It goes without saying that the Bookends team are avid theatre goers so when Annie and Siân were invited to the press night of Shoot I Didn’t Mean That and The Last Days of Mankind: The Last Night we jumped at the chance.
The first part of the evening 'Shoot I didn’t Mean That' is a new piece by playwright Catriona Kerridge. It responds to the Karl Kraus work and muses on the themes of war. With an all female cast of four talented and incredibly versatile actors, we meet an interpreter (Emily Bairstow) slowly disintegrating under the weight of the excuses she’s asked to translate; a tourist (Alexa Lafaber) who finds herself imprisoned with far right fanatics and two schoolgirls (Jocasta King and Alexa Hartley) fascinated by wars past and present.
Perhaps the interpreter’s story resonated with us the most- the helplessness of her situation at the hands of the power-hungry politician to whom she’s invisible felt like a situation we could identify with.
All three interwoven stories had a nice balance of comedy moments and political commentary deftly handled by the cast.
'The Last Days of Mankind' had a dystopian, disturbing quality to it and really pulled us in. The combination of set, sound and lighting linking the short scenes to produce and atmospheric and frightening whole. The brisk pace decelerated with the final projection and voiceover that tied the whole piece together.
With compelling and versatile performances by the cast and strong direction from Pamela Shermann, this is a bold and powerful production.
Shoot I Didn’t Mean That/ The Last Days of Mankind is on at the Tristan Bates Theatre until October 18th.
The first part of the evening 'Shoot I didn’t Mean That' is a new piece by playwright Catriona Kerridge. It responds to the Karl Kraus work and muses on the themes of war. With an all female cast of four talented and incredibly versatile actors, we meet an interpreter (Emily Bairstow) slowly disintegrating under the weight of the excuses she’s asked to translate; a tourist (Alexa Lafaber) who finds herself imprisoned with far right fanatics and two schoolgirls (Jocasta King and Alexa Hartley) fascinated by wars past and present.
Perhaps the interpreter’s story resonated with us the most- the helplessness of her situation at the hands of the power-hungry politician to whom she’s invisible felt like a situation we could identify with.
All three interwoven stories had a nice balance of comedy moments and political commentary deftly handled by the cast.
'The Last Days of Mankind' had a dystopian, disturbing quality to it and really pulled us in. The combination of set, sound and lighting linking the short scenes to produce and atmospheric and frightening whole. The brisk pace decelerated with the final projection and voiceover that tied the whole piece together.
With compelling and versatile performances by the cast and strong direction from Pamela Shermann, this is a bold and powerful production.
Shoot I Didn’t Mean That/ The Last Days of Mankind is on at the Tristan Bates Theatre until October 18th.