Nola Rae
WORKSHOP
Hackney Citizen
Galactik Ensemble review >
"What a company and what a concept. If all mime is this energetic, sign me up for next year’s festival!"
Gabriel Wilding 10 Feb 2020
Galactik Ensemble review >
"What a company and what a concept. If all mime is this energetic, sign me up for next year’s festival!"
Gabriel Wilding 10 Feb 2020
Total Theatre
Festival roundup >
"London International Mime Festival is always an eclectic mix, and the 2020 edition (the 44th – LIMF is the longest running theatre festival in London) proved to be a fabulous feast of physical and visual theatre."
Dorothy Max Prior 3 Feb 2020
Festival roundup >
"London International Mime Festival is always an eclectic mix, and the 2020 edition (the 44th – LIMF is the longest running theatre festival in London) proved to be a fabulous feast of physical and visual theatre."
Dorothy Max Prior 3 Feb 2020
The Stage
Galactik Ensemble 4 star review >
"Optraken is charming. Five performers – each dressed in unassuming ‘smart casual’ clothes – battle with a hostile set that is on the attack. Sacks of flour and weighted bouquets drop from the ceiling. Offstage machines fire tennis balls. The performers find themselves suspended from the rafters, trapped in plastic bags, chased by the walls. Every new, farcical indignity is met with a deadpan Buster Keaton-esque stoicism that is very comic. Quietly hilarious acrobatic show featuring deadpan wit and technical tightness"
**** Ka Bradley 30 Jan 2020
Galactik Ensemble 4 star review >
"Optraken is charming. Five performers – each dressed in unassuming ‘smart casual’ clothes – battle with a hostile set that is on the attack. Sacks of flour and weighted bouquets drop from the ceiling. Offstage machines fire tennis balls. The performers find themselves suspended from the rafters, trapped in plastic bags, chased by the walls. Every new, farcical indignity is met with a deadpan Buster Keaton-esque stoicism that is very comic. Quietly hilarious acrobatic show featuring deadpan wit and technical tightness"
**** Ka Bradley 30 Jan 2020
WhatsOnStage
Kiss & Cry 5 star review >
"This is the most magical show, original and creative, which takes a child's playbox of toys and transforms them into a resonant, sophisticated piece of theatre. Accompanied by a soundtrack that encompasses everything from Schubert to Nina Simone and David Bowie, the dancers' hands stalk the landscapes, becoming people in front of our eyes.... entirely original and totally entrancing"
***** Sarah Crompton 7 Aug 2018
Kiss & Cry 5 star review >
"This is the most magical show, original and creative, which takes a child's playbox of toys and transforms them into a resonant, sophisticated piece of theatre. Accompanied by a soundtrack that encompasses everything from Schubert to Nina Simone and David Bowie, the dancers' hands stalk the landscapes, becoming people in front of our eyes.... entirely original and totally entrancing"
***** Sarah Crompton 7 Aug 2018
Guardian
Kiss & Cry Feature >
"Can dancing digits really move an audience as much as real actors? Absolutely. Enter the miraculous, miniature world of Cold Blood, a dance and film show by Kiss & Cry Collective."
David Jays
Kiss & Cry Feature >
"Can dancing digits really move an audience as much as real actors? Absolutely. Enter the miraculous, miniature world of Cold Blood, a dance and film show by Kiss & Cry Collective."
David Jays
Peeping Tom
The Stage 4 star review >
"The final instalment of Peeping Tom’s neurotically fraught family-based trilogy, Child (Kind) is the most daringly dark of them all, unsparing in its juxtaposition of violent imagery and pitch-black humour...Hugely inventive"
**** Anna Winter 23 Jan 2020
The Stage 4 star review >
"The final instalment of Peeping Tom’s neurotically fraught family-based trilogy, Child (Kind) is the most daringly dark of them all, unsparing in its juxtaposition of violent imagery and pitch-black humour...Hugely inventive"
**** Anna Winter 23 Jan 2020
Nola Rae Workshop
Guardian Feature >
"The first rule of mime club? You do not talk. Well, not when you’re hard at work. Our writer takes lessons from Marcel Marceau’s former student, Nola Rae"
Kate Wyver 30 Jan 2020
Guardian Feature >
"The first rule of mime club? You do not talk. Well, not when you’re hard at work. Our writer takes lessons from Marcel Marceau’s former student, Nola Rae"
Kate Wyver 30 Jan 2020
Peeping Tom
Guardian 4 star review >
"It has a characteristically stunning set: a forest of pines on one side, a cliff of rock on the other. … every scene grips on its own, with great use of sound and set, brilliantly watchable performers"
**** Sanjoy Roy 23 Jan 2020
Guardian 4 star review >
"It has a characteristically stunning set: a forest of pines on one side, a cliff of rock on the other. … every scene grips on its own, with great use of sound and set, brilliantly watchable performers"
**** Sanjoy Roy 23 Jan 2020
Joli Vyann
Plays To See 4 star review >
"ANIMA is dangerous, it’s exciting, and as an audience, it is an unconscious initiation into breathing techniques. It is beautiful breath-controlling taiko acrobatic circus."
**** Blake Gordon Plante 24 Jan 2020
Plays To See 4 star review >
"ANIMA is dangerous, it’s exciting, and as an audience, it is an unconscious initiation into breathing techniques. It is beautiful breath-controlling taiko acrobatic circus."
**** Blake Gordon Plante 24 Jan 2020
Wes Peden
Circus Diaries review >
"In many ways, Zebra is like an album; you have an opening number that sets the feel of the whole thing, you have your five club tracks that are sure to be the number one chart toppers, you have a more pop-y up-tempo track with a jump-rope that’ll get people moving, then you can put your more experimental pieces in, really go tassel crazy…. Watching is like listening to someone speaking inner thoughts, it’s just that the language is juggling."
Rosie Kelly 10 Feb 2020
Circus Diaries review >
"In many ways, Zebra is like an album; you have an opening number that sets the feel of the whole thing, you have your five club tracks that are sure to be the number one chart toppers, you have a more pop-y up-tempo track with a jump-rope that’ll get people moving, then you can put your more experimental pieces in, really go tassel crazy…. Watching is like listening to someone speaking inner thoughts, it’s just that the language is juggling."
Rosie Kelly 10 Feb 2020
Opposable Thumb
Circus Diaries review >
"The show takes some unexpected turns, veering from silliness to graphic moments of violence and nudity, to the occasional moment of real intimacy. Throughout the show, the artistry in the design is a pleasure to experience. The entirely cardboard set – as well as the multitude of props and objects by Emma Powell – are intricate, satisfying and effective."
Ruby Burgess 10 Feb 2020
Circus Diaries review >
"The show takes some unexpected turns, veering from silliness to graphic moments of violence and nudity, to the occasional moment of real intimacy. Throughout the show, the artistry in the design is a pleasure to experience. The entirely cardboard set – as well as the multitude of props and objects by Emma Powell – are intricate, satisfying and effective."
Ruby Burgess 10 Feb 2020
Wes Peden
ReviewsHub 4 star review >
"What Peden achieves is beyond impressive and, at times, like a magic trick...the most technically incredible juggler in the world. If any of Peden’s routines were to be on a Britain’s Got Talent type of variety show it would undoubtedly be the next day’s water cooler moment in every office in the country"
**** Jay Nuttall 21 Jan 2020
ReviewsHub 4 star review >
"What Peden achieves is beyond impressive and, at times, like a magic trick...the most technically incredible juggler in the world. If any of Peden’s routines were to be on a Britain’s Got Talent type of variety show it would undoubtedly be the next day’s water cooler moment in every office in the country"
**** Jay Nuttall 21 Jan 2020
Trygve Wakenshaw
Plays To See 4 star Review >
"Only Bones 1.4 is a compelling mime show and a joy to behold."
**** Blake Gordon Plante 16 Jan 2020
Plays To See 4 star Review >
"Only Bones 1.4 is a compelling mime show and a joy to behold."
**** Blake Gordon Plante 16 Jan 2020
Still Hungry
Guardian review >
"In this acrobatic theatre show, the Berlin circus trio Still Hungry juggle roles and wrestle with all the anxieties and expectations that come with child-rearing"
*** Lyndsey Winship 23 Jan 2020
Guardian review >
"In this acrobatic theatre show, the Berlin circus trio Still Hungry juggle roles and wrestle with all the anxieties and expectations that come with child-rearing"
*** Lyndsey Winship 23 Jan 2020
The PappyShow
Guardian Review >
"Part confessional, part standup, part community theatre, it is by turns taut, scrappy, hard-hitting, offhand, deeply felt – and always personable.."
*** Sanjoy Roy 21 Jan 2020
Guardian Review >
"Part confessional, part standup, part community theatre, it is by turns taut, scrappy, hard-hitting, offhand, deeply felt – and always personable.."
*** Sanjoy Roy 21 Jan 2020
Nick Lehane
New Scientist feature >
"Man raised alongside chimps says it should never happen again" - Nick Lehane's performance piece, Chimpanzee, in London for the first time, reveals how tragedy stalked the amazing achievement of raising chimps in human families.
Simon Ings 21 Jan 2020
New Scientist feature >
"Man raised alongside chimps says it should never happen again" - Nick Lehane's performance piece, Chimpanzee, in London for the first time, reveals how tragedy stalked the amazing achievement of raising chimps in human families.
Simon Ings 21 Jan 2020
Fleur Elise Noble
The Times 4 star Review >
"Deliciously disorientating, like being catapulted into a moving, multidimensional collage or a graphic novel that has sprung to life. A magical reflection on loneliness through puppetry and dance"
**** Sam Marlowe 17 Jan 2020
The Times 4 star Review >
"Deliciously disorientating, like being catapulted into a moving, multidimensional collage or a graphic novel that has sprung to life. A magical reflection on loneliness through puppetry and dance"
**** Sam Marlowe 17 Jan 2020
La Pendue
Plays To See review >
"Tria Fata uses bunraku puppets, shadow puppetry, and a dabbling of physical performance with occasional mask-work, supported by a one man band. It’s a sweet, dark, and quirky tale."
*** Blake Gordon Plante 21 Jan 2020
Plays To See review >
"Tria Fata uses bunraku puppets, shadow puppetry, and a dabbling of physical performance with occasional mask-work, supported by a one man band. It’s a sweet, dark, and quirky tale."
*** Blake Gordon Plante 21 Jan 2020
Told by an Idiot
Guardian 4 star Review >
"Vitale, who brings Chaplin – that odd rolling walk; the knowingly innocent expression – to uncanny life. Jerone Marsh-Reid is a similarly endearing presence as Laurel, whose gangly physicality contrasts nicely with the pocket-sized Chaplin, on whom he dotes. This fantasia is seldom less than magical."
**** Brian Logan 16 Jan 2020
Guardian 4 star Review >
"Vitale, who brings Chaplin – that odd rolling walk; the knowingly innocent expression – to uncanny life. Jerone Marsh-Reid is a similarly endearing presence as Laurel, whose gangly physicality contrasts nicely with the pocket-sized Chaplin, on whom he dotes. This fantasia is seldom less than magical."
**** Brian Logan 16 Jan 2020
Told by an Idiot
Daily Telegraph 4 star Review >
"ultimately this invention-stuffed and music-crammed show (hats off to tireless pianist Sara Alexander) delivers what mime does best – total clarity in terms of movement but an abiding mystery as to what’s fully being said. A treat, silly and sublime"
**** Dominic Cavendish 16 Jan 2020
Daily Telegraph 4 star Review >
"ultimately this invention-stuffed and music-crammed show (hats off to tireless pianist Sara Alexander) delivers what mime does best – total clarity in terms of movement but an abiding mystery as to what’s fully being said. A treat, silly and sublime"
**** Dominic Cavendish 16 Jan 2020
Fleur Elise Noble
Guardian Review >
"Hand-drawn backgrounds with defined pencil marks, realistic film, silhouettes, puppets and extravagantly costumed dancers. It’s like all the layers of a person’s experience – sleeping, waking, conscious, subconscious – coexisting... Its dreamlike detachment makes it difficult to love, but this highly original show is strikingly distinctive"
*** Lindsey Winship 15 Jan 2020
Guardian Review >
"Hand-drawn backgrounds with defined pencil marks, realistic film, silhouettes, puppets and extravagantly costumed dancers. It’s like all the layers of a person’s experience – sleeping, waking, conscious, subconscious – coexisting... Its dreamlike detachment makes it difficult to love, but this highly original show is strikingly distinctive"
*** Lindsey Winship 15 Jan 2020
Compagnie HMG
Circus Diaries Review >
"In addition to Guichard’s dry but oddly charismatic presence, I found the show captivating as his movement and balances around the kit were quite ingenious....3D has a lovely sense of cohesion"
Olivia Buben 14 Jan 2020
Circus Diaries Review >
"In addition to Guichard’s dry but oddly charismatic presence, I found the show captivating as his movement and balances around the kit were quite ingenious....3D has a lovely sense of cohesion"
Olivia Buben 14 Jan 2020
Trygve Wakenshaw
The Times Review >
"This former Edinburgh Festival Comedy Awards nominee shows a devotion to creating a sense of event... at upending expectations that is delivered with extraordinary charm and originality"
*** Dominic Maxwell 13 Jan 2020
The Times Review >
"This former Edinburgh Festival Comedy Awards nominee shows a devotion to creating a sense of event... at upending expectations that is delivered with extraordinary charm and originality"
*** Dominic Maxwell 13 Jan 2020
Thick & Tight
The Stage 5 Star Review >
"Rambert-trained duo Daniel Hay-Gordon and Eleanor Perry – aka Thick and Tight – pull a blinder with their latest showcase of lip-syncing physical portraiture, so deft in its blend of parody and pathos."
***** Anna Winter 13 Jan 2020
The Stage 5 Star Review >
"Rambert-trained duo Daniel Hay-Gordon and Eleanor Perry – aka Thick and Tight – pull a blinder with their latest showcase of lip-syncing physical portraiture, so deft in its blend of parody and pathos."
***** Anna Winter 13 Jan 2020
Ockham's Razor
The Guardian 4 Star Review >
"This is a lovely show, light in touch but deep in meaning... there is a thread of joy throughout... connecting in the moment with each other and the audience."
**** Lyndsey Winship 10 Jan 2020
The Guardian 4 Star Review >
"This is a lovely show, light in touch but deep in meaning... there is a thread of joy throughout... connecting in the moment with each other and the audience."
**** Lyndsey Winship 10 Jan 2020
