The one time Rob did this, teaching the audience to memorise a long list of words, was possibly the most compelling moment of the show.
Rob is a very charismatic and likable host and a lovely contrast to the smugness of many performance psychics. One of the most appealing aspects of Rob’s performance is that he never sets himself up as infallible, which creates a genuine moment of tension when he introduces a note of peril to the proceedings. Overall this show is an excellent concept that would have benefited to sticking to its core idea more tightly but was nonetheless a very enjoyable and interesting show.
Review by Lucy Ayrton
Cabaret Clandestino
Cabaret Clandestino, taking place in the cosy bar area of East Oxford Community Centre (or “East Oxford’s living room”, as the compare described it) was a relaxed, enjoyable evening’s entertainment with a real sense of community to it.
The set list was eclectic but the acts went together well. In order, the acts presented were Abelaro Polonio and the Republic of Flamenco (three flamenco guitars), Anton Barbeau (amusingly lyriced psychadelic folk rock), Gerry Potter (hard hitting performance poetry) and The Knights of Mentis (enormous Bluegrass band). All this was held together by the host Pete the Temp, whose madcap performance style inspired genuine affection in his audience.
For me, the stand out act of the evening was Gerry Potter. His poetry (along themes of identity and background) was a skilful balance of poignancy and humour, and he had the stage presence to hold the audiences attention through a 20 second silence in a poem. The Knights of Mentis were also excellent, delivering the last hour with an impressive energy and passion.
The venue and ambiance of the night was extremely welcoming. Pete the Temp succeeded in creating an atmosphere where it was totally acceptable to strike up a conversation with a stranger. This, along with the great acts and a cheap bar staffed by amiable volunteers (open until 2am), made for an infinitely preferable alternative to a pub based evening out. Overall, this was one of the best ways I can think of to spend a Saturday night in Oxford.
Review by Lucy Ayrton
Jay Foreman: Pretend You’re Happy
5 Stars *****
Jay Foreman takes fresh, witty and incredibly catchy self penned songs and delivers them to a captivated audience with the relaxed manner of a seasoned entertainer, whilst retaining a level of charm that keeps a spellbinding hold over his audience. His songs are easy on the ear and his audience listen intently to every carefully constructed line, in amongst their own giggles and laughter. Pretend You’re Happy is both silly and hilarious and it is the often touching blurring of these elements that made the audience leave extremely happy without an ounce of pretence.
Review by David Harrison
John Hegley poetry workshop
John Hegley; poet, artist, comedian, musician led a workshop at the Oxford Playhouse that turned out to be one of the hidden gems in the Oxfringe calendar of events. It has been said that ‘Good poetry starts with the lightest touch’ and that is exactly how John entranced the participants. Within a few moments he had us spontaneously rhyming, singing, story-telling in ways in ways I doubt any of us knew we were going to do even a second before. Using his gentle but direct humour, even the shyest were soon smiling and joining in, safe in the knowledge that, for the next hour or so at least, there was no wrong way to do this. True, the poetry we produced may not be the poetry of rollicking literary allusions, wrought from the bedrock of a dark night of the soul, but there was a beauty in its simplicity, the sense of ‘Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to say.’ I am struggling to tell you how he did this, and the truth is, you probably do not need to know how. All you do need to know is that next time, if you want your heart lifted, your imagination to open up and to remember what it is to have fun with words, poetry and song, do anything to be there.
Review by Tina Sederholm
