It’s a Thursday – it’s getting cold – and TwoLasses were in the Isle of Dogs at an exciting new venue The Space, invited to their Autumn Winter season launch! How very exciting!
After a long day of meetings (Lass 1) and being an amazing TA (Lass 2) it was little surprise (and very true to form) that we headed straight for the complimentary fizz! As we did, the increasingly inevitable thing happened where we bumped into someone we knew and spent the lead up to the main event having a lovely catch up.
The sneakily staged introduction set the tone for the night, relaxed, funny and friendly. We kicked off with Hooked Theatre’s production of Little Fools- a short extract and a video that encapsulated there style which mixes spoken word and naturalism which tackles the interesting topic of separating how we know a person and the acts that they are accused of. It runs 25th-29th This month, so get yourself down there quick!
Next to the stage was Love Is a Work in Progress by Tara Rankine, a really beautiful blend of music and chat, hilarity and reflection- looks to be a very funny and important night out. It runs from 2nd-6th October.
Anna Nicholson- Woman Of The Year was next, returning from Edinburgh to run at the space from 3-6th October sees one woman present four characters who battle it out for woman of the year- which you get to decide at the end of the night! Shout out to this one as Anna is a fellow Northern Lass, something we always love to see down here!
Little Pieces of Gold run by Suzette Coon is new writing royalty- what you see at theses staged readings are chosen from hundreds of submissions, so you’re really going to get the best of the best on the 10th & 11th October
Halloween is up next, and from the 30th October to 3rd November Feminist Theatre group Scary Little Girls present The Full Bronte. The piece is a two hander that uses clowning- and my only note is that these guys seem really cool, and why would you want to disagree with us?
The Space Productions is the in house company, and this Christmas they present a modern adaptation of Little Women to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of the book. Lovers of classics, updated classics and tales of sisterhood and family should check out what I’m sure will be a warming production running form the 27th November to 22nd December.
Last but by no means least will come Starched Theatre’s production of Laundry that will examine social divides in the Eastend of London in the early 50’s. Think Call the Midwife on stage, but instead of babies the focus is washing. Should be an amazing glimpse into an era still in living memory, and they seem do have done some amazing research and I wish them the best of luck with their rehearsal period.
Arguments about what the theme of the season is I’d be inclined to agree with both of them- Adam Hemming suggested it might be ‘Little’, with Little Fools, Little Pieces of Gold, Scary Little Girls and Little Women all being part of the season but Grace Chapman in charge of the publicity fought back with the fact the shows this season is 70% written and directed by women, and so it is a season led by women. We love this amazing woman led approach for a space that you immediately feel at home in, but we couldn’t help notice a lack of racial diversity in the room- we both really hope that the casting can create an even more diverse season!
Keep an eye out for us reviewing these shows in the coming months, we’re really looking forward to it!
@SpaceArtsCentre #littlewomenplay
@HookedTheatre #LittleFools
@RankineTara #loveisaworkinprogress
@AnnaNicholson_ #womanoftheyear
@suzettecoon #littlepiecesofgold
@scarylittleGs #thefullbronte
@STARCHEDtheatre #laundryplay
#seasonlaunch
#taglinefortheSpace
Two Lasses in London 