"Incredibles 2" / "The Flop" / "Flours"

Like all sensible people, I was a huge fan of Brad Bird’s “The Incredibles” (2004 – one forgets that, at the time of its release, the kind of superheroes which it spoofed had not yet taken over the box-offices of the world). Obviously, a sequel is not going to have the same element of surprise, but I was greatly relieved to discover that “Incredibles 2” is every bit as witty and meticulously inventive as its predecessor. Kicking off directly from that film’s conclusion, the narrative sees the fight for superhero rehabilitation taken to the mass media, with Holly Hunter’s Elastigirl given prominence, much to the exasperation of husband Bob (and possibly some of the more Neanderthal members of the fan-base). It’s not quite perfect – some of the action sequences are inevitably impenetrable, and maybe baby Jack-Jack has one or two too many superpowers to keep track of. But it’s a very satisfying experience, and one trusts that, like the original, it will reward multiple viewings.

My most recent theatre reviewing assignments have both been comedies staged at Chapter. “The Flop”, by Hijinx and Spymonkey is a farcial take on tales of 17^th century French nobles being taken for court by their wives for impotency; while “Flours”, from Big Loop (a spiritual sequel to that company’s “Flowers”), sees two young women facing up to adult pressures (body image, work, relationships etc), whilst tasked with running a surreal bakery. Widely divergent in tone and intention, but connected by an irreverent focus on sexuality, and both dependent on clownish, physical comedy.

"Flours" (photo: Tess Seymour)

"War Horse" / Theatre Uncut

The National Theatre’s 10^th anniversary tour of their massively successful adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s World War 1 novel “War Horse” has just arrived for a month-long residency at the Wales Millennium Centre, and I was glad to get to review it. Not entirely flawless, narrative-wise, but it is a technical marvel – and, of course, the horse puppetry is every bit as remarkable as advertised.

"War Horse" (pic: Wales Millennium Centre)

Every year, London company Theatre Uncut commissions a number of short, politically-oriented plays to be put on, worldwide, rights-free, as part of fundraising and consciousness-raising events. The 2018 batch, entitled “Power Plays”, are all written by women, and were performed for two nights at The Other Room in Cardiff. I went along purely out of curiosity, but the experience prompted me to suggest a short piece for the Wales Arts Review, which, fortunately, they saw fit to publish.