News

There’s lots to tell you about this week, including a round-up of reviews for A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Department of Smelling Pistakes, a sneak preview of what’s coming up in next week’s Prototype, and much, much more…

REVIEW ROUND-UP: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Those of you who follow Twitter will have picked up on Lyn Gardner’s (The Guardian) Tweet after press night for A Midsummer Night’s Dream this Wednesday, where she described the show as Blissfully funny, exquisitely detailed and sexy in a sinister way. Great show.
Audience members have been getting in touch with their comments, too, Sylvia Holliman wrote:
I think I have seen all of the Shakespeare productions which you have staged during the last few years, and they have all been brilliant. But last night’s performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was a total dream!  The cast really brought the script to life, and I loved the energy, the humour, the nuances. I felt very privileged to have been a part of the audience.
Meanwhile, here’s what the other reviewers have been saying…
Sophie Lomax at Bristol247 loved its comic mayhem, heart-splitting loneliness and [...] sharp lesson in class politics all rolled into one. Read her full review here. The Stage’s Jeremy Brien was delighted by the sparkling offering. Read what else he thought here. Meanwhile the Bristol Evening Post gave the show a storming 8/10, with Gerry Parker particularly enamoured of the comic high jinks of the mechanicals. Read more here. Matt Whittle at Suit Yourself thought it was a truly fabulous production. Read his review here.

More reviews to follow in next week’s round up…

REVIEW ROUND-UP: The Department of Smelling Pistakes

Meanwhile, down at the Brewery Publick Transport’s latest offering is going down a treat with audiences and critics alike.
Sheer lunacy, said the Bristol Evening Post. Click here to read more. Absurd genius. . .a delightful mix of the bizarre and the brilliant…surreal and very, very funny, said Guide2Bristol. Check out the full review here. And A torrent of absurd, colourful comedy, said Suit Yourself. The full review is here.
The show’s on for just over another week, so you’ve still time to catch it!

Prototype 28 Feb

Theatre Bristol and Tobacco Factory’s event for artists to show their work in progress celebrates its 10th birthday at the end of this month with a fantastic line-up of companies.
TF Dance Artists in residence, the Mark Bruce Company, present a work in progress section of their new show Love and War, which is being developed at the TF and is due to be premiered in May.
Local performer Malcolm Hamilton (Myrtle Theatre, FairGround, The Wonder Club) will be presenting his work so far on a monologue by a man standing on a deserted railway platform.
Bath-based Ruffled Umbrella are an events theatre company and will be showing part of a new piece based on Hamlet.
Neshima, a concept-based dance company, present their initial ideas for Dancing in Tongues, a piece about the possibilities of non-verbal communication.
Circomedia students Alice Ellerby and Becky Illsley present their ideas towards a physical theatre and storytelling performance called France!
Once Arts and Ceremonies, creators of the beautiful sitting room-scale participatory pieces Picnic and Valentines’ Table Top will be trying out ideas for a new piece of table-top theatre.
It’s brilliant value at just £3 a ticket. Come along to experience the newest, freshest theatre and dance being made and to input into how these shows are developed.

SITE: TF and Theatre Bristol Residency Programme

This is very exciting. So exciting, in fact, that I’m hardly going to tell you anything here; you’re going to have to click on this link to find out more. We’re working together with TB to provide a studio residency programme for 4 companies/artists in 2010/2011. As I said, it’s very exciting.

Mark Bruce Professional Classes

Due to overwhelming demand for the first batch of classes, we are delighted to be offering more opportunities for professional dancers to take class with the Mark Bruce company while they are in residence here in the spring. Click here to find out more.

Edinburgh or Bust!

There’s only a week left to get your proposals in for this July’s Edinburgh or Bust week. So if you’re a theatre-maker heading up to the Edinburgh Festival this year, click here to find out more.