Fantasy and Magic
Fringe shows tonight were to support friends and family - hence my reviews are biased regardless, so I'll keep them short and refrain from putting in my biased opinion :)
Pratchett Pieces 2 : The Live Radio Play - Unseen Theatre Company & Insight Presents, Bakehouse Theatre, 5.30pm
Two Terry Pratchett Stories ("Troll Bridge" and "Final Reward") have been adapted for a radio play, but it's performed live in front of the audience, with live music and hand-generated sound effects as well. The technique is quite amazing, some of the sound effect devices were simple but effective (eg a bunch of belts making the noise of a horse's harness, or a triangle and tongs being used to make sword noises) which was fairly impressive.
It's a slight pity that these two stories aren't filled with one liner jokes, because the laugh-out-loud moments were far apart, even for someone like me who knows the stories back to front. These particular stories are more subtle in their overtones, with a fair amount of context (provided by the narration in the original story, but hard to turn into dialogue) required to completely imagine the picture. Still, the cast do their best, and the audience seemed to really enjoy the show (and I definitely did) even if our reactions were limited to a few chuckles and a modicum of applause.
Mediaeval Magic - Lumina Vocal Ensemble, St John's Church, Halifax St, 9.00pm
This is my sister's choir, so I'm not allowed to say anything bad :) The performance is a grand range of mediaeval music dating from the 12th Century to pieces composed by choir members in the last few years. This choir is incredibly well rehearsed, certainly not any noticeable slipups or anything out of tune, and choral music is very pleasant to the ear. Unfortunately, the church was incredibly hot inside (well above the nice cool 28 degrees outside) and so everyone was sweltering - it was quite difficult to last the first hour-long bracket, but the second half-hour long one was a little more bearable.
There is one more performance from Lumina on Sunday afternoon at 3pm - I fear that the entire venue may be incredibly hot then, but if you think you can stand the heat, pop along and enjoy some great works from history and a few modern arrangements done in the mediaeval style.
Pratchett Pieces 2 : The Live Radio Play - Unseen Theatre Company & Insight Presents, Bakehouse Theatre, 5.30pm
Two Terry Pratchett Stories ("Troll Bridge" and "Final Reward") have been adapted for a radio play, but it's performed live in front of the audience, with live music and hand-generated sound effects as well. The technique is quite amazing, some of the sound effect devices were simple but effective (eg a bunch of belts making the noise of a horse's harness, or a triangle and tongs being used to make sword noises) which was fairly impressive.
It's a slight pity that these two stories aren't filled with one liner jokes, because the laugh-out-loud moments were far apart, even for someone like me who knows the stories back to front. These particular stories are more subtle in their overtones, with a fair amount of context (provided by the narration in the original story, but hard to turn into dialogue) required to completely imagine the picture. Still, the cast do their best, and the audience seemed to really enjoy the show (and I definitely did) even if our reactions were limited to a few chuckles and a modicum of applause.
Mediaeval Magic - Lumina Vocal Ensemble, St John's Church, Halifax St, 9.00pm
This is my sister's choir, so I'm not allowed to say anything bad :) The performance is a grand range of mediaeval music dating from the 12th Century to pieces composed by choir members in the last few years. This choir is incredibly well rehearsed, certainly not any noticeable slipups or anything out of tune, and choral music is very pleasant to the ear. Unfortunately, the church was incredibly hot inside (well above the nice cool 28 degrees outside) and so everyone was sweltering - it was quite difficult to last the first hour-long bracket, but the second half-hour long one was a little more bearable.
There is one more performance from Lumina on Sunday afternoon at 3pm - I fear that the entire venue may be incredibly hot then, but if you think you can stand the heat, pop along and enjoy some great works from history and a few modern arrangements done in the mediaeval style.