| A Look-back and Guide |
At Hijinx Theatre |
| Hijinx , Theatre of Wales , April 27, 2024 |
The reviews of productions by Hijinx can be read below:“Angels Don't Need Wings”: 27 June 2002 “Families, South Walian rivalry, popular music and the ghosts of the past are usually to be found in Laurence Allan's plays and his latest, specially written to celebrate the 21st birthday of Hijinx Theatre, is no exception. “Here skeletons in the cupboard, secrets and lies and the opposing worlds of Cardiff and Merthyr (penned by a lad from Ponty, midway between the two industrial giants) are woven into a complex mystery as two girls with a 21st birthday find they both have a father called Benny. Add the Platters and Metallica. a dead brother, an alternative Benny and a whole ghost family and you have a heady mix of music, guilt, generational misunderstanding and a philosophical questioning of where we come from.” "Beneath The Streets: Lost And Found": 06 July 2015: 04 July 2014 “In 2014 Punchdrunk also found time to link with Hijinx Theatre to create "Beneath The Streets" a site specific piece in Cardiff which proved so successful it has returned to the Welsh capital. “If you like the unusual I can't recommend this show strongly enough. I had some idea of the style but still loved the context while Jon was virtually speechless with delight at the end. The other key bonus with this type of promenade performance is that you can go every night and have a completely different experience each time.” "Chasing Rainbows": 03 July 2009: 28 June 2009: 03 June 2009 “Playwright Glenys Evans' seventy-minute, four-character fable is given life by the direction that works outstandingly through both acting and stagecraft. “To her credit Glenys Evans avoids the temptation of didacticism and keeps it story-focussed. She knows in depth the world of which she writes. The whole structure of life skills certificates, statements of choice and inclusion are there, but without intrusion. Julia Wyndham's stretched support worker stands for every front-line public service worker anyone has ever met. It is a tribute to the writing that when her Carol thinks she might just escape with her job Catherine Morris' Hayley blithely tells her she has told her dad about her “adventure.” "Dreaming Amelia": 01 December 2002: 31 October 2002: 24 September 2002 Sharon Morgan's striking new play for Hijinx Theatre is a mini-saga full of big ideas, lyrical language, deep emotions and a sense of history And the audience certainly appreciated having this thoughtful and ambitious piece.” "Estella's Fire":19 December 2006: 11 October 2006: 09 October 2006: 03 October 2006: “Sensitively directed by Rosamunde Hutt, this fascinating drama explores well beyond the novel, at times amusing, occasionally fierce, always touching, building to a matically poetic climax, as surreal as it is moving. The ensemble playing of the four-strong cast is admirable - Caroline Bunce as the embittered Miss Havisham, Stephen Hickman as the naive, over-awed Pip, Lizzie Rogan as the strange tweeny maid Lily May, with an absolutely riveting performance by Zoe Davies as the wilful but so vulnerable Estella.” "The Flop": 14 August 2018: 16 July 2018: 12 July 2018 “This latest Hijinx/Spymonkey production is a brilliantly entertaining French farce that's well aware of its production shortcomings and exploits them mercilessly for great comedic purpose...the show takes the form of a fourth-wall-breaking pantomime, presented by six gormless players who are forced to work with a minimal number of props and costumes, in front of a wide wooden set which includes numerous doors and windows which, as in any farce, are used with great frequency.” “When the action overflows into the audience Iain Gibbons' Marquis de Longey shouts at a company member who is far up the rows. He gets a shout back, “You can't see me. I'm behind the fourth wall!” The satins and the buckled shoes are gorgeous. Ted Lishman plays a double role as grandfather and midwife. “The Flop” wraps itself up with Adam C Webb appearing as a giant hedgehog.” "Full Circle": 14 May 2003 “Full Circle successfully summarises in around an hour Andy’s journey from sitting at home with his mother, through forming his Circle of Friends (a group of family members, family friends and social workers whose aim is that Andy need not be so reliant on professional services), to fulfilling his ambition to climb the mountain. The cast of four all give strong performances, enhanced by rhythmic music and poetic chanting, but it is Gareth Lloyd Roberts in the role of Andy who drives the show. He is both determined and sensitive, but never overly so, his gentle manner building an instant rapport with the audience.” "The Good, The Bad, and the Cuddly": 28 June 2003 2Ignoring the complexities of the modern day Western, this show took us back there out on the prairie of those good old days with its escaping convicts, gold diggers and the good guys winning in the end and celebrated by a lively dance and riotous sing song. We all wanted to get up and join in! The script was devised by Gaynor Lougher and Paul Conway.” "Gulliver": 13 December 2009: 03 December 2009 “I've told you before” says Brendan Charleson's animated, very English Jonathan Swift “You should never believe the critics.” The words are those of playwright Kit Lambert but the sentiments are Swiftian through and through. His hilarious assault on critics in “A Tale of a Tub” vies with Sheridan's 1779 “the Critic” as the funniest spoof on critics ever written. The idiot savant academics of Gulliver's third journey with their weird goggles and flapping coats are brilliantly choreographed by director Louise Osborn. The dramatic verve of the presentation of the floating island of Laputa (“la Puta” being Spanish for “prostitute”) and the grace of Zoe Davies’ Houyhnhnm highlights the imbalance in “Gulliver's Travels.” The first two adventures are far more familiar, partly owing to their wholly undeserved and bowdlerised transference into the domain of children's literature.” “Hansel, Gedeon and the Grimms’ Wood”: 07 December 2018 “This is one of the reasons for Hijinx’s success, they don’t just do standard productions of classic texts, they will look at a familiar story from a different angle. Also, they provide the most sumptuous sets for the packed audience in the Weston Studio to enjoy before “Hansel, Gedeon and the Grimms’Wood” even started. We meet our 2 heroes ( from the title) being read goodnight fairy stories ( with suitably macabre) endings by their loving parents. Once they depart, however, we discover a complete personality difference between the brothers as one is desperate to escape for the confines of the house whilst his brother is happy to be timid and remain in his cosseted surroundings.” "Ill Met by Moonlight" by Charles Way: 15 December 2010: 12 November 2010: 21/10/2010: 29 September 2001: 28 September 2001: 25 September 2001 “Their revival of the play serves to remind us of not just how the company has changed but of what a fine piece of intelligent, sensitive, lyrical and accomplished writing this is. Under the direction of Kevin Lewis the play seems even stronger, more dramatic, less whimsical, more unashamedly about love.” "Into the Light": 15 February 2019 “Wow, is the 1st word that comes to mind after seeing the latest production from Hijinx Theatre. In collaboration with Teatro La Ribalta and Frantic Assembly they have progressed from Christmas shows ( we loved "Hansel,Gedeon and the Grimm's Wood" in December), comedies ("The Flop" was great fun last summer) to a dance piece " Into The Light". “Using the big stage at Sherman Theatre the show starts in complete darkness other than hollow rectangular objects lit at each side. From nowhere the faces and bodies of the performers appear, hover then vanish whilst loud music reverberates through the auditorium. This is a mesmerising beginning to any show. Gradually the artistes appear fully formed with fragmented pre-recorded dialogue about what being on stage means to them. Again, this is a simple idea transformed into theatrical magic in the innovative hands of joint directors Scott Graham and Krista Vuori.” "Into My Own": 09 July 2004: 28 June 2003: 05 July 2010: 13 December 2009 “Glenys Evans' latest play addresses the emotionally charged issue of young adults with learning difficulties who continue to live with their parents long after childhood. The play masterfully explores the missed opportunities that can result from a life of enforced dependency and confronts the difficult question of what happens after their parents' death.” "I Shot Buffalo Bill": 25 September 2003 “Yee Ha! Just jump on your horse and gallop down to the Sherman Theatre, where you're sure to have a great time! And yes you will meet The Man That Shot Buffalo Bill! Buffalo Bill is back in Cardiff for the first time since his Wild West travelling show hit Sophia Gardens in 1903. I wasn’t there but I reckon my grandpa might have been.” "A Long Way Home": 01 October 2007 “A feisty old woman, dressed all in black is taking the long way home. On her travels through rough mountain passes she seems to be completing the whole of life’s journey. The journey we are all on and though we may not all be clothed in black from head to toe we will all share some of ‘Old Mother’s’ joys and sorrows as each one of us carves out our own path. Award winning playwright Charles Way’s story is a fascinating one and is totally captivating in the way it is told in this enthralling production.” "Meet Fred": 20 January 2017: 13 August 2016 “Fred and his story, written and directed by Hijinx’ Artistic Director Ben Pettit -Wade after a visit to Hijinx’ very successful Cardiff Academy, set up in 2012 to equip actors with learning disabilities to perform along side actors without disabilities in the company’s professional productions, by the internationally renown Puppet Company, Blind Summit. Blind Summit introduced Hijinx to Bunraku, a long established, three-man form of Japanese puppetry.” "Miss Brown to You": 19 March 2009: 06 March 2009 “Wales based author Alan Harris brings us a stirring yet wistful account of a small family struggling in the meagre early years of World War Two. Emily’s Aunt Rhoda runs a failing village shop in the village of Llanrhiw with the assistance of her son, a Calon Lân singing lad approaching his eighteenth birthday. Because of the intensity of the war activity in London, Rhoda’s sister has sent her daughter Emily to stay with her in the safety of remote Wales; Emily is not an evacuee but a young teenager with Downs Syndrome and so is actor Sarah Pickard who gives an extraordinary performance. She is one feisty lady and working with director Gaynor Lougher she charms and captivates us brilliantly.” "The Other Woman": 17 November 2008: 30 October 2008 “But staging it in front of a young, theatregoing audience it becomes clear very soon that this is a clever, multi-layered work that could, in fact, hold its own in any theatre as a critique of bourgeois society. With a few tweaks Paul Swift’s play (originally commissioned by Rhondda-based Spectacle Theatre more than 20 years ago) would be a sharp-edged political tragicomedy floating somewhere between Arnold Wesker and Sarah Kane.” "Paul Robeson Knew My Father": 22 October 2004: 01 October 2004: 27 September 2004: 10 September 2004 “Towards the end of this excellent production we hear a recording of Paul Robeson addressing the 1957 South Wales Miners’ Eisteddfod from his home (or prison) in America. It makes for gripping listening as Robeson talks with miners’ leader Will Paynter. He sings to the miners and they sing to him.” "Ruling the Roost": 05 May 2007: 11 May 2007 "Sancho Panza": 08 October 2012 “And here they are up to all their old tricks again with artistic director Gaynor Lougher returning to her acting origins playing a multitude of parts and trying, and usually failing to stop the mayhem. The chaos of the evening is set from the moment we enter the auditorium. A couple of silver ‘wooden trees’ on one side of the stage but mostly the plains of Le Mancha are represented by several roles of white wall paper hung across the back of the stage. The cast are seen drawing Picasso-like work of art on them and writing curious messages to the entering audience.” "Second Star to the Right": 30 November 2017 “It is also impressive that writer Llinos Mai has updated “Peter Pan” with the pertinent message that life is so serious nowadays and we need to re-engage with the child still inside of us. The whole cast is outstanding but credit must go to Nia Ramage, Blue Balmforth and Simon Richards in the 3 key roles. “I always enjoy the Hijinx Theatre shows but I must say I think “ The Second Star To The Right” is their best production yet.” "The Silent Tin Soldier": 10 December 2015 “The joy of “The Silent Toy Soldier” however, is not the plot but the performance and the staging. The atmosphere of the piece is beautifully enhanced by talent musicians from South Wales University, Caerleon who also provide unexpected cameos. Huge praise must also go to the design team who produced a large array of eye-catching costumes, not only adding colour and life to the stage but also clearly defining each character.” "The Snow Queen": 01 December 2016 “It is a great plot but what brings it to life are the performances. Everyone on stage is clearly having a great time and this joy transfers itself to the audience. It helps that Sean Williams and Sara Pickard in the main roles were both excellent but all the cast played their part well. Even though the Weston Studio is a small space Hijinx Odyssey's always create good sets and costumes ( credit to Kitty Callister). Equally impressive is James Clarke's music with writer Llinos Mai and director Jon Dafydd-Kidd ensuring the multiple scenes were slickly introduced and that the pace never drops. "The Snow Queen" proved to be the joyous experience I hoped for and expected.” "Some Day Soon": 30 April 2002 “The show is pure magic. The sensitive playing (Bethan Mason, Lee Mengo, Gareth Lloyd Roberts and Cler Stephens) is well judged but the key to the success is in the Hijinx teamwork. “This is their 21st anniversary year and three of the founder-members have come together again to create this mini masterpiece - writer Glenys Evans, musical director Matthew Bailey and director Gaynor Lougher (the only one still wholly involved with the company).” "Spinning the Round Table": 30 September 2005: 24 September 2005 "Tarzanne- Queen of the Jungle" by Greg Cullen: 22 June 2000: 02 October 2000: 09 November 9, 2000: 01 December 2000 “What happens to a four-year old girl, lost in the African jungle, raised by a group of chimpanzees, and returned caged to her South Wales Valleys mother ten years later? For all the world a naked chimp herself, Anne is unable to talk or understand human behaviour. Such is the basic situation of this highly imaginative and thought-provoking play written and directed by Greg Cullen for Hijinx Theatre. The widowed mother (Nicola Branson) with the help of a neighbour (Mark Howell East) strives to humanise her daughter, a painful but sometimes hilarious process. This is complicated still further by the intrusion homosexual buglar (Mark Bernard), whom Anne (Lucy Rivers) flls in love with.” "To Have and to Hold": 23 May 2001: 12 May 2005: 21 April 2005 “What you do have to do is allow yourself to respond to the essential theatricality and force of this story of two young people who fall in love. You have also to realise that theatre doesn’t have to be complex or witty or allusive or spectacular to be powerful, because Gaynor Lougher and Glenys Evans’s co-devised and co-directed piece is staggeringly simple in form and content. “But to create something of such simplicity and effectiveness (as a tough old cookie of a critic, I for one had a lump in my throat by the end), you have to have to be able to draw on years of experience and skill, and To Have and To Hold… seems to me to be the product of a wealth of sensitivity, empathy and perception from Mss Lougher and Evans, two longstanding Hijinx members.” "Unity Festival": 11 July 2017 “A festival with a difference was staged in Caernarfon at the weekend. Spectacular circus, theatre, dance and music acts filled the historic castle, Victoria Dock, the square and Galeri Caernarfon, with many free performances. The festival, organised by the Cardiff-based community theatre company, showcased the best inclusive and disability arts from around the world. A spokesman said: “Performers from across the UK, France, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Ethiopia travelled to Caernarfon to bring art of the highest quality, made by and with disabled artists, to new audiences.” "Whisper on the Waves": 14 December 2012 “Philip Michell’s script is inspired by the story of Artie Moore, the radio ham who, in 1912, from his shed in the South Wales village of Pontllanfraith, picked up distress signals from the Titanic two days before official news of the disaster reached the UK. Michell casts the unfortunate passengers as ghosts, attending on intimate family events across the century. The couple, Sam and Ben (Sara Pickard and Iain Gibbins), who come across the previously unsuspected shed whilst walking in the woods, are newly pregnant; the actress has Downs Syndrome—whether or not her character does seems immaterial. In the hideaway, they discover antique items—photo albums, vintage telephones, gas masks—which seem to speak to them of their current uncertainties.” |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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