Buzz Magazine July 2013 | Page 32

stage

SHADOW BOXING
The Phoenix Gym, Llanrumney, Cardiff Tue 23-Sat 27 July It’ s not often that the disconnected worlds of boxing and theatre converge, and almost unheard of that art is taken to an actual boxing gym. Shadow Boxing, the first project from new production company Broken Souls, does just that. Written by Bad Girls actor James Gaddas, the one-man piece tells the story of Flynn, a young boxer out to avenge his father’ s humiliation in the ring, confronting himself and finding his true identity while training for a fight. This version sees James Ashton directing his Broken Souls co-founder, Pobol y Cwm and Hinterland star Alex Harries, the actor who secured the rights for the production while working with Gaddas on Emmerdale. Although associated with Chapter, the piece is site-specific and takes place in Llanrumney’ s Phoenix boxing gym.“ The audience come into the world of the boxer,” says director James Ashton.“ We are shipping people from Chapter by bus as though you are going off to a fight.” The links with the pugilist community don’ t end with the location. Actor Harries, a former amateur boxer, underwent an intense training regime.“ He’ s running, he’ s training, he’ s doing all the things a boxer would to prepare for a fight. He’ s lost a stone and a half in a week!” The training is not unwarranted. The hour-long production puts the actor through his paces, both physically and mentally, leading to something uniquely challenging that confronts the entire spectrum of human emotion.“ He’ s going to give a monologue and be extremely active at the same time,” Ashton explains,“ it’ s going to be like going for a fight and trying to deliver Shakespeare at the same time.” Shadow Boxing is the first of what Ashton hopes is a series of fresh and creative works from Broken Souls.“ The idea was to create a company which creates new and exciting work that excites people and brings new audiences in.” The pair plan to alternate between roles for each production, so expect to see Harries directing Ashton on stage in the next offering. Tickets: £ 8- £ 12. Info: 029 2030 4400 / www. chapter. org JON DOYLE
RELATIONSHIT
Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama, Cardiff Wed 24 July Presented by the Richard Burton Company, the Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama’ s own in-house theatre company, Relationshit tells the story of a Glaswegian girl and her conflicting relationships with a boy from England’ s middle class and a shrewd, streetwise girl from south London. We follow her journey through young life as she falls out of love and unearths her own sexuality, producing an intimate character study of a young woman in contemporary society. Written by Glaswegian Rehanna MacDonald, a student at the RWCMD, the production is an honest and unabashed exploration of sexual politics between young people. The show features three second year actors from the Royal Welsh College, ensuring that the performances are convincingly true to life and fast paced, giving the whole thing a feel of youthful vibrancy and outspoken charm. With razor-sharp dialogue that is uncensored and not for the easily offended, the piece confronts social and sexual issues without fear in a way which is both entertaining and challenging for the audience. Tickets: £ 7. Info: 029 2034 2854 / www. rwcmd. ac. uk( JD)
KNEE DEEP
Gwyn Hall, Neath Tue 16 July Award-winning Australian circus troupe Casus( Emma Serjeant, Jesse Scott, Natano Fa’ anana and Lachlan McAulay) formed only two years ago and now bring their debut work to the UK after having worked extensively throughout their homeland and further afield. This world-class circus collective have and constantly evolving with new ideas and performances and most recently the group have enjoyed a month-long residency in London’ s Riverside Studios. Their one-off performance at Gwyn Hall is one of only three other performances currently scheduled for the UK. Using contemporary, as well as traditional circus techniques, a wealth of acrobatic and gymnastic skill, and aerial work to top it off, Knee Deep aims to explore the line between strength and tenderness through all manner of breathtaking and touching physical feats. As gentle and intimate acts stand beside those of thrilling physical prowess in beautifully lit staging, the audience will be left pondering in awe at the limits we place on ourselves and how far we can push or break them. The production will take you through a journey of discovery, short-lived relationships and surprising unions, and expose the fact that being delicate does not necessarily mean that you must be fragile, even if it is often a short step between them. Tickets: £ 12. Info: 03003 656677 / www. nptartsandents. co. uk( AW)
FALLEN
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff Wed 31 July-Sat 3 Aug Following the success of Muscle and last year’ s First Love Last Rights, awardwinning writer and director Gregg Cullen has conjured up another evocative theatrical delight. Described by Gregg as“ magic realism”, Fallen is a tantalising mixture of desire, perversity, mystery and sin. A farmer and his three adult children live in a remote Welsh farmhouse that is built from the stone of a castle ruin. Inspired by a Builth Wells legend, Gregg explains that“ somehow the relationships of the farmer and the three children are perverse and destructive and perhaps it’ s because they have been infected by the blood, history and horror of this stone.” The family slides into a greater fusion of peculiarities when a man falls from the sky. Finding him washed up in the river, they are allured and transformed by the beauty of the corpse.“ He comes to represent different things to each person in the family,” adds Greg.“ Each person projects onto this man what they need in their own lives. They project onto him their own sins.” As if all this idiosyncrasy isn’ t captivating enough, who is the man in the green Barbour coat that comes looking for the corpse? Gregg predicts that“ the audience will find it very funny at times; sometimes it gets farcical. They’ ll also find it very moving and undoubtedly controversial,” but perhaps most intriguingly, he says“ I don’ t want the audience to ever see the corpse’ s face.” Tickets: £ 8- £ 12. Info: 029 2030 4400 / www. chapter. org( HR)
EVERYMAN OPEN AIR THEATRE FESTIVAL
Sophia Gardens, Cardiff Fri 5-Wed 31 July Everyman Theatre returns this summer with another packed programme of popular theatre productions for the open air. Having relocated to Sophia Gardens for 2013, festival proceedings will kickstart with a production of Guys & Dolls( Fri 5-Sat 13 July). Comedy and laughter will then be on the menu at Everyman’ s adaptation of Fawlty Towers. The infamous hotel hosts, Basil, Sybil and Manuel, will all be be serving up a treat from Mon 15-Sun 21 July as selected episodes from the classic television series are brought to the stage. Alice In Wonderland Jr( Thurs 25-Tues 30 July) is an adaptation of the children’ s classic. A fast-paced amateur production from the talented young performers of andGo, the production features well-known characters such as the White Rabbit, Dodo Bird and Queen Of Hearts and new musical arrangements of Disney songs. Completing the festival round-up is Shakespeare’ s Midsummer Night’ s Dream. Weaving an enchanting tale of mischievous fairies, woodland yokels and confused, lost lovers, the open-air performance taking place from Thurs 25-Wed 31 July is an apt setting for the captivating play and the conclusion of a festival which will be hoping for a clutch of warm summer evenings to enjoy each play in all its outdoor glory. Tickets: £ 7- £ 16. Info: 08448 700887 / www. everymanfestival. co. uk( RH)
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