My People Theatre Review

Originally written for Epigram 

'Impeccable timing, well-crafted family dynamics and dramatic plot twists' - Hudi Charin reviews My People, an original tragi-comedy about Jewishness, family and coming of age.

Walking into The Pegg Theatre, you are transported from the SU to quite a different setting. A place with grape juice instead of wine, matzah instead of bread, and ham hidden sneakily in a Flora butter container. This is Passover, or, at least, Asha’s Passover, a night where she must endure her complex family.

(Spotlights / Olivia Younger)

My People, written and directed by Elliot Brett and produced by Jason Palmer, has been promoted as a 'dark, proudly-Jewish comedy centred around the relationship between Asha and her mother Debra.' As such, it could be expected that the play would be awkward, attempting to tread around uneasy cultural jokes and uncomfortable family dynamics. Instead, Brett manages within the first few minutes of the play, to perfectly introduce the key characters and their relationships to each other in such a way that the audience feels instantly acquainted with each person. Despite many uneasy moments, each situation is so masterfully managed that the play is never too awkward to enjoy. Every Jewish reference and joke is well-placed and never exclusionary.

In fact, it is actually surprising just how funny ‘My People’ is. Brett’s wit, combined with superb acting from every cast member, means that in many darker scenes, there are laugh-out-loud moments. Dan Sved as Toby was a particularly hilarious device throughout, whilst Bron Waugh’s appearance was short, but perfectly played, and a well-needed laugh in a bleak scene. The play is a rollercoaster of emotion, with the script and cast steering the journey perfectly. A particularly thought-provoking, poignant scene revolved around the traditional song ‘Dayenu’, or, ‘it would have been enough.’ The utilisation of the song’s message and application to the play’s characters was genius.

Spot-on casting meant every character was entirely believable. Eden Peppercorn embodied the troubled 17 year old Asha from her starting monologue and throughout. Likewise, from the moment Holly Cattle delivered her first cutting line -“don’t gender me, I may be a they-brew”- she embraced each quip and remark of snarky Rachel. Of course, Oskar House’s Dragon Den pitch as Eli would make anyone want to buy the naked popcorn flavour.

Spotlights / Olivia Younger

Despite each character being flawed and often troubled, they are written and played with such warmth that they are all likeable. Even Jacob Longstaff as James, perhaps the villain of the play, was portrayed sympathetically. Ella Margolin as Debra was particularly noteworthy. Despite Margolin being a second-year, after watching her attempt to marinade a salmon using a youtube tutorial, anyone would be convinced of her role as a middle-aged Jewish mother.

Little more can be said that would give the play justice. The impeccable timing, well-crafted family dynamics and dramatic plot twists can not be praised highly enough.

(Featured image credits: Spotlights / Olivia Younger)

★★★★★

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Helicon ROOTS Launch Review

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Helicon ROOTS Launch Review

Originally published on Epigram...

To celebrate the release of their newest issue, UoB arts publication Helicon throw an arty party in Stokes Croft. With performance poetry, interactive and hanging art, and live music, the launch party impressed just as much as their issue. Hudi Charin reviews.

Epigram / Hudi Charin

The theme for this issue is ‘ROOTS’, an exploration of the shifting meanings of identity and where we come from. Their last printed magazine was in April 2016, so Roots marks a particularly special event in the timeline of Helicon. At a cost of £5 a copy, you would expect a quality magazine, and you won’t be disappointed. Boasting 120 pages of original artwork, printed on quality paper, it is a slick final product. From photography to poetry, from prints to sketches, the magazine is no run-of-the-mill student zine, but a serious artistic publication. It isn’t light reading, but definitely thought provoking and complex, dwelling on compelling issues such as identity at university, moving away from home, and one night stands.

If the tone of the magazine’s greyscale pages seem a bit sombre, the launch party was quite the opposite. The BYOB event was upbeat, sociable, and different. Set across multiple spaces in the Elemental Bakery on Cheltenham Road, the venue was ideal, with a large room for live music and a bright gallery-space for the display of artworks. With smaller rooms for live poetry and an interactive DIY art space, the launch party was more than just a gig, with activities and ideas to explore throughout. It clearly demanded a lot of organisation and planning, and the Helicon team- Euan Dawtrey, Hannah Green, Suzie Beckley, Isabel Mitchelson and Luke Unger- pulled it off flawlessly.

Epigrma / Hudi Charin

The artworks, created by participants in Helicon’s weekly art classes, were hugely impressive, ranging from photographs to nude sketches to large canvas paintings. Steph Garratt’s geometric block colour portraits were particularly enthralling whilst Luke Batchelor’s photographs perfectly captured the chaotic rhythm of a night out in Bristol. The four well-selected live music acts, Nick Peter, HANAH, JAMBI and McGregor, played throughout the night, drawing in crowds to watch.

The poetry readings were, if anything, undervalued, resigned to a far too small room for the number of people who wanted to listen, piling in to hear their fellow students read poetry aloud. It was perhaps the most unusual part of the night, as seeing our peers stand up to reveal such vulnerability is something we do not experience often. Caitlin Thomson’s ‘Northern Roots’, a poem entirely in Geordie jargon, sums up the whole event. It was poignant, creative and funny, whilst also opening up our eyes to our fellow students, and where they have come from.

Epigram / Hudi Charin

Helicon are intending to publish another magazine, ‘Icons’ in May. Here’s hoping that their next launch party is as creative and enjoyable as their first.

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Epigram: Anti Art Counterpart, Thebes

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Epigram: Anti Art Counterpart, Thebes

Taking my mechanical engineer boyfriend to Spike Island was a risky move. I thought he was ready. I was wrong. 

This article was originally published on Epigram 

Taking my mechanical engineer boyfriend to Spike Island was a risky move. There’s scientists who appreciate the arts. There’s scientists who don’t really appreciate the arts. And then there’s Zac who thought the Odyssey was written by Homer J Simpson.

We’ve braved more traditional art galleries in the past. He coped pretty well with the National Gallery, using Snapchat to face swap with Rembrandt, which you could argue is a postmodern interpretation of the medium of the self portrait. I thought it was maybe time he took on contemporary, conceptual art. I thought he was ready. I was wrong.

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Spike Island is a gallery and studio space in Bristol, showcasing contemporary artists’ works. Currently, Benoît Maire’s Thebes is on display. Spike Island describes the artist as a ‘visual philosopher’ whose works ‘question the origin of humankind and the objects we produce.’ In other words, this was arty fartyness at its best, a lot of abstract paintings and abstract ideas.

As soon as we walk in, Zac tries to get to grips with what he’s seeing. The entire first room is filled with paintings of clouds, apparently ‘drawing a parallel between painting and the ever changing forms of clouds.’ There’s canvas after canvas of splodges of colour, each one a slightly different interpretation of the concept, moving between figuration and abstraction. Zac looks around hopefully and eventually says ‘so this is… Impressionism?’ Nope, but nice try.

I begin to try to explain the difference between the 19^th century art movement and Benoît Maire’s artworks, suggesting that there may indeed be some parallels… but Zac’s already wondered off to the far side of the room, standing far too close to a painting. I grab his arm to pull him back, just because there isn’t a rope to stop you touching it doesn’t mean they want your nose impaling the canvas.

Zac is looking at the splodges of paint and rubbing his chin thoughtfully, ‘I sense a common theme,’ he says after a while.

‘Oh yes?’ I say encouragingly. Will he have spotted the references to abstract expressionism, the drawing on action painting, the blurring of the lines between imagination and reality?

‘There’s these big blimps in all of them.’ Says Zac, point at a particularly large purple splodge.

‘Er, yes, I suppose there are.’ I mutter, trying to think of a way to relate this back to an art historical discourse but Zac’s already plodding off into the next room.

We’re met by a video playing on loop. It’s an amalgamation of a few different clips, but it mainly has Maria Sharapova repeatedly hitting a tennis ball whilst the sound echoes around the gallery.

‘I would actually go insane if I had to listen to this every day.’ Zac says, far too loudly. The volunteer whose job that literally is gives us a glare and we scuttle away.

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Zac starts laughing next to one particular piece. The photo shows a man leaning over a big glass ball, holding a kind of metal measuring tool.

‘I love that.’ Zac’s saying gleefully. The art historian within me is delighted. Okay, so the cloud paintings weren’t for him, and the tennis video was a bit weird but maybe this will speak to him.

‘What do you like about it?’

‘It’s so ridiculous. That’s a caliper, it would obviously never be able to measure the diameter of that sphere, I mean, look the arms of the caliper are way too narrow…’

No way have we come to an art gallery only for him to explain something sciencey to me. On to the next room.

It is full of objects in various arrangements, industrial tools, found objects and Maire’s own artworks. The guide tells us the room questions ‘the status of the object, and how we categorise form in art, culture and nature.’ Zac, helpfully, categorises it all as rubbish. 

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The final room is a screening of the word origin, a film showing a man going about his mundane life. We watch the video and I’m completely bemused. Surely Zac will be too.

‘I noticed a theme.’ He says.

‘Oh, yeah?’ I ask, dreading his response.

‘Eggs. There’s a lot of eggs in the film, I think it’s talking about the never-ending cycle of life.’

I look down at the exhibition guide, gobsmacked. He’s right.

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We leave the exhibition and I’m a bit shell-shocked, could my anti-art boyfriend really have spotted something that I didn’t? Does this change the whole dynamic of our relationship? As we go, he points to a fire extinguisher, ‘So, what? Am I supposed to accept this is art, too?’

Maybe things are back to normal after all. 

For a more intelligent response to the exhibition check out Epigram’s review.

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What Have The Arts Got To Do With Freshers Week?

Originally published on Epigram. 

As the most mellow and soothing artist of all time, Bob Ross, once said ‘you need the dark in order to show the light.’

Although he probably wasn’t thinking of Freshers’ Week when he said it, this quote can easily be applied. In the first week of Uni, there may be some highs and lows. The one thing to make sure you have more highs than lows? Well, art of course. Here’s the many ways art can guide you through the first week.

 The Art of Room Décor

Probably the most important one. Did you even take a gap year if you don’t have a tapestry hanging over your bed? Do you even have any friends if you don’t have photos of them perfectly blue-tacked on the wall? Are you even able to study if you don’t have Instagram-worthy stationery arranged on your desk at the start of term? Make sure to get this one right as it will define you forever. That’s a lie, no one pays as much attention to your bedroom as you do, and deep down you’ll know that, but it won’t stop you from Pinteresting colour schemes for weeks before hand, and asking your parents desperately if they have any old records you can display on your shelves to show you’re musically knowledgeable. 

... Winnie the Pooh pillows and Impressionist paintings are cool, right? 

The Art of Self Reinvention

This is it folks. You’ve known pretty much the same people since you were 11, and most of your friends remember the time you wet yourself in the middle of a club like a cast member on Geordie Shore. Never before have you had such an opportunity to reinvent yourself and start over. Be who you want to be. This is a fine and important art, how to present yourself exactly how you want without coming across as too try-hard. Wear frames with clear glass in them to come across as ‘bookish’. Wear fake tan every day but tell people it’s natural. Wear t-shirts with obscure band names or geographical places to seem cultured. Except on the fourth day of Freshers you’ll get smashed playing Never Have I Ever and tell all your flat mates the weeing story and all your hard work will be for nothing.

The first Never Have I Ever will reveal all. 

The Art of Fashion

You’ll spend a good few hours contemplating what to wear on the first night out, and will borrow so much from your flat mates that you all enter SWX wearing an amalgamation of everyone’s wardrobes. You’ll soon decide all the clothes you wore back home aren’t Bristol enough and you’ll head for the vintage shops on Park Street. By November, you’ll realise you’re broke and maybe £80 isn’t that reasonable for a sustainable reworked revamped vintage shirt with a hole in the pocket. Anyway, by TB2, you’ll have given up completely on looking good for Uni and you’ll have finally resorted to rolling out of bed, into your coat and out the door.

The Art of the Arts

The only thing on this list that’s actually artistic: the arts in Bristol! Get acquainted with Banksy, go to a play, drag someone to listen to a free performance on Gloucester Road. Not only will the activities make you more rounded and arty –always a good goal- but they’ll be a great way to meet people and have something to do together, other than going to Spoons. It’ll also help to know a little bit about the graffiti culture in Bristol because it’ll invariably come up at family functions when an uncle tries to come up with something they know about Bristol. Yes, it’s where the ‘Boris and Trump kissing’ mural was. Yes, I got my septum done in Pierced Up, where Banksy did a free artwork. Yes, my Dad’s gonna kill me for getting my septum done.  

The first time walking into Wills Memorial Building 

The Art of Self Love

And in amongst all of this stressing, shopping, Pinteresting and aspirational living, you’ll need to make time for the trickiest art of all, actually staying true to yourself throughout! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you can’t find your feet at first. The best bit about Freshers’ is everyone is doing exactly what you’re doing, and by the end you’ll have realised your new mates might also be artists of their own reinventions. Wait it out and you’ll see that under their £100 Fila jackets, most people are also wondering how to navigate the highs and lows.

Bob Ross also once said ‘just go out and talk to a tree. Make friends with it.’ I’d recommend maybe not doing that in Freshers’ Week.

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