G's Theatre Blog

  © Marc Brenner Who didn't feel, at least once, the urge to bring balance back to their life? That's the primary goal of Lisa Jones, the protagonist of The Wonderful World of Dissocia . When the solution to her problems (literally) comes knocking at her door, Lisa is so desperate to leave the state she's been in - one that has distanced her from the people she loves most and made her life feel slow and detached - that she agrees to embark on a journey to the land of Dissocia.  The absurd, whimsical realm is a pastiched version of Lewis Carrol's Wonderland and C.S. Lewis's Narnia; amid an army of colourful, savage characters, I found the highlight to be a pair of "Insecurity Guards" played by Tomi Ogbaro and Michael Grady-Hall with great chemistry and comedic timing. Leah Harvey also gives an equilibrated performance as Lisa, keeping herself - and the audience - both excited and grounded.  Despite relentless turns of phrase, and fable-like moments of grote...

  © Danny With a Camera Some weeks ago, a very important person in my life reached out to me and proposed to go together to see Anyone Can Whistle at Southwark Playhouse. I had met P.A. at university, taking her modules on theatre directing and racial representation (or misrepresentation) in the performing arts; even then, her reputation preceded her, and she seemed to me as this larger-than-life figure, someone who couldn't possibly live up to the surprising tales circulating between the students.  My relationship with her, inside and outside the classroom, turned out to be an incredibly inspiring one; to this day, I think of her as someone whose impact on my life cannot be measured. She was EVERYTHING the stories promised: a wondrously free spirit, an agitator, with an honesty to her that toed the line between refreshing and outraging. At the same time, I found P.A. to have a unique predisposition to listening and to sharing generously - her teaching never stopped when her l...