Theatre: 24:7 festival round up

Article published: Friday, July 30th 2010

The 24:7  Theatre Festival runs until 1 August, showing an impressive range of fresh and young performances at the New Century House in Manchester. The plays are all short – catching the viewers’ attention for just an hour but making them want to come back for more. It’s the perfect way to spend the weekend, says Virginia Fernandez.

The festival’s playful slogan is: “The original 3D experience”. But it also describes the kind of theatre on show here, based upon a high quality of acting, innovative staging and relevant subjects. This year, ten full performances and five in-development rehearsal readings are telling us stories in a different and imaginative way.

It’s the place to go for theatre in Manchester, not least because first-time writers often début here before getting longer bookings at bigger venues later on in the year. There’s likely to be plenty of future stars to look out for. Here’s my choice of the most interesting plays:

Make Believe is an imaginative piece of work, talking about the difficulties of growing up and saying good bye to an exciting childhood world. The actors will make you laugh and dream all the way through, allowing the audience to share the imaginary world they create.

Reeling is a meeting between the past and the present, presenting an interesting point of view about how the present can change when we rediscover the past. The acting is convincing and the writer does well to take us into the past through their words.

The inconsistent whisper of insanity is a story related in different times. It’s an original way of telling a familiar story, of love in war times. The plot and the staging are, however, brilliant.

Fading Hum is a story about family reconciliation which, if not particularly complex, features stand out performances from talented young actors.

Bluest Blue covers a meeting between different worlds and is about first and second impressions; the gap between appearances and reality. Definitely worth at least one watch.

See here for more information about the plays.

See here for reviews, comments and actor diaries.

Photo credit: Neale Myers

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Comments

1. Hi Siobhan
   Thank you for your kind words re Inconsistent Whisper of Insanity

   Greatly appreciated

   Best wishes

   Comment by Ian Moore on August 2, 2010 at 10:58 am

2. No worries Ian, but the article and views all belong to Virginia Fernandez.

   Comment by Sio on August 2, 2010 at 6:12 pm

The comments are closed.