"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.  

"Mandela Trilogy" / "Block"

There has been little theatre-reviewing action in the past few weeks, since everyone in South Wales has been raving it up at the Edinburgh Festival. I was lucky enough, though,  to get to see “Mandela Trilogy” from Cape Town Opera at the Wales Millennium Centre, which was a treat, if (inevitably) stylistically uneven, since it treated the life of the saviour of South Africa in three distinct musical styles, with three different Nelsons.

 

"Block" 

And on Bank Holiday Monday, outside the same venue, I unexpectedly caught the spectacular open-air performance of “Block” from NoFit State Circus and Motionhouse – a kind of depiction of the complexity of urban life, featuring highly talented dancer/acrobats. Remarkable stuff.

"Anamnesis" / "Blood On The Snow"

Another couple of Christmas-themed shows to round off the year as a reviewer for the British Theatre Guide; quite contrasting ones.

First up was “Anamemsis 25.12” from Mercury Theatre Wales, at Chapter – an ambitiously staged portmanteau of tales exploring bad family Christmas memories. Very well executed, in a promenade style, but ultimately not as innovative in content as in form.

Then came Caroline Sabin’s “Blood On The Snow”, co-produced by No Fit State Circus, and staged in their rehearsal space off Cardiff’s Newport Road. Another promenade piece, this was inspired by Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony Of Carols”, and set in a wintry forest glade inhabited by wood-nymphs. Beautifully strange, verging on the magical.