"When In Roam" / "Benny" / "hang" / "Quiet Hands"

And so the post-Edinburgh Festival theatre drought in Cardiff finally came to an end.

My first reviewing assignment for the new season was “When In Roam”, an intriguing dance-based performance piece by South American-born, Welsh resident Thania Acarón, all about relocation and shifting identities.

Then, at Chapter there was “Benny”, a one-person play which aroused controversy when first announced, because of the perceived sexism of its protagonist, comedian Benny Hill; but it turned out to be a fairly conventional, affectionate biographical portrait of an artist by the creative team who brought us “Grav”, the play about much-loved Welsh sport/media figure Ray Gravell.

 

Liam Tobin in "Benny" (photo: Kirsten McTernan)

Following hard on this came the first in a season of curated shows at The Other Room – the death-penalty-themed “hang”, by debbie tucker green, from Run Amok Theatre; highly tense and very well performed.

"hang" (photo by Kieran Cudlip)

And most recently, again at Chapter, there was “Quiet Hands”, Tim Rhys sort-of- sequel to “Touch Blue Touch Yellow”, about “mate crime” – specifically in the context of autism, but readily applicable to many situations.