Sian Hutchinson December 8, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a commentIt turns out that the actor on Saturday night was the author herself, Sian Hutchinson. Definitely one to keep an eye on as both a writer and performer.
Extremes of theatre December 7, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Camden,Reviews , 2 commentsIt’s been a weekend of theatrical extremes. On Friday, the bright lights and splendour of a beautiful West End theatre, and one of the greatest English plays performed by a world class company. On Saturday, a tiny theatre above a pub in Camden, with an audience of fewer than 20, most of them the author’s flatmates and neighbours.
The performance was a double bill, two short monologues written by Sian Hutchinson, and performed by a very talented (and rather beautiful) but un-named actress.
Have you ever gone back to the house of your childhood, long after others have moved in? I did that about 10 years after my family left it, when it was up for sale. Seeing it again, smaller, modernised and with half the garden converted into carpark was a disturbing, and profoundly strange experience. In Moving On, the character does exactly that, with the added poignancy of an absent father she has yet to contact. It’s a beautifully written piece, easy to relate to, touchingly performed.
The second piece, Clutching at Straws, is a comedy. An American exchange student looks at the mating habits of British women, in a series of cameos showing up our inability to tell blokes to leave and then stick to that (don’t American women have that problem too?), being the gooseberry when your housemate finds a man, and switching effortlessly from accent to accent, all the time dressed in a remarkable pair of pink lace hotpants.
Sadly, tonight is the final of the short run, but I’ll be watching out for any more of Ms Hutchinson’s work, and must keep an eye on what’s coming up at the Etcetera Theatre.
