Ajaxpost Plays: Beyond The Game

A very dark place was the subject on offer on this day Before The Lockdown in 2018 I only have vague memories of the 2005 production that I saw with three already well established and respected actors (Jonny Lee Miller, Aiden Gillen, and David Threlfall) apart from the brutality of the scenario and the sense of optimism that the three characters strove to maintain. So when the students of Bath Spa University included Someone Who'll Watch Over Me as part of their SparkFest contribution to the Bath Festival I was keen to reacquaint myself with the piece and see what these these fresh young acting students would do with it. This story of three westerners chained up in a dark middle-eastern cell was suitably enhanced by being performed in the compact cavern-like space of Burdall's Yard. These three young men didn't have the depth of experience that the 2005 cast had to call on but the strength of the writing certainly gave the cast, and audience, plenty to get t...

It's time, once again, for the amateurs on this day Before The Lockdown: in 2018 Having seen quite a few amateur productions in Bath and Bristol, by both community groups and also theatre students in training, I thought it time to check out what London might be able to offer. The community based Putney Theatre Company at the Putney Arts Theatre created an evening devoted to new writing in a showcase of seven short pieces produced and performed by the PTC. Under the umbrella title of Fate Expectations each piece offered a moment in time, either realistic or fantastical, where everything could change. in 2019 The last of this year's Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Directors' Cuts season at the Wardrobe Theatre was How My Light Is Spent . A surreal tale of how one man's life literally starts to disappear. Having lost a 'proper job' and then been replaced by a coin-bin at a zero-hours fast-food joint his disappearing prospects become a physical reality...

This was definitely a day for creative students Before The Lockdown: in 2017 The Bath Spa University Theatre Society was at the Mission Theatre in Bath to put on Our Country's Good . If you've been reading the older pages on this Blog you may recall that I saw a professional production of this well-regarded play back in 2014 . So, I'll be very lazy and repeat some of what I said then:  " there's a lot to like about Our Country's Good ... It's a play about the redemptive power of art, in particular of theatre, and the injustice and immorality of an impersonal legal system that fails to account for social context. " Just like when I saw it in 2014, I came away from this amateur production with much the same feeling, that for me " it's just not a very exciting play. " Despite having a much smaller budget and thus a significantly less impressive set and lacking the polish of a professional production this presentation did have a f...

A pertinent question was asked on this day Before The Lockdown: in 2019 Among the many interesting amateur groups putting on productions in Bath are the creative students of Bath Spa University's Theatre Society. On this day I saw their presentation of Mike Bartlett's 13 at the Mission Theatre in Bath. Apparently wondering whether a shared social conscience, in this case an apocalyptic nightmare, in response to genuine political turmoil can be harnessed by a 'visionary' to effect political change. It's a challenging piece in that it tries to explore multiple individual stories to find some common ground between them and then link that to the political process. The individual stories and each one's relationship with the 'visionary' was interesting but I'm not sure it actually came together sufficiently to pose a coherent question or offer any real insight into personal or political motivations. That, though, was not due to the production bu...

This was a bit of  a killer day at the mission Before The Lockdown: in 2018 From mid May to early June Bath enjoys a cultural explosion with a full on Festival, a Fringe and something called SparkFest a curated selection of delights from students on the creative courses at Bath Spa University. For my first show from the SparkFest list I chose Infamous which was put on at the Mission Theatre in Bath. A short devised pieces which wonders what might happen if five (in)famous assassins, from John Wilkes Booth to Andrew Cunanan, were to meet in some sort of afterlife. Would they compare notes, would they fight amongst themselves to take the title of being the most infamous? As with many student productions it delivered an intriguing concept put together by a team of talented people ready to take up a creative profession in 2019 Bath's Next Stage Theatre Company celebrated it's 25 year anniversary in 2019. To my shame I only discovered them in 2014 but they, and the Mis...

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.

A mathematical conundrum Before The Lockdown in 2013 There are many reasons for why I might enjoy a particular play but I never thought mathematics would be on that list! The conceit that is at the centre of Proof , which I saw at the Theatre Royal Bath, is the death of a mathematical genius and the discovery of a new world-changing mathematical proof amongst his unpublished papers. Around this swirl issues of family loyalty, guilt, thwarted ambitions, and mental health. In this production, as well crafted and performed as it was, the emotional bonds and needs that should have been at the heart of the play weren't quite as clear as they needed to be so I left thinking that it made valid points about sexism in intellectual circles and how guilt can fester within families but I didn't feel the story, which is what I particularly enjoy about good theatre Interestingly, a few years later I saw an amateur presentation of the play and enjoyed it a whole lot more.  Whether i...

On some days it appears that I just don't go to the theatre, but on others like today, the 18th of April, it's one of thoss lucky days! So, once again Before The Lockdown on this day ... in 2016 What I really love about theatre is the telling of a story, hearing someone's own tale and being given an insight into someone else's life in a way that might also shine a light on my own life, on something I hadn't previously realised. Now, I'm not sure what I could personally take from Forever Yours, Mary-Lou (or À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou in the original French) at the Ustinov Studio in Bath, but it was story-telling at it's very best. Stripped down to basically just four chairs and judicious lighting this tale of a working class family (now in Dublin, rather than the original Montreal) argued, challenged, consoled each other as they, and we the audience, try to understand the horrific trauma that ripped each of them apart in such different wa...