Sweden is more than idyllic red cottages and affordable housing in flat packages. Today it is also a country with a big youth unemployment problem. It is so massive, in fact, that hundreds of thousands of young Swedes see no option other than to move across the border to Norway. They hope to find work…
Amy Ingram has a talent for portraying insecure or downtrodden females and she uses that talent well in this rib-tickling little two-hander as Ashley. She was joined by the equally talented Thomas Larkin as the same-name, same problem character. Between them kept the audience laughing, quietly empathising or groaning at ineptitude. The action was played…
This documentary is a loving tribute to fashion icon Mary Quant, who typified the changing face of Britain through the 60s and 70s. She was a trailblazer who was credited with creating the mini-skirt and who was well known for her dynamic use of colours and this film puts her life into context with what…
From Babette’s Feast to Big Night, from Eat Drink Man Woman to Chocolat and many besides, foodie movies have their own place in popular culture. Now along comes a Swedish offering from director Annika Appelin, Tuesday Club. Karin (Marie Richardson) and Sten (Bjorn Kjellman) are about to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. They have invited…
Big Brother is watching your every move and is judging you … harshly – very harshly indeed. In the case of Int, Big Brother is a “she” and she appears to have a firm grip on you; at least initially. That is what I took away from this 50-minute, one woman performance art piece – a polished…
As we take our seat, we are presented with three different actors, all dancing in thought, bouncing off each other and also off their surrounds. See You Next Tuesday will engage your latent tennis watching skills as the actors playing 17 year-old Evie talk all over each other, picking up on each other’s sentences (being…
Take a real-life story and drop into it an actor, entertainment personality or media figure and ask them to play along without any rehearsal (in other words, a cold read). That is the conceit at the heart of Echo, written by the most performed playwright in Iranian theatre, Nassim Soleimanpour (White Rabbit, Red Rabbit and…
In many countries, homelessness is a big problem. But the scale of the issue hasn’t led to a lot of films exploring it. Emilio Estevez – making his first feature since 2010 – tries to redress the imbalance at least a little with The Public. This ambitious and rather surprising film deftly delves into the…
POV (Point of View), is an extraordinary undertaking, unlike anything I have seen before. A 14-year-old – played by alternates on different nights (I saw Mabelle Rose, while the other is Edith Whitehead) – assumes the role of an 11-year-old girl. She, who is fully aware of the conceit of the piece, interacts with two…
Ah, don’t we just love the Irish … and with good reason. You don’t have to look too far to appreciate their sense of humour. That is reinforced when erudite, evocative and entertaining yarn spinner Panti Bliss takes to the stage in a blonde wig and glittering dress and heels. The 56-year-old drag queen and…
