It started from a realisation that I was seeing unicorns everywhere I went. And then, more and more I noticed them. Unicorns were blowing up. On instagram and youtube, people dressing as them, creating looks inspired by them, trying products themed after them. And increasingly they became a marketing dream as the phenomenon took off. Paperchase filled its windows with … Read more
What is it like to direct a solo performance? There’s quite a lot of responsibility you feel, directing someone’s solo performance – especially when it’s a piece like this one, where the details are drawn directly from the creator’s life. I feel a duty to Haley, and to the gentlemen featured in this piece, to be respectful, thoughtful, and multi-faceted … Read more
Welcome to the 21st century, I’m going to begin this article with a selection of headlines from the BBC News, all published in the last month. ‘Extra £420 Million to tackle potholes in England’ ‘Couples embrace move to outdoor weddings’ ‘Fairer share in UK fish promised’ Absolute classics, I’m sure you will agree, but of course, we cannot forget the … Read more
Seeing the world through the eyes of a child is seeing it as if for the first time, the saying goes. We make up the most fantastic stories when we are little. And in our honesty, we sometimes manage to voice things adults aren’t able to. So it’s always seemed strange to me that we’ve catagorised children’s and adults’ stories … Read more
In the UK there are currently 9 functioning Immigration Removal Centres. About 30 000 people are detained in them every year with around 2500 held at any one time. Over 50% of these people are not then deported. No one knows how long they will be detained for, the UK is the only country in Europe practicing indefinite detention, some people have … Read more
This blog post sounds best as it was written, to the sound of Rata Negra’s belting new record Justicia Cósmica (https://rata-negra.bandcamp.com/album/justicia-c-smica). There’s a terrifying scene in Paulette Douglas’s fun documentary The TEAM Makes a Play, recounting the creation of The TEAM’s show Mission Drift. Whilst the company are (I think) in Las Vegas, director Rachel Chavkin has had to go to the emergency … Read more
Started as a protest against the lack of diversity on stage, cultural appropriation injustices, and archaic yet prevelant black-facing, The Cocoa Butter Club has been standing up for the art of creatives of colour. Founded by Sadie Sinner The Songbird, the show centres non-white bodies in a time where many stage productions lack the full spectrum of diversity. Providing a … Read more
Our Grandparents were forced to leave their homes behind as children. They started a new life in a foreign country, losing family along the way, separated from one or more parent. They each coped with this in their own way, including a natural dose of suppression. Or stoicism, depending on how you look at it. Our parents, and, specifically in … Read more
It started… this mini-tour of (F.E.A..R.) and here I am in Bridport, lovely Bridport with its splendid bakeries, cafes and art centres. It’s nice to be here as the week leading up to the two shows at The Lyric had not been particularly typical or routine despite my efforts to organise myself. Whilst deep in the rehearsing process I had … Read more
Please sum up TPTP in 3 words Hilarious. Gripping. Insightful. Tell us what inspired you to create the piece I’d begun performing comedy cabaret and wanted to make a show with my comedy songs. As I made it became more and more centred around my experiences as a trans person and the more I delved the more passionate I became … Read more