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Anything With A Pulse – Theatre Review
ANYTHING With A Pulse is a play all about dating in a world where peer pressure is sometimes overbearing and opinions about the opposite sex formed too quickly. Wrong choices, missed opportunities. The play, written and directed by Eliana Ostro, sizzles away like a sparkler. It’s vibrant, of the moment, and possesses two young and…
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Private Lives – Theatre Review
DIRECTOR Tam Williams has come up with a winning Private Lives, now playing at The Mill at Sonning in Royal Berkshire – a glorious venue on the Thames. The production is full of zip, fun, magnificent dresses and some funky accordion playing (and singing). Although nearly 90 years old, the Noel Coward play has lost none…
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Starved – Theatre Review
STARVED is a grim but compelling play about the devastation that homelessness, poverty, hunger and alcohol can reap on lives barely lived. It’s hard on the eye, offers little hope and is a tale of a vicious cycle that few caught in its spokes can escape. Only an occasional bolt of humour, coursing through the…
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Interview: Katelyn Pearce On Playing The Succubus In ‘Porno’
Actress and producer Katelyn Pearce arrives on Close-up Culture to talk about her ‘beguiling’ performance in Keola Racela’s horror-comedy, Porno. Q: ‘Porno’ sounds like one of the most unique and entertaining genre films in recent years. It follows five teen employees of a movie theatre, in a small Christian town, as a mysterious old film…
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New Labour – Theatre Review
NEW Labour takes an excoriating look at the new world of work that many people are now part of. One where employee rights are minimal, pay is meagre and employers rule ruthlessly. The play is not afraid to pull its punches and punch away it does furiously until the very last scene. Written by Marcelo…
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Lunatic 19’s – A Deportational Road Trip – Theatre Review
TEGAN McLeod’s Lunatic 19’s – A Deportational Road Trip is a searing piece of theatre, receiving its world premiere at the innovative Finborough in London’s Chelsea. It’s written for our time and of our time – one of rising nationalism, increasing protectionism and soaring deportations. An insensitive, dispassionate world. In parts the play is brutal.…
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Meet The Husband And Wife Team Behind Unnerving Ghost Story ‘The Isle’
Dark Victorian ghost story, The Isle, has drawn high praise from the likes of Stephen Fry and critic Peter Bradshaw. Set against stunning Scottish scenery, the film harnesses haunting visuals and an evocative score to creep unnervingly into your bones and leave you full of atmospheric unease. Close-up Culture’s James Prestridge caught up with the…
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FIDMarseille: An Interview With ‘The Unknown Saint’ Director Alaa Eddine Aljem
Moroccan filmmaker Alaa Eddine Aljem joins us on Close-up Culture to talk about his debut feature, The Unknown Saint. Q: The strange situation at the start of ‘The Unknown Saint’ pits faith in conflict with money. Where did the idea for this starting situation come from? A: As in my previous work I always tend…
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A Great Big Sigh – Theatre Review
FOR all the superficial absurdism overlaying A Great Big Sigh, there is a serious message underneath it all. Namely, the overwhelming need for friendship in a world that can often be cruel to those who do not conform to type. A production of embryonic theatre group Moose & Noodle Soup, the play starts with Walter…
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To See Salisbury – Theatre Review
TO See Salisbury is a brave and ambitious play from the pen of anti-Putin satirist Victor Shenderovich who was recently detained in Moscow in the wake of the arrest of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov – and then released. It involves an hour and two minutes of sometimes mad-cap, frenetic theatre –comprising a mix of raucous…
