MYTHMAKING
As part of the Offbeat Festival, a local group of writers and creators have put on an exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum. The beauty of this idea is that this could be done at any museum across the country, and could be done by anyone with an imagination. Mythmaking is billed as A Night of New Stories for Old Objects, and a group of local storytellers were shown an object in the museum that they had never encountered before, and then asked to write and perform a story about it. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable event – a group of strangers wandering from one exhibit to the next, and then huddling around to listen to a story. It’s a celebration of preservation, imagination, oral history, and celebrating things we thought we’d forgotten. It’s tales of giant birds, shapeshifting witches, families eaten by rock monsters, and families making gazpacho together. This could be recreated time and time again with different results every time. I think the Ashmolean should consider making the Mythmaking project a regular occurrence! ★★★★☆ @BookingAround 28th June 2019
BRITISH VOGUE
British Vogue is my highlight of the Offbeat Festival so far. Ashanti Wheeler-Artwell manages to capture what life is like for a 25-year old. She’s finished with university, she’s tried a year abroad teaching English, and now she’s back at her parents’, living in the box room, and bar-tending, fielding questions about ‘what she really wants to do with her life’. Wheeler-Artwell has written a piece of theatre that conveys the feeling of procrastination, fear of the unknown, everything it is to be a young person on the brink of the world with no idea what to do next. This show is a work in progress, but while the emotional rawness shines through, this show feels polished, ready to be seen. Neatly manoeuvring through themes of race and social standing, and with plenty of humour and heart, British Vogue is a clever show that showcases Wheeler-Artwell’s talent perfectly. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next! ★★★★☆ @BookingAround 28th June 2019
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