SPRING FRINGE 2020
The Other Room at Porter’s, Cardiff, Tue 3 Mar-Sat 4 Apr
We can always count on The Other Room to give us cutting-edge, new theatre. For their Spring Fringe, they’re presenting themes of history, national identity, body image, sex, sexual abuse, communication (or lack of) and loads more over the last four plays of the season.
Back To Berlin (Tue 3-Fri 6 Mar) is the debut production by Cardiff-based CB4 Theatre. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was a momentous occurrence – and if you were lucky enough to be there, what a groundbreaking party it was. Before that, for 30 years, Berliners on the wrong side didn’t have much to celebrate. Luke Seidel-Hass tells the true story of Bernhard and his trip back to his former heimat.
Katie Greenall’s first piece of theatre work came about because she was exasperated at the dearth of representations of bodies and stories like hers. The result was Fatty Fat Fat (Thurs 12 + Fri 13), an autobiographical exploration of what it is to be fat and the angst that comes with it. Why do people, who wouldn’t even think of mocking a disabled person or shouting racist remarks, think it’s OK to disparage and disrespect a large person?
Sexy Lamp (Thurs 26-Sat 28), created and performed by Katie Arnstein, is a post-#MeToo testament to the sexism, prejudice and abuse of power in the acting industry. The production was inspired by the ‘Sexy Lamp’ test, which calls out films where a female character can be substituted with a sexy lamp without any plot change. Arnstein says the show is semi-autobiographical and tells of her arrival in London as a 21-year-old looking for work, combining comedy and music.
Why are we still so bad at talking about sex? That’s one of the questions that Sex Education (Tue 31 Mar-Sat 4 Apr), the explicit show by Harry Clayton-Wright, asks. It explores how we learn about sex and how it shapes our lives. His mum wouldn’t discuss sex with teenage Harry; dad bought him gay porn DVDs. Clayton-Wright’s said this show is the most exposed he’s ever been, and his family are banned from seeing it. I wonder why! RHONDA LEE REALI
Tickets: £10. Info: 0333 6663366 / www.otherroomtheatre.com