Tu est Beaux, Tu est Fascinant
Photoshoot with Matthew Robins, a photo by arrrtstarrr on Flickr.Did you know there's a tiny little theatre hidden away in Islington (by Angel) that specialises in puppetry? I'm so ashamed I didn't. I got an invite at the start of the week to attend a show last night by Matthew Robins, which my friend To promised would be very good.
The Little Angel Theatre sits behind the St Mary's Church on Upper Street. It sits about 50 people - maybe a little more - and has a window to the street where you can see its team busy working on costumes, puppets and the like behind the scenes.
There were six of us: my boyfriend and I, To and his American friend who is briefly visiting London for an architectural exhibition[1], millionreasons's friend Ta and a Spanish sculptor whose name I forget. Ta and the Spaniard had arrived earlier and saved seats in the front for us. We squeezed in and were entertained for the next hour or so with live music that veered from Belle & Sebastian's sound to David Lynch's soundtracks, all meant to accompany various stories cut out from paper and projected onto a screen by Tim Spooner. During intermission, the audience was asked to create Germ Monsters from available glue, paper, scissors and tape to later feature in a song about Walter Nitty (a sock puppet) coming down with a cold. There was also a short-film inspired by Jurassic Park entirely made out of biscuits. And much more...
It veered close to twee at times, but never fully - Matthew is too humorous and intelligent for that. It was truly one of the best ways to end a week. A sort of big-hearted, insanely creative and light performance. If you ever get the chance, go see Matthew Robins perform. I promise you won't regret it. Find out more about his work: http://www.sadlucy.com/
[1] It turns out she has visited Brasil a lot and is particularly passionate about one of our more famous architects. We sat outside a Cuban restaurant after the theatre, freezing our asses off while drinking red wine and talking about the difference between Brasil's and the UK's culture. It was also good to talk to Ta and get to know her a bit better - I wish millionreasons was there with us!