Emily's Bronze Arts Award Review

Bristol Fashion Week

I went to Bristol Fashion Week on Sunday 25th March 2012 at 3:00pm, Cribbs Causeway. The show consisted of the top fashions found in the shops like John Lewis, JD Sports, French Connection, Marks & Spencer, Clive Ranger, Bank, Gap Kids, Claire’s, Radley, Monsoon, BHS, Hush Puppies, Ernest Jones, Coast, Warehouse, Miss Selfridge, Timberland, Next, kids outfits from The Disney Store and many more. I thought that the show was really entertaining and I learnt a lot about all the new styles in 2012 and I loved all the outfits shown. I especially liked the Festival Clothes and the African Themed outfits. The fact that I had a good seat made it better too because I could really see how detailed all the outfits where. I really like how all the models didn’t just walk around because they danced, sang and did a bit of acting whilst modelling the clothes. The only thing I didn’t like about the fashion show was that there was a lot of waiting around at the start to go in but I guess that it can’t really be helped as there were other shows earlier that day. So to improve maybe next time they could spread all the shows over a couple of days.

Georgia's Bronze Arts Award Review

Discombobulated

The play was based on an airport with the security being the characters. It was set at the hand luggage department and the play was showing what the securities think and do at the airport. However this was changed throughout the play, as it became more comical and entertaining, as there were musical numbers and many dance pieces in parts of it.

The play was announced as a comedy and it certainly was! The humour was for teenagers but also for adults, which was the interesting thing I enjoyed it. There was a scene where one of the characters swore at the other character and it gave a big shock to the audience but made them laugh a lot. The thing I enjoyed most about the play was definitely the humour but the way they carried it on with throughout the whole of the play. Another thing that I enjoyed about it was that there were only two characters in the play. This made the play more impressive towards the audience.

The only thing I would say that I didn’t like about the play would probably be the fact that I could see things coming and some things were obvious with what was going to happen. This made the play disappointing but I still found it funny.

As I have not seen many plays, I think I have definitely learnt something from the experience, this would be to involve the audience much more as it was used through the whole play. It has helped me because I never involve the audience in some of the task I do in my drama classes and clubs I have been to, so this has been a good help and improvement in my drama.

There was a lot of normal music in the play, like the type of sounds you would hear in a normal day. For example: Birds singing, wind in the air/breezing and tunes that didn’t have much tone in them. The lighting was interesting as they used a range of types. They used many different colours, spotlights, and a blue dimmed light was used in many of the scenes. One of the scenes had very stormy sound/ music involved, it also had flashing lights to suggest lighting, Throughout the play I realized that the stage became more crowded and nothing was being cleared up. I think this was a good feature as at the end there was a song and everything calmed down and the tension was gone.

If I had to give the play a star rating it would definitely be a five star as it had hilarious scenes and there wasn’t any parts of the play that the audience wasn’t laughing or had a smile on there face.

Oliver's Bronze Arts Awards Review

Suitcase Circus Review

The Suitcase Circus. What is the Suitcase Circus? Well… It is rubbish… rubbish… rubbish… very talented rubbish that is definitely worth watching. At the small price of £6.50 for an adult and £5.50 for a child I could not resist the opportunity! So on the 15th of May My Mum and I went down to Bradon Forest School in Swindon to see the show, and we were in for a surprise. The crazy compare of the circus was a wacky sock puppet called Wobulous Discombobulous, joining him was a whole range of exiting characters, each with its own story to tell. There is a dancing milkshake straw, the world’s first acrobatic potato sack, two old shoes, one of which is obsessed with his memoirs and many more characters that will leave you rolling on the floor with laughter.

Earlier on this year I went to see the show Discombobulated. Discombobulated was a comedy like Suitcase Circus by in my opinion, Suitcase circus was the better performance of the two because even though Discombobulated was creative, Suitcase Circus had the best ideas and implemented them more cleverly.

On the whole the Suitcase Circus was a very good show that is suitable for all ages and is fun for the whole family. It is a must see! It’s clever jokes and no-forgettable characters make this show one of the best I have ever seen.

Sophie's Bronze Arts Award Review

Fleur's Silver Arts Award Review

Dear “Folded Feather” company,

Please find below a review that I have written on what I thought of your wonderful puppet show, The Suitcase Circus:

On Thursday 15th March 2012 at the Bradon Forest School Theatre I saw Suitcase Circus, which is a puppet circus show. The puppets were made out of everyday objects but still looked amazing!

They had many different puppets doing different circus acts. There was a sock puppet which was the ring man; a dancing straw, a singing tea pot, the hypnotist tie snake, some talking shoes, a frog, a high rope walker glove, a gymnastic potato sack and a glove cannon ball!

I liked the whole show but if I was going to pick my favourite bits I would chose the singing tea pot and the glove cannon ball. The singing tea pot was an upside down tea pot with a black dress and a feather bower. I liked this bit because it reminded me of my friend; the way she sang and danced, she moved like a real person and had movements like a pop star like lying on her back. I liked the cannon ball glove because when he came on the music was very dramatic. His head was made out of a base ball so when he came out of the cannon in slow motion, another man got a baseball glove and caught him! It was very funny and I enjoyed it very much.

There were no bits I completely disliked but I thought the talking shoes weren’t that good. At at times they were funny and it was interesting to see how they made the shoes in to puppets too.

I would recommend this play to everyone who loves the Muppets. I would recommend the people who make the Muppets to see if they could make a puppet like that, and I would also recommend it to young children because I think that they will find it very funny and enjoy it very much.

When I was younger I saw a two plays a bit like Suitcase Circus where there were small puppets and life sized puppets. The company was called Pickled Image. The plays I saw were the Chatter Box and Houdini’s Suitcase. Houdini’s Suitcase was very much like Suitcase Circus because they were both about the circus but in Suitcase Circus they had audience participation but in Houdini’s suitcase there was the forth wall which means they act without seeing the audience.

To improve this play I wouldn’t change any of the other acts, but I would put more puppets and acts on because it was all so good and I just wanted to see more!

Watching this play has inspired me to make puppets for Unit 1 Part B of my silver arts award. At first I thought that I would make puppets out of materials, but I think I might try to make puppets out of some shoes or a tie.

So Folded Feature I hope that you think my comments were good and fair and I would love to see you more of your work again.

From Fleur Calder

Still lots left to see!

Don't be saddened by the April showers, there's still lots going on at the Bradon Forest Theatre this season! Our first post-Easter show is It Could Be You, by the KS3 Drama Club on Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 May.

We also have the final Music Concert of the year, which will be celebrating all things sporting in their Olympic theme! You can book for Wednesday 30 May by emailing me or calling 01793 773981.

Tickets are already selling fast for Gonzo Moose and I'm An Aristocrat, Get Me Out Of Here! This wonderful show kick starts our Summer Arts Festival, which is already booking up fast! Make sure you check out our listings for full details and keep an eye on our Facebook page to be the first to hear about anything new.

The end of our two week Summer Arts Festival will mark the 2012 Swindon Does Arts Big Arts Day. The Bradon Forest Theatre will once again be supporting the event by running the Showcase Stage and Comedy & Theatre Tent.

Curious Company presents...

Guest Review: Suitcase Circus

On Thursday I watched Folded Feather produce a unique puppet show called Suitcase Circus performed by “some very talented rubbish!” (Their words not mine!)

There were only two men doing the show, one was the main puppeteer and the other played a variety of instruments to add to the atmosphere. Surprisingly, the ringmaster was a sock called Wobulous Discombobulous. He introduced most of the acts which included a dancing milkshake straw; the world’s only acrobatic potato sack; a singing teapot who sang a Kylie Minogue song badly; Limbardo, the tightrope walking Italian driving glove; Windsor Knot, the hypnotising snake and Timrek, a very sick frog!

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Suitcase Circus. It was hilarious. My favourite act was a fearless daredevil ski glove called Dan Der Uras. He was shot out of a cannon and caught by a baseball glove. The puppeteer and the musician were world-class. If you get the opportunity to go and see Suitcase Circus, take it! - Alex Duffell

I have to say, I agree whole heartedly with Alex! Suitcase Circus was a delightful show, with a wide variety of creative puppets. It was quite amazing how two people can create tension from a glove with a baseball for a head, flying across the stage in slow motion! Most enjoyable. Thank you Folded Feather. We look forward to the next time!

Discombobulation!

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting the lovely Publick Transport in with their latest show, Discombobulated. PT's Artistic Director, Angus Barr, is a regular at Bradon Forest (having both performed with Gonzo Moose in the past, and toured the last three PT shows here) and on this occasion he was joined by the delightful Merce Ribot. The pair played members of airport security staff who were giving a demonstrative talk on security procedures and why they are important. After a brief and stern introduction from Malcom McClosky (Barr), the presentation quickly declined in to a competition between the two to either perform or inform the audience.

Varying dance routines, luggage tussles, flour fights, magic shows, Tommy Cooper impressions, Shakespeare excerpts and a role playing session led to the finale, which had to be seen to be believed. Somehow the two security officers end their presentation in an impromptu 'two man band' performance of Eternal Love... whilst covered in flashing lights... with confetti cannons. A brilliant bit of silliness, perfect for a Thursday evening!

BTEC and GCSE Drama in progress

We have two special evenings of performance featuring our GCSE Drama and BTEC Performing Arts students as part of their examination process. Both evenings will see the BTEC group perform a scripted play by Stephanie Miller called The Grey Angel, followed by a variety of GCSE devised ‘work in progress’ (different groups on each night).

If you would like to come and support the students, then please drop me a mail letting me know how many tickets you would like and on which nights. As these are ‘works in progress’, there will be no charge, but the students will benefit greatly from having a live audience to perform to!

A note about the Grey Angel: Mrs Elizabeth Fry (1780 - 1845) visited prisons and campaigned for improved conditions from about her late twenties till middle-age when ill-health forced her to retire. There was no segregation of the sexes in the prisons at this time.