PREView at the king’s arms, salford ahead of edinburgh fringe
Upstaged Rating:
The Alphabet Girl is a one-woman show written by award winning Renny Krupinski and performed by Kaitlin Howard, a previous Manchester Theatre Awards Best Fringe Performance winner.
Howard’s performance spans three generations of women, the blackcurrant and gin-swigging grandmother Maisie, broken and intimidating mother Lily and then daughter Ivy, who takes us through to the present day.
Kaitlin Howard is a brave, subtle and versatile actor – she plays all three characters with conviction. First on stage is Ivy who appears naive and wide-eyed, talking into a camera mounted on a tripod, she describes her mother and grandmother. A leopard print faux fur jacket later and Howard transforms into grandmother Maisie – her face hardened and her hands shaking, ravaged by drink and bitterness. A particular highlight is Lily, a well-spoken and deeply intimidating character who addresses the audience directly and holds their gaze for slightly longer than is comfortable. And it is through this that Howard succeeds in creating a chilling, mysterious and heightened theatrical experience.
Writer and director Renny Krupinski’s script is a marvel – it is poetic, elegant and direct yet beautifully woven with hints and clues for the audience, which become shockingly significant later on in the monologue. Spanning three family generations, there is a frequent shift in chronology and viewpoint which also keeps the audience slightly disorientated, adding to the eerie and surreal atmosphere.
With a running time of 1 hour and 10 minutes, The Alphabet Girl is darkly amusing in parts, lyrically beautiful and also deeply disturbing. What starts out as a nostalgic journey through a family photo album actually reveals itself as being something far more sinister, with dire consequences.
-Kristy Stott
The Alphabet Girl is being performed at theSpaces on the Mile at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at 5:10pm from 7th August 2015 until 29th August 2015 (except on the 16th and 23rd August).
Not going to Edinburgh Fringe?
The good news is that… The Alphabet Girl is also being performed at Oldham Coliseum from the 15th until 19th September 2015.
Greater Manchester Fringe Festival is taking place across 19 different venues in Greater Manchester throughout the month of July. There really is something for everyone – comedy, revivals, new writing, spoken word , dance and exhibitions.
I managed to talk to Cameryn Moore (Phone Whore) and Michelle Ashton (The Stars are Made of Concrete) ahead of opening at The King’s Arms in Salford.
We had a good natter about intimate theatre spaces, sex chat lines and Manchester…
When you were young and somebody asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, how did you answer? The Mercury Complex takes just that as a starting point – the basis of Lindsay Bennett’s one woman show is that when she was five years of age she was so amazed by Queen’s performance at Live Aid on her 21” Hitachi television, she declared ‘When I grow up, I want to be Freddie Mercury’.
The Mercury Complex follows Lindsay Bennett’s journey to emulate the Queen frontman – strapping her hair brush tightly to a lamp base and using a plastic tennis racket as a guitar, her performance is energetic, riveting and friendly. In the intimate space in studio 1 at The Kings Arms in Salford, the audience are encouraged to get involved from the start as Bennett locks eyes to interact jovially or passes the bottle of bourbon around the room for the audience to share. By the end of the 30 minute show we are all belting out the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody and it all feels quite cathartic and uplifting.
Following the death of Freddie Mercury, Bennett invests her interests in Kurt Kobain and Janis Joplin and we continue to follow and understand Bennett’s life through her musical heroes. Flanked by cardboard boxes, a brightly coloured keyboard and a plastic tea set – Bennett manages to perform 3 smooth costume changes in the half hour show, depicting different eras in her life.
Lindsay Bennett gives an energetic performance throughout this short but well executed show, demonstrating that she is a skilled physical performer and a sharp perceptive writer. The Mercury Complex is a positive and spirited show which manages to skip through life and death in such a charming way – it leaves you feeling as though you could sing your way through almost anything.
-Kristy Stott
The Mercury Complex is on at The King’s Arms, Bloom Street, Salford on 21st July 2015.
Check out the full listings for Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, which runs until 31st July 2015 at 19 venues across Greater Manchester.
Always wanted to see Margaret Thatcher in a spandex leotard?
Then you should probably bag yourself a ticket to watchThe Lady’s Not For Walking Like An Egyptian, showing in The Studio at The Royal Exchange from 9th April until 11th April 2015. This new play presented by Mars. Tarrab mixes the words of Margaret Thatcher with the lyrics of every top ten hit by a female artist in the 80’s. Sounds interesting doesn’t it?
On 11th April 2015, there are 2 performances of When I feel Like Crap I Google KimKardashian Fat at Ziferblat, Edge Street in the NQ. These are ‘pay what you feel’ performances to raise funds to keep this project developing so you do not need to buy a ticket in advance. Just turn up in good time & come hear these women’s stories. The name alone intrigues…find out more at The Mighty Heart.
from 13 april 2015…
The critically acclaimed award-winning play by Beautiful Thing arrives at The Lowry from 13th April until 18th April 2015. Directed by Nikolai Foster and starring Charlie Brooks, this cult classic from writer Jonathan Harvey promises to be worth catching.
Also heading to The Lowry from 13th April until 18th April 2015, for its world premiere, is The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Based on the best selling novel by John Boyne, this thought provoking and deeply moving production is recommended for ages 11 and upwards.
JB Shortsare back with their 13th edition. Running from 14th April through to 25th April 2015 at Joshua Brooks, Princess Street, Manchester.
JB Shorts is a really fun night with a fabulous reputation. Top TV writers and directors take over the cellar in Joshua Brooks to bring you 6 plays, each of 15 minutes duration. The night ends early so that you can get home for your supper or have a couple more drinks in the city…and it’s only £7.00.
Showing at Studio Salford, which is upstairs in The Kings Arms in Salford, is the eagerly anticipated Rise and Fall of Little Voice. Running from 15th April until 26th April 2015 and directed by James Baker, Assembled Junk Productions have been given 5 stars from me in the past, so the bar has been set high for Little Voice too… Musical theatre works so well in the intimate space at Studio Salford but I’d get your tickets quickly as a few of the dates have already sold out.
Hindle Wakes comes to Oldham Coliseum from 16th April until the 2nd May 2015.
Natasha Davidson as Fanny Hawthron & Barbara Drennan as Mrs Jeffcote
Written in 1910 by Stanley Houghton, Hindle Wakes is a charming, witty and powerful Lancastrian play. Considered a theatrical landmark, Hindle Wakes was one of the first plays to have a working-class female lead and explored sexual double-standards and female emancipation. Hindle Wakes is on its last week of the run at the Octagon and will be opening at the Coliseum on 16th April. The play itself has a really interesting history (professors at Oxford tried to ban it in case it was a bad influence on young women!).
FROM 20 APRIL 2015…
The Rolling Stone is showing at The Royal Exchange from 21st April until 1st May 2015. This Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting winner in 2013, plays in rep alongside Anna Karenina – using the same cast and creative team and depicting similar themes of lovers at odds with their society.
Showing in The Studio at The Lowry from 22nd April until 24th April 2015 is Shooting With Light. Lowry Associate Artists Idle Motion are masters of multimedia theatre and I will be so interested to see their latest show – which manages to weave a story about Gerda Taro, one of the first pioneering women to photograph the front line, with the phenomenon of photography, memories and the idea of framing our lives. This trailer from Idle Motion may shed more light…
Plastic Figurines by Box of Tricks is at The Met in Bury on the 22nd April 2015. And if you aren’t able to catch it at The Met, it is also coming to The Lowry on 6th and 7th May 2015.
“Mum told me that there was something in his brain that was different, she said that he liked to put his toys in lines and that was a symptom or whatever. I used to go in his room and see all his stuffed animals in a line and I’d mess them up. I’d mess the line up.”
Inspired by events in the writer, Ella Carmen Greenhill’s own life, Plastic Figurines is a funny and moving new play that explores autism and the relationship between siblings with very different views of the world.
The tour of The Woman in Black reaches The Lowry from 28th April until 2nd May and is guaranteed to send chills…
From 29th April until 1st May 2015, Waterside Arts in Sale present Writers For Sale. In 2013, 3 theatres (The Royal Exchange, The Everyman and Bolton Octagon) and 1 university came together to facilitate the first Masters degree in Playwriting and Writers For Sale is a showcase of their work. The evening consists of 7 short plays and it costs £8.00. Visit Waterside Arts to book.
