Aireborne Theatre (Leeds University’s Theatre Group) have again sent two shows to the Fringe this year and, as usual, Workshop Theatre students are heavily involved. Both shows did much of their production work at the WT throughout June.
King Arthur represents something of a d
eparture for Aireborne in that it is a show aimed at children. The ThreeWeeks review called it:
“Hilarious, charming and superbly enacted, this performance of ‘King Arthur’ is the definition of family fun. Merlin, the witty narrator, relates the amusing adventures of the noble Arthur and his comical Knights of the Round Table. Interaction with the audience means children are given the chance to become an integrated part of the legend. Furthermore, the self-reflexive nature of the show, featuring a performance within a performance, means things like role and costume switching, and other awkward bits typical of a small cast play, are cleverly used for comic effect. And although the music could do with more variety, it is humorously objected to by the characters themselves, making it a trivial factor which certainly does not hamper the show. ”
King Arthur can be seen at C Venues – C ECA (Venue number 50) throughout August.
*****
Aireborne are also at C Venues ECA with Dirt, a play by Nathan Wood. Dirt picked up it’s first published review recently in FestMag who said:
“Fleeing personal tragedy on the other side of the world, Ada and her lover Martin go camping, hoping to get to know each other better. However, when the Outback starts seeping into the New Forest, and Ada’s dead mother turns up as an earwig, they discover the dangers of digging too deep into the past.
The script treads the line between surreal comedy and disturbing psychodrama. It’s frequently very funny but can be over-reliant on its humour, substituting narrative for running gags. Despite this, it’s an effective, refreshingly straightforward examination of how unearthing the past can drag us back down with it.
The cast are uniformly solid, if slightly prone to silly voices. This means they can struggle with shifts in tone, while Ada suffers from being the only ordinary person among grotesques. Nevertheless, by the end the cast and script are playing to each other’s strengths perfectly.
Special mention must be made of the puppetry, which goes a long way to establishing the play’s nightmarish tone. Like the rest of the production, it successfully twists the images of childhood into something degraded and rotten.
Confident, witty and memorable, this is impressive work from the young Airborne Theatre, the Leeds University Union Theatre group. More than that, Dirt is a mature and affecting approach to the past and people we try to bury.”
For further details go to:
http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/childrens-shows/king-arthur