It goes without saying that my plays The Scar Test (at Soho) and How it Ended (at The Bush) were massive highlights in July. But it was a month where I was entirely spoiled because it culminated with a trip to the Avignon Theatre Festival where there were delights galore.
We travelled by Eurostar *DIRECT* (this was a wonder) and as we arrived at the walled city I knew this was the start of a love affair for me. It’s the most beautiful place. Full of inventive theatre spaces. Three shows that blew me away while there were:
A beautiful children’s show based on a traditional Inuit story about a little boy who can’t see but goes on a quest to find his eyes. Three performers breathed life into some beautiful puppets – it was such a slick and professional piece of work and the storytelling so adept that even with my poor French I not only understood, but laughed and cried at the tale of Taqqi.
Another children’s show with three performers: this gem has no words only music and sounds. The main focus is what looks like a large wooden orange on a stand in the middle of the stage. Each segment is then opened to reveal an unusual musical instrument which is discovered and then played – falteringly at first but then with aplomb – by the hugely talented cast. Children and adults alike were mesmerised with this charming show.
The Great Tamer is a show conceived and directed by Dimitris Papaioannou for 11 performers. It is a strange dreamlike scape of bodies and ideas, moments and magic. There’s no plot or story per se but by god it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen in the theatre – ever. At the risk of sounding pretentious I’ll admit to finding myself crying half way through as I realised that I could still be THAT excited by a piece of theatre after 20 years of theatregoing. I can’t say much more than that. Or I don’t want to – I want you to go and see it yourself because my description will never be as good as the real thing. It’s on a world tour currently but criminally is not coming to London. If you are curious check out the trailer but it’s not for the faint hearted and contains lots of nudity. You can see it here: https://vimeo.com/221573027
Boy what a show – I’m still recovering. Hopefully I’ll be fully recovered before my next Festival – Edinburgh at the end of the month…
Thanks Hannah, only catching up on this now. Avignon sounds fabulous. I remember the woman who gave me the shtart in theatre Mary Rlizabeth Burke-Kennedy going there and saying she felt blessed. That was in 1981 I think .. back around the time of the Great Schism. Great to see you doing so many things. I’d love to get together with you sometime soon in London. I’ve been acting in the Abbey the past few months. It’ll finance my next show 67 Words, based on the Balfour Declaration, running in The NewTheatre for the centenary. Hoping I can make a bit of historical analysis occur in the msm as well as draw audiences. Hope all good with you, and please keep doing the wonderful things you’re doing. Best, Donal
On Saturday, August 12, 2017, Hannykha’s listography wrote:
> hannykha posted: “It goes without saying that my plays The Scar Test (at > Soho) and How it Ended (at The Bush) were massive highlights in July. But > it was a month where I was entirely spoiled because it culminated with a > trip to the Avignon Theatre Festival where there were” >
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