A Small Mind At The Theatre

I first saw the work of Divided 's writer and performer, Subika Anwar-Khan, back a little over three years ago, during a rehearsed reading of her, then new, play Stateless . While I have never got to see a full production of this, it has gone on to be performed in London and received some really unsurprisingly great reviews. Therefore after such a long time, it was nice to return to see some more of Anwar-Khan's work. Divided is a very different piece, a one-woman show, performed by Anwar-Khan herself, telling the story of three characters and their links together, one of which has escaped an abusive relationship, and just three years in the UK, still lacking in English skills. This relationship, while born through an arrangement, is very much lived through love in the character of Amina, and Divided depicts the pull and pushes away from someone, that she clearly adores, but yet is cruelly abused by. The three main characters that we follow through Divided are Amina herse...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the best part of eight hours floating suspiciously and observing around the Royal & Derngate experiencing the very first Fun Palaces event. Born from a sadly failed thought of Joan Littlewood in 1961, Fun Palaces is a dynamic, pop up extravaganza of theatre, dance, music, face painting, singing, dressing up and the erecting of tents (12 at Royal & Derngate). Through this inventive collection the theatre was filled with the absolute total of demographics. Bustling with activity, everyone who attended was able to find something to amuse themselves. I myself rather boringly refrained from climbing into tents, putting on silly hats and having his face painted. Mores the pity. I was generally there for the theatre performances and a little added dance one for good measure. Five of which I saw during my stay. The first was appropriately entitled One , a short half hour or so of five little plays that had been written by members of the publ...