Heather by Thomas Eccleshare, Bush Studio, 11 November 2017

This made it two out of two excellent short plays at small theatres this weekend, after the stunning Suzy Storck at The Gate the previous night.

This one, in the Bush Studio, was a two-hander with just a table, two chairs and two mikes as props. It was extraordinary how much “magic” the excellent performers, Charlotte Melia and Ashley Gerlach, manage to get out of that low-key set.

The play is about a reclusive but massively successful author of children’s fiction.

The Bush resource on this play/production is comprehensive, explaining the play, production etc. – click here.

Here is a link that will find you reviews and things – click here.

Deservedly good reviews and another short play/production that deserves a wider audience than The Bush Studio – I do hope it gets a transfer and/or tour.

Below is the trailer:

Forget Me Not by Tom Holloway, Bush Theatre, 19 December 2015

A powerful evening at the theatre, this play.  It is about the forced migration of thousands of British children to Australia in the quarter-of-a-century or so after the second world war.

Janie came away from the play feeling very angry about the Australian Government, although in truth the Church and the UK Government have just as much to answer and apologise for; which, to some extent, all these parties have done in recent years.

The play is focused on one such child’s story and the impact this ill-thought policy had on his life and the lives of those around him – explained well in the Bush Theatre rubric – click here.

It is superbly acted by all four actors and well produced at the Bush, one of our favourite places at the moment, putting on interesting work with a consistent high quality; very few misses there.

Michael Billington was full of praise in his Guardian review – click here.  Henry Hitchings in the Standard was perhaps even more keen on it – click here.

It was originally produced at the Belvoir Theatre in Sydney in 2013, where it also seems to have gone down very well – for information and reviews click here.

It is quite a short evening at the theatre, which was just as well for us, as Janie and I wanted to go on to Lisa Opie’s party afterwards and get there before most people had left, which we achieved.  The party did a jolly good job of cheering us up again after this sobering but gripping evening at the theatre.

The Edge Of Our Bodies by Adam Rapp, Gate Theatre, 26 September 2014

This was a really special visit to “my local” – a truly gripping short play about a pregnant teenager having to grow up fast.

I realise at the time of writing (February 2018) that Shannon Tarbet might get typecast as the pregnant teenager, having recently played that sort of role again in Yous Two at the Hampstead Downstairs – click here or below:

Yous Two by Georgia Christou, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 20 January 2018

The Edge Of Our Bodies was a far more sophisticated play and a more challenging piece for the performers. Cast and creatives did a superb job with this one. Especially Shannon Tarbet. We had seen her a few times before, but on the back of this piece we have been looking out for her.

Below is a video trailer:

The reviews were deservedly excellent – pretty much universally. Here is a link to a search term for those. 

Earlier that day, plenty of cricketing drama as I followed Middlesex narrowly survive Lancashire in a relegation dogfight:

If anything by chance ever happens to the King Cricket website, that page is scraped to here.