Author: Mike Whitton

PINK MIST at Bristol Old Vic

It tells the story of three young Bristol boys, friends since primary school, who enlist in the army to escape the banality and tick-tock drudgery of civilian life. Arthur has been driving cars off the container ships at Portbury docks: ‘… parking them in perfect lines, like headstones in a cemetery… Every day. Every week. Every month.’ Geraint – inevitably known as Taff – has been working as an apprentice, ‘on crap pay to a St Paul’s plumber’, and he is hungry for something different . . . I left the theatre feeling deeply grateful that neither of my boys followed the path taken by Arthur and his friends. Pink Mist is unmissable.

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THE HOURS BEFORE WE WAKE at the Wardrobe, Bristol

Tremolo Theatre’s The Hours Before We Wake is a little gem of a show, multi-faceted and polished to perfection. It begins in balletic slow-motion, with a young man swimming in dangerous waters. After evading snarling monsters he triumphantly dons a superhero cape and… wakes up. It is 2091 and almost all is well in Ian’s world . . .

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A GIRL IS A HALF FORMED THING at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol

Aoife Duffin’s portrayal of the girl has been described as ‘career-defining’, and it is certainly hard to imagine how anyone could do it better. . . Duffin swiftly changes from one character to another with protean skill; one moment she is a threatening playground bully, the next the lascivious uncle, a snobbish aunt or a condemnatory grandfather. . . An astonishingly brave performance, and one not to be missed.

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ST JOAN OF THE STOCKYARDS at the Bristol Old Vic

I think it is clear why St Joan of the Stockyards has seldom been revived. At one point Joan steps out of character to exclaim, ‘I don’t know what’s going on in this play anymore!’ and I suspect that many in the audience will feel the same, for the ‘oily machinations’ of the businessmen are presented in a bewilderingly complex fashion. . . I enjoyed the skill, energy and commitment of the young actors, but I couldn’t help feeling that they deserved a better play with which to demonstrate their considerable talents.

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NUTSHELL NUTCRACKER at the Theatre Shop, Clevedon

Theatre Orchard’s version of The Nutcracker is an ambitious and highly imaginative piece of pop-up theatre. Inspired by the musique concrete movement, Jez Butler has cleverly adapted Tchaikovsky’s familiar music for a ‘kitchen orchestra’ using household objects such as elastic bands, bottles and a draining rack. The sounds he has created are far easier on the ear than might be anticipated, and this technique seems entirely appropriate for a story about how things familiar and domestic undergo a fantastical transformation.

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