Here’s my
round-up of 2014. It’s not so much a
nutshell as more a whole bucket of roasted chestnuts, so I split it up with my
blog about 2013’s Youth Theatre here and a blog about 2013's music here
This year I
performed for the first time ever in Kingston, Newcastle, Scarborough,
Bradford, Durham, Bridlington, Eastleigh & Derby. I performed at Hidden Hills, IYAF, Venturer
Camp, Rebellion, Beacons, Galtres and Release The Hounds Festivals. I did a load of slots at Edinburgh Fringe and
worked led workshops for a load of ace young people a load of ace events. I devised two brand new shows, One Love with
Ben Winterton & Jonny Gill, and Practise Patience
with Travels By Telephone
and held the first Words & Whippets spoken word event at York Theatre
Royal. I toured rural Norfolk writing
poems for people in pubs. I put on a wicked gig at El Piano for my 25th
birthday. I went veggie, I bought the
new Asterix book, played the new Pokemon game and shouted at Vince Cable.
For more
details on my summer, check out my blogpost here
Here’s my
top theatre shows of 2013: After so many
people recommended his work to me, I finally got to see Beats by Kieran Hurley (Sheffield Crucible). His ability to craft
the show and characters with such simple gestures, dialogue and sound left me
glued for the full hour show. I think
there’s a real tangible difference between drama school acting-methods and
engaging solo story-telling. Much the
same for solo show Stand-By For Tape
Back-Up (Forest Fringe, EdFringe) by Ross Sutherland. I finally saw the full show, and I found
myself mouthing along to his piece based on an early preview he made. Synchronicity. Another EdFringe fav was Rob Auton’s The Sky Show (Banshee Labyrinth, Free
Fringe, EdFringe). Rob balances his
surreal charm and stand-up oddness with moments of true beauty and
strength. I’ve programmed it into Words
& Whippets 2 in May! Book
yer tickets! Next up, God’s Property
(Soho Theatre, The South), simply a stand-out piece of This Is England-esque realism. Just nicely put together, well acted and I
guess I have to have a token London show here.
And finally 1984 (Headlong,
West Yorkshire Playhouse) had a profound effect in reminding me how a large
scale production (compared to my usual studio shows!) can also create intense
experiences twist and turn your guts, surprise you and make you feel
out-of-joint from such distance and in such mass company.
Notable
mentions: 70/20 split’s work, LPA
Theatre’s work, The Noise (Unlimited Theatre), A Real Man’s Guide To Sainthood
(Milk Presents), Tristram & Ysault (Kneehigh), The Disappearance of Sadie
Jones (Hannah Silva), Money The Game Show (Unlimited Theatre again), The Legend
of King Arthur (York Theatre Royal), Kes (Derby Theatre), Going
Green The Wong Way (Kristina Wong), Shame (John Berkovitch), Wot? No Fish?! (Danny
Braverman), Rumpelstiltskin (Hiccup), Choose Your Own Documentary (Nathan
Penlington), The Boy Who Cried Wolf (Tutti Frutti), Blood + Chocolate (The
People Of York, Pilot Theatre & Slung Low)
So thanks to
everyone who gave me a gig, saw me perform, picked up a zine or generally
anyone I had a great conversation with. I’ve
For 2014, I generally want to just keep gigging more, keep writing, keep
meeting people and keep
surviving. Simple as that I
guess. Bring it on.
In anger,
in solidarity, in love, in Gengar we trust
Henry
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