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We
would like to introduce to the North East Theatre Guide... Matt Cummins
as guest reviewer:
Matthew MacDonald – Something Wicked This Way Comes
Newcastle Alphabetti
Theatre
Saturday
1st August 2015
and then Edinburgh Fringe (see below)
This
is a deceptively simple show and if you are a fan of story telling and fairly
tales, it’s not to be missed. You’ll get more than you bargained for. I certainly did, and the “more” comes in some
pretty dark colours.
 |
| Matthew MacDonald |
In
between working at a call centre and attempting to forget the experience of
reading Bruno Bettleheim’s Freudian analysis of fairy tales, Matthew MacDonald
has crafted what begins as a romp through familiar territory. We’re with
characters that we know but their world seems a little more real that we are
used to. We’re removed from the landscapes drawn by Disney/Pixar, however, and
instead sent skittering back through centuries of our own storytelling culture
to half known and half remembered characters such as the Green Man, The Queen
of the Fey, Mab, and the Tooth Fairy, the latter in an incarnation that sends a
chill up the spine. These are creatures dressed in things that they really
shouldn’t be, characters you really don’t expect. One can’t help feeling that
this is a resurrection of sorts, of something that we used to know
collectively, but now don’t. An excellent enterprise indeed.
A
mixture of prose and poetry, this is a perfect example of how a poetic
sensibility can be employed to write stories. And delivered in Matt’s charming,
warm, inviting voice it is a pleasure simply to sit and listen. It draws you
in. But what you don’t realise is that you are being softened up. Obviously I
can’t tell you what you are being softened up for, but what I will say is that
if you like your meat rare, you won’t be disappointed, and if you are a
vegetarian then you are likely to have that position reinforced. This is an
easy show to recommend. Go and see it; you’ve nothing to lose – except perhaps
that night’s sleep.
This
review was written by Matt Cummins
– thanks Matt,
Edinburgh Fringe Tickets:
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Matt McDonald is
part of PBH Free Fringe, showing from 8th – 15th August (6.15-7.15pm) and 16th – 22nd August (2.15-3.15) at the Stafford Centre (venue 175)
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