Reviews

In Nanna-stasia you are invited into the kitchen of Eleanor Stankiewicz’s grandmother for a funny, warm story of love, family and the importance of listening to your older family members.

When Eleanor was 7, she saw the animated film Anastasia. Knowing very little about her nanna’s early years, in Lithuania during World War II, Eleanor’s mind made her Nanna - Lithuania’s Anastasia - and this was closer to the truth than you might imagine.

This show is an extraordinary gleeful exploration of some dark political events that besieged Eastern European countries under communist regimes. This light-hearted approach does not belittle the issues but allows the audience to see how suspicion and paranoia pervaded all aspects of life in countries like Romania. In this show the formation of a Romanian folkloristic music ensemble becomes fraught with obstacles fuelled by political machinations and corrupt bureaucracies.

Impromptunes - Completely Improvised Musical is one of the most popular regular visitors to Fringe World. As a long term fan of that show, i decided to check out their show for kids - Impromptunes - Tune Your Own Adventure.

Unlike its older sibling, Tune Your Own Adventure’s last show was not a sell-out, but the response to this production from its young audience would indicate that it should be - with complete involvement from everyone in the audience with this high energy improvised show.

The circle aims to capture the oeuvre of Lovecraftian horror and the text pays clear homage to the famous writer. The play is aptly named The Circle, which refers to the wider body of authors whose writing operated in the Lovecraft realm. O’Brien explores the ways in which their apocalyptic themes are transferred into the gaming world. This is shown as a sphere which easily absorbs the violence and doom suggested by the wholesale destruction that is anticipated by such dismal views of humanity.