Urashima Taro

If you asked me what the story line was, I couldn't tell you. If you asked me who acted in it, I couldn't tell you. If you asked me if I liked it, I would say NO. A bizaar practically silent performance by a crippled puppet that scared you senseless. Uninteresting and unamusing. The only slightly interesting bit was when the puppet started havng sex behind the screen...

Stand-up Comedy Evening with Bath Spa Live

Imagine going out for a casual drink to an indie bar. Then stumbling down the stairs having been fuelled by a few Gin and Tonics and then sitting through an hour and a half of hysteria inducing hilarity. We were provided some stools at the back of the room...near the bar... as the place was pretty full by that point. First up was Mark Aspinall the MC of the evening, who, to be honest, was a little flat line with his comic wit, or lack thereof. He introduced us to the 2nd year students of Bath Spa that were going to be entertaining us for the evening. On came Leo "So and So" who was fantastic straight from the word go. 10 minutes of pure genius oozed out of him as he seductively told women how to entertain a man, in bed, dropping in examples of his own bad experiences with his girlfriend. A rupture of applause was given to him as he finished and then it was time for another drink. Then came the 1 minute slots by 10 more students. All providing an array of real life experiences and bodily malfunctions. I was entertained to the max. I was intrigued by the brilliance and quirkiness of the humour that was being flung around the room. I was also taken aback by the constant mention of vaginas and sex...but when does that ever cease to be amusing?? Then finally, the final 10 minute performer, who in a low husky voice, head tilted down, eyes glaring through her hair at the audience, introduced herself as LEO'S girlfriend... straight off the bat a simple line that overwhelmed the audience with uncontrollable fits of raucous laughter. Then she began to tell the men how to treat a woman in the bed room. This wasn't done with subtle innuendos or anything, this was, well, XXX rated. The detail was really quite impressive. But it was the fact that these students could get up in front of a crowd and say exactly what they wanted to say. They had no limitations, no boundaries and it was brilliant to hear something that a lot of students love to talk about. I certainly hope to see some of the University students up on stage again!
So as a wonderful way to finish the evening a professional comedian took over the stage. An overweight pompous intellect who suffered from a stutter but mastered the art of taking the piss out of himself. He lollopped around the stage mocking his bear gut, talking about stocks and money and technology, but being outrageous with his terminology.

HAMLET, By Zimbabwe

2 men playing 8 characters.This specific performance of Hamlet, was original and inspiring as they took on the challenge of creating a Zimbabwean Shakespeare. Putting their own history and language into it. Talking to the audience in a foreign tongue and educating the audience with snippets of Zimbabwean culture.

MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, By Shakespear

Shakespeare has always been a 50:50 ratio of like: dislike with me. However, this performance of "Merry Wives of Windsor" was wonderful. It was one of the most entertaining pieces of Shakespeare I have seen in a long time. It was performed in the traditional way that I feel Shakespeare should always be demonstrated. Great lead roles from Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, who prance around like little school girls, enjoying the practical joke they play on the fat and hairy John Falstaff. Shakespeare shows once again his mischievous humour and outrageous wit. The play was simply performed to the perfect presentation. Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyable!

ENRON

ENRON, Directed by Rupert Goold and Written by Lucy Prebble

Enron was an American energy company based in Huston, Texas. It was one of the 5 largest audit companies’ and accountancy partnerships in the world. It then became the largest bankruptcy reorganisation in the world at the time. “Enron”, the play, was all about the rising up and the downfall of the company. A pretty serious casualty to the world wouldn't you think? So why did they try and make this piece of theatre a Broadway production with star wars and Jurassic Park flittering about the performance??
You have to confess, a play that just shows the history of the down fall of a big bucks company could be quite dull. So I will admit the director did a splendid job providing the audience with visual entertainment and a constant vigour to the performance. There was always something to see, whether it was dancing and singing in a broadway fasion, with strong voices and jazzy dancing or dinosaurs which resembled the ever increasing debt that overcomes the company. It was, in essence, a 101 guide book on “The Economy for Dummies”. And for a lot of us students we were educated by the play. We were taught about the stock market and basic investment. However to me, it was a play that was trying to entertain you through any way possible but the words. It really was a great way of making the economy interesting, but for young viewers such as myself, as soon as they stopped the Broadway dances and singsongs and got down to brass taxes, it. was. boring. There was far too much contrast between the script and the direction. You weren't able to get used to the realism or history of the true story because it tried to entertain you too much with fictional extravaganza. If it was naturalistic from the very beginning, I think people would have watched it with a very different perspective.
The play was well supported by good actors, especially the actress , who played the part of Amanda Drew who showed a strength and personality that would be worthy to fight an ox and there was a never a moment when you felt the actors were letting the play down. But I believe the director Rupert Goold thought too much about entertaining the audience with stuff.

Lilly Through The Dark, by the River People

Lilly Through the Dark is a play that teases your tear ducts but tickles your face with smiles or hits you with an out raw of laughter. It plays on your emotions so never leaves you bored or absent of feelings.
Lilly's performance is demonstrated through puppetry, where she is moved with such precision it is utterly encapsulating for the audience. The lighting is subtle yet very effective as it is soft and inviting, reflecting the story line. The live music sets the ambience perfectly.
A highly recommended play!