| An UnLimited Media Bulletin | Thursday 31 July 2014 |
For their latest project NYLon – a theatre group which, you might have worked out, straddles both London and New York – has teamed up with The Mill Co Project for an ambitious rework of Ben Jonson's 17th Century classic 'Volpone'.
Called 'The Hackney Volpone' and performing at the Rose Lipman Building on the De Beauvoir Estate, the production sees professional actors performing alongside locals from the Hackney community, some taking to the stage for the very first time. It's a very interesting endeavour, so I sent some questions to director Anna Jones to find out more. You can read the interview here.
'The Hackney Volpone' is on at the Rose Lipman Building until 9 Aug. Tickets here.
|
COMEDY: Gerardine Coyne's Party Pieces | Hen & Chickens Theatre | 1 Aug Praise be to this year's Camden Fringe for signing on the "stylish and lovely" character comicGerardine Coyne. One half of The Aspidistras, she strides off on a solo jolly with this, a party bag of skits and silly voices inspired by (and made for) the world's social misfits. Details and tickets here. CABARET: Miss Polly Rae – Between the Sheets | London Wonderground | 1 Aug (pictured) Catlike cabaret starlet Miss Polly Rae, queen of the 'nu-burlesque' scene, artfully flaunts her tastes for music, dance, stand-up and circus in 'Between The Sheets', an ensemble show featuring a backing cast and zesty-fresh new steps and scripts. Details and tickets here. DANCE: Mariinsky Ballet – Swan Lake | Royal Opera House | 1-14 Aug The ROH once again takes advantage of Tchaikovsky's always-fashionable 'Swan Lake' score, flying in Russia's super-elite Mariinsky Ballety to dance a lyrical spin first staged by the great Konstantin Sergeyev in the great year that was 1950. Details and tickets here. |
|
COMEDY/FESTIVAL: Phoenix Fringe | The Phoenix, Cavendish Square | 2-9 Aug A closer-to-home Fringe option worth considering (only if Edinburgh is a no-go, that is), the Phoenix ignites one long, hot week of comedy. Opening with shows from Ed Byrne, Lee Nelson and Gavin Osborn, it burns on c/o Frankie Boyle, Nick Helm, Danielle Ward, Aisling Bea, Joe Lycett, Brian Gittins, and also a go on ace panel-game podcast 'Do The Right Thing' starring two-thirds of Pappy's, Matthew Crosby and Ben Clark, and Isy Suttie. Details and tickets here. MUSIC/FESTIVAL: Visions Fest | various locations | 2 Aug Criss-crossing various sites in East London, the all-day bank of Visions 2014 has locked in an (opposite of shit) ton of cool original bands and acts, not least party aficionado Andrew WK (who's doing a 'very special' solo show BTW), sensitive singer-pianist Perfume Genius, moody pop ring Polica, scraggly trash-rock band Fat White Family, Weird World-signed synth whizz Jaako Eino Kalevi, and still many local/international imports besides. Details and tickets here. THEATRE/FILM: The Forbidden Zone | Barbican | 2 Aug (pictured) An 'immersive' film event live-streaming via this year's Salzburg Festival, Katie Mitchell's 'The Forbidden Zone' posits the sad and strained story of the Habber family (whose patriarch, Fritz, first developed poison gas as a weapon), remade with five video cameras and innovative set-pieces, like a moving subway train. Details and tickets here. |
|
COMEDY: James Dowdeswell + Juliet Meyers + Matt Green | 99 Club, Leicester Square | 3 Aug The award-winning 99 Club signs up James Dowdeswell who, according to ThreeWeeks, "manages to make the audience feel like old and trusted friends" at his shows, the "inventive, sharp and thoughtful" Juliet Meyers, and the "intelligent and sharp-witted" Matt Green. Details and tickets here. MUSIC: Bernhoft + Mike Wyatt + Dagny | Kopparberg Urban Forest, Dalston Bootstrap Company | 3 Aug (pictured) Cider brand Kopparberg hosts in its temp Scandinavian glade Norway's #1 soul man Bernhoft, Elton John-approved Tromsø songbird Dagny (pictured), and rising blues singer Mike Wyatt. And whilst the drinks aren't free, entry and ambience, at least, are. Details here. THEATRE/KIDS: Horrible Histories – Barmy Britain Part II | Garrick Theatre | 3-31 Aug A big gory book of quasi-histories from writers Deary and Neal Foster, the latest chapter of 'Barmy Britain' casts 'Party Queen Victoria' and 'Evil Queen Elizabeth' in a cartoonish timeline of capers (with low-lying political gags, for the parents) also starring Boudicca, Dick Turpin and William Wallace. Details and tickets here. |
|
COMEDY: Camden Fringe – Professor Bennison's Life Of Pi | Camden Head | 4-6 Aug "Disgraced" ex-math (maths?) teacher James Bennison has a go at making maths (math?) funny with his solo show 'Life Of Pi'. Aiming higher than simply tapping '80087355' into a calculator, he'll instead be sharing a quantity of jokes on integers, algebra, silly children and a "universally accepted qualification – the JCSE". Details and tickets here. MUSICAL: Grim | Charing Cross Theatre | 4-30 Aug A 'Romeo & Juliet' kind of tale on a fantastical scale, theatre co Untold's all-singing, all-dancing 'Grim' imagines 'what if' the Grim Reaper (who in this case is a lady) fell deathly in love with Cupid, a winged man-god with a penchant for matchmaking. Will their affair prove complicated? I'd say it maybe might. Details and tickets here. OPERA: Grimeborn Opera Festival – San Domino | Arcola Theatre | 4-6 Aug (pictured) Back for its eighth year active, Grimeborn Opera Fest once again showcases rising composers and artists, under-appreciated and rarely-aired works, and bold, innovative adaptations of the classics. It starts off tonight with Tim Anfilogoff & Alan Whittaker's facist-era-Italy-based 'San Domino', which follows a band of friends imprisoned on an island because they are gay. Details and tickets here. |
|
COMEDY: James Dowdeswell – Wine, Ale & I 2014 | Camden Head | 5-7 Aug This year's ultra-glossy Camden Fringe parts to reveal 'the ultimate happy hour' care of thinker/drinker James Dowdeswell and his 'Withnail'-inspired (at least in title) show 'Wine, Ale & I'. James, who is soon to launch his own vino TV programme, laces a pint of daft stories with alcohol-based factoids and tales of his childhood in a West Country pub. Details and tickets here. COMEDY: Ursula Martinez – My Stories, Your Emails | Southbank Centre | 5-10 Aug (pictured) Having literally bared all in her 'magic striptease' act 'Hanky Panky' (a skit which was illicitly posted online, attracting a deluge of um, 'unbelievable' emails), the Olivier Award-winning Ursula Martinez boldly investigates obsession, miscommunication, relationships, loneliness, sex, identity and the internet via a comical combination of live art and stand-up. Details and tickets here. THEATRE: The Kilburn Passion | Tricycle Theatre | 5-9 Aug Another Camden Fringe tip, as the Trike brings back playwright Suhayla El-Bushra's 'Kilburn Passion', a busy, multicultural inter-mingling of the lives of those living on Kilburn High Road, lives that collide with the arrival of a stranger. First commissioned for the Tricycle's Young Company of 16-25 year olds earlier this year, it's directed as per then by Emily Lim. Details and tickets here. |
|
DANCE: Solo For Two | London Coliseum | 6-9 Aug (pictured) Ballet stars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev dance a sequence of pas de deux – or 'Solo(s) For Two', if you will – not least Ohad Naharin's 'Passo', which features a score by Brit electronic pairing Autechre, and a special adaptation of Arthur Pita's 'God's Garden' titled 'Facada'. Details and tickets here. FILM/MUSIC: There Will Be Blood + live score | Roundhouse | 6-7 Aug The Roundhouse shows Paul Thomas Saunders' slick critics' fave, Oscar-winning oil movie 'There Will Be Blood'. The even slicker bit is this; there'll be a live rendition of the film's acclaimed OST by its co-creator, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, and a 50-man swathe of the London Contemporary Orchestra. Details and tickets here. THEATRE: The Ring Cycles Plays – A Tale Of Gods & Monsters | The Scoop | 6-31 Aug The Scoop's award-winning resident theatre firm Gods & Monsters present their take on Richard Wagner's mythological Viking-orama 'Ring Cycles', doing it as a series of talky-talky plays, aka sans the operatic scores. It's a veritable 'who's who' of 'who's weird' in fantasy and folklore, with gods, giants, nymphs and dwarfs all featuring over the saga, which unfolds over four hours. Ah yeah, and since the show is part of the More London Free Theatre; it is, in fact, free to see. Details here. |
|
COMEDY: The Thom Tween Show | Phoenix Artist Club | 7-10 Aug "No God, no morals, no free will, no fucking point". Comedian Thom Tween, which likely isn't his real name, sires a variety of "dark and fluffy" live stand-up as a mere part of this year's Camden Fringe fest. Details and tickets here MUSIC: Erland And The Carnival | Servant Jazz Quarters | 7 Aug (pictured) Raised on the Orkney Islands and now based in the big city, roving folk nomad Erland Cooper presents his and collaborator Simon Tong's (Gorillaz/The Verve) latest LP, 'Closing Time' at the Servant Jazz Quarters. "'Closing Time' doesn't mark the beginning of the end; rather it marks an end to permit a new beginning", he explains. "When Summer dies it's to let winter in, then spring opens it up again; it has to happen. It's enjoyable when you accept that you have a limited time to make things happen to the best of your ability". Details and tickets here. THEATRE: Memory Points | Southbank Centre | 7-18 Aug One of those 'promenade' drama works, Platform 4's 'Memory Points' has its audience sporting headphones and costumes, and taking a walking tour of various mini sculptures designed to prompt reminiscence. The show is created with the guidance of the Alzheimer's Society, and features a score by SB Centre Artist In Residence Pete Flood, of Bellowhead fame. Details and tickets here. |
|
To promote your shows and events to the ThisWeek readership via the website and weekly email contact Chris on 020 7099 9050 or email ads@unlimitedmedia.co.uk
 |
© ThisWeek Publishing a division of UnLimited Media ThisWeek London, Fl2 Unicorn House, 221 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6PJ. t: 020 7099 9050 (editorial) 020 7099 9060 (sales) publishing@unlimitedmedia.co.uk | complaints@unlimitedmedia.co.uk |