Action Hero

After a nine hour train journey thanks to slightly damp tracks just outside Edinburgh I arrived at the flat that i'll be sharing with some of the other performers from the Forest Fringe. Fellow Bristolians and Residence members action hero are here too, they've just finished their little run and i'm just about to start mine tonight. Already I have seen the excellent Paper Cinema and a funny/blokey stand up gig by Daniel Kitson and friends.

What a weekend, it's been great, I have spent most of the last two days inside the Arnolfini in Bristol, watching and performing in their live art weekender: I am still your worst nightmare. My pieces both worked to a certain extent but not in the way i thought they might. Here is a brief run down of some of the performances I saw, in no particular order and utilising the conceit of a system of spurious awards...

The award for...

The following, verbatim, is a post i made on the guardian website:

Right now Bristol is buzzing with people making great work. For me the disappearance of Bristol Old Vic has lead to there being a lot more openness and support within the theatre/performance community. At the same time, as if by magic, there are a host of emerging companies...emerging. You only have to look at the programme for BAC's BURST season to see an embarrassment of 'stol based riches: Tim Atack, Tom Marshman, Search Party and Action Hero are all showing work.

7:30pm Saturday 29th March at Horfield Police Station
Residence host their newly established evening of works-in-progress from Residence members.

Following on from last months event that saw Kettle of Fish and Ed Rapley try out new material in front of an invited audience, 3 more Residence artists will be presenting work at various stages of development. We want your feedback and we want your comments. What works, what doesn’t, what surprised you, what didn’t. Come along and stick your oar in.

The Warwick Arts Centre is massive, I hadn't realised just how big the complex was, so it was a bit of a shock when i got there (I have made a point now to do a bit more research on upcoming venues).

First up were The Plasticine Men, with a wild and rolling work in progress called Cargo, based around the Cargo cult which sprang up as a result of the influence of the US military upon indigenous pacific islanders. Full of beautiful ideas and lovely moments, the piece felt like it needed to be structured more and developed in terms of an overall arc.

SPONTANEITY*
A Residence Discussion Event

Residence is an artist-led organisation providing making space for
artists to create performance, live art and theatre in Bristol.

WHERE: Horfield Police Station, 6 Sommerville Road, Bristol, BS7 9AA
WHEN: Monday 12th November, 7:30pm

Every month in the Old Horfield Police Station we provide a chance for artists and theatre makers to meet, chat, network and help build and strengthen Bristol’s performance community.