Ajaxpost Plays: Beyond The Game

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Showing posts with the label LGBT

On This Day: 26th May

Back Before The Lockdown this was a day for the unexpected. in 2015 There are a few actors I adore, whose work is consistently impressive and there are, equally, a few that I just cannot take a liking too. In this latter case it's not necessarily that they are bad actors but often that I have never found any of their characters sympathetic or understandable. Unfortunately Gina McKee falls into that second category so I was a little torn when she was announced as the lead in Florian Zeller's The Mother at the Ustinov Studio in Bath. A year earlier I had seen a production of The Father (from the same author and creative team at the same venue) which was simply magnificent . So, trusting the team at the Ustinov I put my doubts aside and booked and ... boy, did she prove me wrong! Using a similar technique as used for The Father , of presenting the same scene but from slightly different perspectives we are constantly wrong-footed in trying to work out who's view we a...

On This Day: 10th May

Suspenders at the ready on this day Before The Lockdown: in 2003 Oh dear, this is rather embarrassing! I loved the film, it's iconic and a standard reference point for all of us who do not believe in conformity. Yet. I've only seen the stage show, on which the film was based, once. What is even worse is that I remember so very little of the Rocky Horror Show when I did get to see at the Wimbledon Theatre in London! It must have been fun, how could it not be? But no, I recall nothing. 😢 For some reason, I do not have a programme for this show, and I am almost fanatical in getting programmes! so the image here is one I have found on the Internet and, as far as I can tell, is correct for this particular tour An interesting side-note to this is that when searching for that image I discovered that at the time this show was running Wimbledon Theatre was in severe financial difficulties and did, in fact close for several months until it was rescued by the Ambassador Thea...

On This Day: 9th May

As much as I've tried I really can't find a cute thematic bon mot to apply to the theatrical rundown on this day Before The Lockdown... in 2003 Still working out what I really liked about theatre one simple selection method was recognisable names from TV. Office Games at the Pleasance Theatre in London fitted that bill quite nicely With relative stage newcomers Adam Rickitt and Charlie Brooks fresh from Coronation Street and EastEnders respectively and the well established Richard O'Callaghan. A basic office comedy with all the usual shenanigans that follow a important figure being embarrassed by a mistake that is then blamed on a junior who then seeks some sort of revenge. With being set in the British Foreign Office after the first world war this one had the added comedic value of historical attitudes. A modestly entertaining evening I recall little of the plot or the characters but what I do remember is that we bumped into Adam Rickitt at the tube station on...

On This Day: 8th May

Going back, back in time, Before The Lockdown... in 2019 Back in 2017 I saw a wonderfully energetic, joyful, and also savagely poignant play about the promise of the Tony Blair's 1997 election victory so I was delighted that the same company, the Bristol born Wardrobe Ensemble, were bringing their earlier hit 1972: The Future of Sex back to the Bristol Old Vic. It was just as good. The same great soundtrack, energetic precision choreography, sharp humour and genuinely heartfelt personal stories. By deftly alternating through several stories of emergent sexual awareness in the, supposedly, simpler 70s we're reminded that getting to grips with sex, sexuality, gender, and the associated 'politics' is as it has always been ... a minefield.

On This Day: 3rd May

I've lived round here for years , Bath Spa University has been producing shows open to the public for years . But it wasn't until this year that I finally got round to seeing some of their work! So, back in time, Before The Lockdown: in 2017 Death and Dancing was the third production I saw at Bath Spa University, though only the second of their own student produced show. A stripped back two-hander it took us into the lives of two people, he and she, who meet on the city streets, discover that neither is quite what the other first thought. They both dance around issues of gender, sexuality and identity both in their own individual lives and the relationship which they may, or may not, want or need. A bold production, challenging and thought provoking.

On This Day: 6th April

Having got the date wrong for the first post in this series, I shall endeavour to double-check every post from now on! Now, for the 6th of April (honest!) On This Day . In 2003 A very fortuitous visit to see a friend in London on the last weekend that The Laramie Project was at the Cochrane theatre. As far as I can recall this was the first time I'd seen a ' verbatim ' theatre production and it was such an incredible piece. The story itself, of how a small middle American town deals with the aftermath of an horrific murder and their own beliefs and prejudices regarding identity and sexuality was emotional enough but then knowing that the "voices" we were hearing were actually those of the real people involved added a whole other level of connection. The production itself, like most verbatim pieces, was quite sparse but there were some moments, of both an individual's own story and of the visual impact of scenes such as the white Angel Action, that ...