Review: Up the Nerd Punks at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

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We would like to introduce to the North East Theatre Guide... Matt Cummins as guest reviewer:

Henry Raby – Up the Nerd Punks

Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

Saturday 1^st August 2015 and then Edinburgh Fringe (see below)

Henry Raby

Dinosaur punk rockers, David Cameron reincarnated as a Pokemon character, the Bedroom Tax, and an analysis of gender roles in “Hey Arnold!” is just a taste of what you can expect in Henry Raby’s excellent show “Up the Nerd Punks”. There’s so much crammed into this piece that a taste is all that a short review can provide, and anyway to appreciate it fully you have to see Henry dance his way through it. He has an infectious energy and he exploits it to the full. Stood mostly on tip-toes, he delivers at top speed what starts as a re-write of Punk rock history (woven, somehow into palaeontology) leaves you feeling energised and excited. I wanted more.

His show is “more ramshackle than other shows” he warns us, but the disclaimer is unnecessary. Raby is extremely capable and very funny and despite these protestations to the contrary we feel very safe in his hands. This is a poet who knows what he’s doing. The poems may be about blue tack and gamer-boys’ untidy bedrooms, but the show is carefully crafted and considered, often with a deeply political as well as a personal message. Behind this dancing, friendly, energetic nerd is a brain, and a man who has clearly loved, and been alone, and been scared and fought for what he wants. And also a man who considers “1984” a friend and who wonders, via a story about writing a letter to himself, whether the real horror of our current situation is that it is the dystopian future that we worry about.

This show is extremely difficult to summarise. There is the familiar and the unfamiliar – he is at pains to try to explain what “cosplay” is to the uninitiated – the political and the personal, the polemical and the poetical. It’s a must see, very good indeed. “Up the Nerd Punks” indeed.

This review was written by Matt Cummins – thanks Matt,

Edinburgh Fringe Tickets:

Up The Nerd Punks by Henry Raby is part of PBH Free Fringe, showing from 23rd – 30th August (6.15-7.15pm) at the Stafford Centre (venue 175)

Website: http://freefringe.org.uk/edinburgh-fringe-festival/up-the-nerd-punks/2015-08-23/

Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

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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 1^st 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)

Website: http://freefringe.org.uk/edinburgh-fringe-festival/something-wicked-this-way-comes-2/2015-08-08/

Review: Palace of Varieties at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

The Palace of Varieties

Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

11^th April 2015.

Newcastle’s newest venue is intended to be a leading part of the fringe scene in the city. It is ideally situated to take risks with its programming and enable artists to develop their shows.  Chris Stewart plans to take The Palace of Varieties to Edinburgh and this was an opportunity to see how his plans unfold in front of a live audience.

The evening began in the capable hands of Kirsten Luckins who gave us a ‘button box’ selection of her fine work. Brilliant delivery help bring out the emotion behind her verse. A tour of topics from second hand shops through the Trouble with Compassion to writers block. The set finished too quickly with a response to Tony Harrison’s controversial 1985 poem V.

John-Clovis Morden was billed as a ‘born fighter and Teesside legend’. The Republic is a Socratic dialogue, written by Plato around 380 BC, concerning the definition of justice. John-Clovis tried to engage the audience into a debate about the definition of justice. The nature of emerging theatre is that some ideas work out on certain nights with some audiences and then fall flat on another evening with a different crowd.

Middlesbrough Empire was built as a music hall in 1897 and has hosted a variety of performers from Charlie Chaplin to modern-day bands. Chris Stewart has used the venue, in its many forms from its original use to its modern function as a night club, as inspiration for The Palace Of Varieties. Starting with drinking with fans of heavy metal acts such as Sepultura Chris describes his own personal journey with a venue he described as a place one went to as there were no other options. He gave a  lengthy look at how a girl called Zoe is chatted up and viewed by her fellow revellers. Some interesting highlights included his crossword introduction and drawing parallels with how primary school playgrounds are a microcosm of life. The enduring image of the show is Chris dancing a Tango with a chain of rain macs representing various relationships that Zoe had.  Some ideas in the show need some polishing but Chris’s engaging personality should see him have a successful time when he take The Palace of Varieties to Edinburgh is the summer.

This review was written by Stephen Oliver for Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com). Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo

On The Web:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/SideBurnedPoet

Preview: The Palace of Varieties Special at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

The Palace of Varieties Special

Alphabetti Theatre

Saturday 11th April

A phantasmagorical evening of spoken word comes to one of Newcastle’s newest venues.

CHris Stewart previews his Edinburgh 2015 spoken word show The Palace of Varieties. A one off special at Alphabetti Theatre's new venue from three of the northeast's most unique voices.

Featuring:

CHris Stewart - The Big H

Kirsten Luckins - The Silent K

John-Clovis Morden - The Double Barrel

CHris Stewart

The Palace of Varieties is a latter day danse macabre telling the tale of Millennials trapped in the revolving door of nightlife games.

CHris has toured on Apples and Snakes' Public Address II, and performed his one person game-show Meta-Reprogramming at the Edinburgh PBH Free Fringe. 

On The Web:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/SideBurnedPoet

Youtube: Chris Stewart in Subcutaneous: Video Link

"Awkward, off-beat and probably the funniest performance of the night." - UoB Blogfest @DanielMoroney

Kirsten Luckins

BBC Slam FINALIST 2014

A versatile and dynamic performer who can make audiences laugh and cry.  Kirsten's first solo show, The Moon Cannot Be Stolen, came second in the Saboteur Awards 2014.  She was also a finalist in the BBC National Slam, and longlisted for the York Literature Prize.  Her first collection will be published by Burning Eye in 2016. 

On The Web:

Blog: http://kirstenluckins.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/applessnakesne

Video: BBC Slam Final 2014: BBC Video Link

"Intense lyrical talent." - Sabotage Reviews

John-Clovis Morden 

Born fighter and Teesside legend.  Morden has a message for the good people of England. He can be seen in action in his silent short 'Bunny': Video Clip

Tickets:

Alphabetti Theatre @The Basement, 16 New Bridge St West, Newcastle, NE1 8AW.

Saturday 11th April  Doors 18.30 Begins 20.00

£5 - Box office online: www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/82747  

Age recommendation: 16+