Home
About
Blog
Reviews
Judges Lodging
Contact
The Work
Comments
NAVIGATION
FOLLOW US
|
|
|
Reviews2008Office 212"...The method of its conveyance a rapid splurge of video sequences, live drama, song and dance routines, physical gags and an animated short film portrays touches of real inspiration.Comparisons with Ricky Gervais's The Office have to be made since it's similarly hung on laughs rooted in all-too-familiar workplace truths, albeit in a much more silly and surreal style. Cutbacks at the behest of The Man (the anonymous, booming-voiced boss) see Office 212's four employees having to share one desk and squabble over a phone that's eventually replaced by a bucket on a piece of string.The two male jannies a slapstick duo who act as the long arm of the management are a clever touch, as they dip mischievously in and out of the fray. The video snippet towards the end when they're caught in a romantic clinch (one of them in drag) is hilariously twisted.Given a TV sketch show or sitcom-writing commission this bunch could probably come up with something pretty impressive."The Scotsman"I managed to catch the final performance of Vista Theatre/University of Wales, Newport's OFFICE 212 at the Sweet ECO venue. This proved to be a visually inventive satire on office politics, rivalries and downsizing, stronger on physical than on verbal theatre. There were some good jokes but some of the flights of delirious dialogue lost their power because the young actors tended to run the words together.However the physical comedy was often superb. A slow motion race/scrum to reach a telephone, performed to the Chariots of Fire theme, may by now be a cliché but when done as well as this then even a cliché can seem fresh. And the dance of office chairs while the sitters are eating someone else's bread rolls, all to the tune of The Blue Danube, was inspired. For that alone this was a show well worth seeking out, and I haven't even mentioned the nicely integrated video or the delightful animation of a sperm race." Theatre-Wales.co.uk2010The Lonely Morticians"A case of the title coming before the story: Tin Shed have responded to suggestions sent through Facebook with this tale of a crackpot coroner taking his work home with him. At heart a detective story given a little life by a streak of dark humour, the obvious plot is only a backdrop for the companys high-energy performances, including Georgina Harriss attention-grabbing turn as a talkative corpse; her Danse Macabre waltz with the eponymous mortician signals the end of sanity and the blurring of dramatic boundaries. Though it never quite manages to be the commentary on the human condition the company want it to be, this is still more fun than having flies lay eggs under your skin."Three Weeks"The Lonely Morticians Guide to Myiasis at Bedlam Theatre is a narrative play which draws on human loneliness and the effect it has on the mind. Throughout the performance powerful imagery of darkness and isolation is used, along with clever character placement and relationships to show the distance of normality felt by the main character and the others around him. The two on-stage relationships displayed by the main character show the opposite ends of his personal confidence and sanity levels. An effective written incidence of the dance midway through the piece draws sympathy alongside worry from the audience. A dark and shocking comedy. A diseased and bare mind being tricked by its owner makes for on-edge viewing. "actingwithpurpose.tumblr.comTaxi"As we stepped through the open door of the taxi, we were immediately plunged into an intimate and original theatrical performance. For the next 20 minutes we would be driven around Newport, entirely at the mercy of the Tin Shed Theatre Company as part of their original production, Taxi... Taxi provided an interesting fly on the wall glimpse into the life of a typically unassuming taxi driver. From drunken couples, loud mouths and gossips, Im sure the average taxi driver has seen and heard it all. What Taxi managed to do was to bring into focus the bizarre and comedic nature of what can happen in the back of a taxi as whole stories and tales are drawn from the outside world and told and re-lived in the confessional space of the taxi."Buzz MagOperation Blackbox"We made our way into Newport on a suitably cold, wet and dark Friday night to enjoy the latest production from the Tin Shed Theatre Company, Operation Black Box. Set in the old Co-operative bank in John Frost Square as part of the Empty Shops Project, the venue was a real blink and youd miss it set up. With no flashy lights, artsy posters, or banners; just a dim light coming from the doorway, the setting couldnt have been better for some independent theatre at the beginning of the Halloween weekend... We werent expecting anything from our visit to this empty Co-Operative bank, but we have both been talking about the production to anyone wholl stand still for long enough. I cant stress enough that there arent enough words to describe how fantastic this production was. In my opinion, these guys are amazing and full of talent and imagination. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for their next production, you wont be disappointed."Buzz Mag2011The Life And Time Of Albert Lymes"This is a hyperactive little one-man psychological comedy. Actor Justin Cliffe offers us a dozen characters who all bother poor Albert Lyme, a dull neurotic on a very bad day; Lyme is endearing, however, because everyone else in his world is so much worse. Its part confession and part pantomime, as were carried along on Cliffes rapid fire expressions; hes indebted to Terry Jones most of all, with his screeching falsetto when imitating women, his explosive grunting, and Lymes bravura tics. He deals well with a couple of mistakes and missed cues, moving too fast to linger on them. With visual tricks a Scrabbleboard becomes a newspaper and charmingly deliberate plot holes, this show is full of life."ThreeWeeks"There is a fair risk of sound leakage from the café at this venue but you take your opportunities where you can find them at the Fringe and it would be worth straying slightly off the beaten track to witness this manic character comedy from Shropshire's Tin Shed Theatre Company which follows the misfortunes of Albert Lymes - a hero in the hapless mode who loses his job, his dog and all his worldly goods in one day.There is a charming, handmade feel to the production and, although it has nothing particularly new to say about how we process our memories to appreciate the significance of certain events only years after the fact, it proves to be a highly entertaining journey thanks to a precision performance, conducted at exhausting pace, by Justin Cliffe. He is the perpetually bewildered and frequently flustered Albert, his bluff boss, an oily colleague, his dead father, tactile psychiatrist... almost every character, in fact, except Lymes' wife Jeanette, played by a coconut, and cameos by a talking gnome and an invisible capybara."The ScotsmanMr Edgar Allan Poe's Terrifying Tales"Poes tales have been reimagined in many forms over the years, and Tin Shed has a good stab at providing something new. I was expecting to be read to by a man in a black suit in semi-darkness, and was pleasantly surprised to find a full-throttle, theatrical version.It is a damp night, in a candle-lit tent filled with Victoriana and we sit on hard-backed chairs grouped around small tables, fortified with gin. On the tiny stage area three white-faced, red-eyed grotesques sprawl under a cover of books. They spring to life at a given signal from the sound-desk and boom we are into a highly physical interpretation of three short pieces.Tin Shed is a fairly young company from Shropshire and Wales with two Edinburgh Fringe shows under its belt (Office 212 in 2008 and The Lonely Morticians Guide to Myiasis in 2010). They have thrown their collective hats into the devising arena, using movement to propel the narrative. This new show appears to be the first that uses an existing text, and they have wrung every possible nuance from it.'The Pit and The Pendulum' is a framework into which are woven 'The Raven' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart'. The three performers Justin Cliffe, Antonio Rimola and Georgina Harris have an intuitive and fluid working style. They use the limited space and props extremely well, creating some striking visual images. The hand-shadow Raven and the mask and puppet old man are particularly good. The storytelling is fine too, delivered clearly and with the right pace to get the shivers going.In style and delivery the influences are clear: Grotowski, Theatre of The Absurd, German Expressionism and the East European clown tradition all find a place. The problem is that the tone never varies; the actors are so very 'on' it becomes somewhat relentless. They start at such a pitch that there is nowhere for them to go. More light and shade is needed, some subtlety, perhaps a skewering of the genres they are employing in order to make it their own. The facial grimaces and exaggerated gait become limiting and tiresome to watch.Poes writing is so full of powerful description that it does not really need such elaborate treatment. But Tin Shed know what they are doing, are not short of ideas and have the performance skill to carry it off. They just need to take it down a few notches, ease up and let more of the words speak for themselves."TOTAL THEATRE
Page 9
Home Page
albertlymes
About
Galllery of shows
Blog
Poe
Mice and Men
Judges Lodging
contact
Past Present
Comments
Fedbellows
Justin
Georgina
Antonio
Lonely Morticians
For Sale
Office 212
1000000 tiny
The book
Op bb
Op bb 2
Master Page 19
Taxi
Secret Skin
