In the summer I did a round-up of the shorter shows in Online@TheSpace‘s first season. With the second season about to come to an end, here are my thoughts on the shows running ten minutes or less in this year’s collection.
Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday, from Blue Fire Theatre, takes us into the music hall and a raconteur who is preparing for a very special guest indeed. It’s a quick sketch and a good starter for the same company’s slightly longer (and very funny) piece Don’t Know Him From Adam.
I Know the Truth, from Anne Rabbitt, is a piece of poetry that takes the words of Marina Tsvetaeva (one of the greatest poets of the Russian Empire) as a starting point, and moves into an intriguing piece of film and animation. A stylised landscape about the role of poets in bringing truth to the fore, and how words can be interpreted and misinterpreted. A short but beautiful piece of digital theatre.
Project Spudway, from Earl & Grace, is a short but amusing reality show about fashion. In this wry and perceptive film, the cast and commentators are all recognisable types: but they are potatoes instead of people. It is Project Runway as seen through the eyes of tubers rather than YouTubers. One I would like to see further developed as it has a lot of comic potential.
Ronnie Dorsey Poetry and Talking to Angie, from Ronnie Dorsey Productions, are simple solo entries filmed in one location. Dorsey performs both, with Talking to Angie being a playlet with some strong moments. Her poems are broad in their subject matter but I preferred the more dramatic show.
Hags and Three Stages, from Three Chairs and a Hat, two fine pieces which could definitely stand further expansion. Hags is a bubbly hybrid live and animated musical with comic drawings and a tale of rejection; Three Stages is a piece about loss filmed in various locations; musing through spoken word on how we move on from grief.
If you wish to take some time to catch these, the festival continues until 31 January 2021. All fifty shows in season two can be viewed for free here.