"Jamais Vu" / "R.A.T.S." / "Flowers" / "The Tempest"

A remarkably mixed bag of theatrical experiences in the last couple of weeks.

Up first was the frankly, barking mad, but promising “Jamais Vu (Brexit Means Brexit)”, an angry, experimental music theatre piece from Weeping Tudor, performed in front of a very small audience in a function room at the Wales Millennium Centre. I returned to that venue a few days laters (on Champions League Final night) to see a showing of Kyle Legall’s long-gestating “RATS – Rose Against The System” in the roof-space; a lively, colourful metaphorical reflection on the tension between old and new Cardiff Bay.

A few days later, at Chapter, young company Big Loop presented “Flowers”, ostensibly featuring two immature young men messing around in a florist’s, but developing into something more profound – a suitably multi-layered diversion for Election Night. And, most recently, the latest outdoor Shakespeare production from inclusive company Taking Flight – “The Tempest” in Thompson’s Park; highly accomplished and accessible (in at least two senses of the word).

 

Steph Back in "The Tempest" (photo: Jorge Lizalde)