A WHITE WHALE, OR: MOBY DICK (Thornhill Theatre Space/A Theater in the Dark)*****

 

By Jack

Link: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/thornhill-theatre/audio-fringe-ttsfringe2-a-RcL5D1ZVQ-s/

Available until: Unknown

I’ll listen to anything with Dick in the title. Especially if there’s a chance of people getting eaten by something other than zombies. But I wouldn’t give five stars based on that. It has to have other good bits in too and I’m not just talking about rude stuff.

I’ll try to keep it fairly serious in this review. I don’t want to cause offence. It’s fun to joke around a bit but the most important thing to get across is that A Theater in the Dark worked really hard on this project so I don’t want to show disrespect.

MONOLOGUE MONDAY 2 (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FpqZKACdCY

Available until: Unknown

Monologue Monday 2 of Thornhill Theatre Space's #TTSFringe2 features five monologues which are all very different.

Slow Dating by Adam Szdrich is a really incredible monologue about an elderly lady who tries speed-dating. The monologue is short, but it has humour, it has warmth and it has so much emotion. I really like the way it has been filmed too. Mr Szudrich and Katie Burson are both credited as directors and the cinematographer is Remy Fowler. I like the fact we are mostly at a distance because it’s like being at the theatre, but whenever there’s a really important emotional moment, we see the character’s face in close-up. I think this is a great way of using the best parts of theatre and film to create a great performance.

ONE MORE NIGHT WITH MEERA (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

  

By Cal

Link: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/thornhill-theatre/audio-fringe-ttsfringe2-one-6bwmjB7kr-H

Available until: Unknown

Sometimes there’s one person you can’t quite let go of. No matter how hard you might try to move on with your life, there’s one person you can’t forget. One person you want to see just one more time – if one more night can really be enough.

AVANT ALICE (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

   

By Megan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwH3OFeoeNw

Available until: Unknown

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story that has been adapted lots of times in lockdown and it has been really interesting to see all the different ways the story has been presented. It’s a story a lot of people really identify with at the moment. The whole idea of being in a new world where everything seems slightly off is one most of us can relate to.

ROSEGOLD (Thornhill Theatre Space)*****

 

  

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uH1rOkpROA

Available until: Unknown

Rosegold, presented as part of #TTSFringe2, is an exceptionally powerful piece of writing which is wonderfully performed by the writer. There is no age rating, but it’s definitely a production where listener discretion is advised. There are descriptions of violence and injury as well as references to alcoholism. If you’re young or you’re feeling sensitive, this might not be a good time for you to listen to it, but maybe consider it again when you’re older or you feel stronger because it really is brilliant.

ZOOM, A PLAY FOR LOCKDOWN (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

 

By Megan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXRViqvsCO0&t=16s

Available until: Unknown

I’m really enjoying Thornhill Theatre Space’s #TTSFringe2. It has so many different types of performances about different subjects and in different styles from all over the world. #TTSFringe2 is a really nice celebration of digital theatre which is something that has been really important to a lot of people for the last eighteen months.

CINDERELLA AND THE THREE BEAR WITCHES (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

 

 By Lottie & Ricky

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTS6H1Oh24M

Available until: Unknown

LITTLE SHIPS (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/thornhill-theatre/audio-fringe-ttsfringe2-K7gxudr84GU/

Available until: Unknown

Little Ships is a lovely new musical about a family in wartime. It is one of the audio dramas in Thornhill Theatre Space’s second fringe festival, #TTSFringe2.

It might be quite difficult to stage because some of it is set on the sea, but it works very well as an audio drama and it is very clear what is happening. It is set in the 1940s in wartime, but it’s very different from a lot of wartime stories I’ve read and listened to. Although a lot of bad and sometimes scary things happen, it is generally written in a lighter style with lots of happiness and love.

MONOLOGUE MONDAY PART 1 (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8fJX4VI7U0

Available until: Unknown

Thornhill Theatre Space’s second virtual fringe festival, #TTSFringe2, opened on 2^nd August with three brilliant and thought-provoking monologues. The festival will run throughout August with new work uploaded most days and we have very kindly been asked to be a Digital Sponsor, supporting the festival with reviews of and tweets about as much of their work as possible.

To find out what will happen as part of the Festival in the future (though some videos are probably already available), check out the Kick-Off Event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIoaVrxuKlc

Monologue Monday Part 1 gives the Festival a very strong start. After eighteen months of monologues, there are still so many new stories to be told about new characters and the three monologues featured here are great and varied examples of the way a monologue can be used and the diverse range of subjects.

CONFESSIONS: THE HOURS (Thornhill Theatre Space)**

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6IsXIu5DuY

Available until: Unknown

This play is about a woman who is being bothered by a man who lives near her. He knows where she lives and he’s made her feel intimidated and uncomfortable. She’s tried asking for help but he isn’t seen to have done anything wrong.

One day, she decides to invite him into her home.

SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oejlw4iBxwg

Available until: Unknown

Silence in the Library is a very creepy ghost story written by Benjamin Peel and performed by Nigel Fyfe. I like ghost stories a lot. My friends and I used to tell ghost stories when we stayed over at each other’s houses. It seems like a very long time ago now. If I get the chance to do it again (I’m sure we’ll be allowed after everyone’s had the vaccine, but my friends might decide they’re too old for ghost stories), I think I’ll play this story for everyone on my phone. It’s a really good story and Mr Fyfe tells it much better than I would.

WAITING (Thornhill Theatre Space/Theatre Off-Kilter)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2A42wEBwQw

Available until: Unknown

This is a series of several plays, all related to the pandemic. It’s a very interesting selection because they’re very short and not very much happens in most of them, but every one of these plays made me think about an aspect of the pandemic. They say we’re all in the same situation, but in many ways, we’re not. We’re all at home, but we have different homes. Different lives. And every single one of these characters has an important story to tell.

CONNECTION (Thornhill Theatre Space/Ikarus Theatre Collaboratives)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOoto_6gmv0

Available until: Unknown

Connection tells a story which I think most people can relate to as so many of us are going through something similar. The story is set in the present day and the characters are a widowed man called Marco who has recently retired and his two children, Peachy and Benny.