Festival Critic

Sunday, 4th July
Illegal Media: Mute/Record and A Bastard's Tale

Friday 2nd July
Zoo & Logical Times

Friday 2nd July
Increpacion Danza: Tablao

Thursday 1st July
Ruth Padel: The Soho Leopard

Tuesday 29th June
Hijinx Theatre: Into My Own

Monday 28th June
Soulskin presented by Red Ladder
Review by Toni

Sunday 27th June
Richard Vergette: An Englishman's Home

Sunday 27th June
Tim Hunkin: Illegal Engineering

Saturday 26th June
Straw Dogs: John Gray's Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals
Review by Toni

Saturday 26th June
Brian Patten: Gargling With Jelly

Friday 25th June
The Audience: The Worst Seat in the House

Wednesday 23rd June
Simon Crump: My Elvis Blackout

Monday 21st June
Geoff Dyer: Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered To Do It

Tuesday 29th June
Hijinx Theatre: Into My Own
Hull New Theatre

Occasionally, a theatrical event will remind you of the power of live performance.
Hijinx Theatre's Into My Own is one such play.
Written by Glenys Evans, it tells the tale of Anne, a woman with learning disabilities who is left on her own in a three bedroomed house when her mother ends up in hospital.

The play, a succinct 55 minutes, looks at the way Anne (Nia Davies) comes to terms with her mother's absence and how her brother Ken (Alex Parry) copes with events.

Both short and sweet, the production combines music with drama to great effect. There is much traveling around in cars, a mode of transportation always signified by a song and a rev-rev car-door-slamming sound effect.

The four actors are deft musicians too, combining on double bass, drums and percussion, guitar and accordion.

But it is the words and the action that carry the weight here. Ken is a busy chap, preoccupied with his high-flying job in the computer industry. Yet we quickly realise that, although he is unable for a number of reasons to care for Anne in his own home, he does want the best for the sister he �loves to bits�.

Ken bumps into senior support worker Terry (Nick Weyland-Evans) and together they hatch a plan for Anne and one of Ken's clients � the hyperactive Dilys (Eloise Howe) � to move in together.

Naturally, Glenys Evans doesn't leave it at that. There is a lot of miscommunicating to do before the two can even begin to consider becoming friends, never mind living under the same roof.

Anne heads for a visit to Dilys's residence, where the proud tenant shouts �Do you like my flat!?� to her shy visitor, thus making the painful encounter more difficult than it could have been.

Anne, not quite sure of her mum's whereabouts and keen to make a new friend, spins a yarn for Dilys about having her own ballroom. �Mum will teach you how to dance,� she insists, before adding that her boyfriend is a waiter during the week and a detective at weekends.

On the return visit an accusatory Dilys thinks that she has rumbled Anne as a liar and the two have a big bust up. Terry and Ken have to work hard to bring the pair back together.

The four actors all give sincere, honest and energetic performances.

At the play's beginning and in a concluding song, we are handed, on a plate, the major point of this moving, but humorous, story � that, as parents and guardians, we have two lasting bequests we can give to our children; roots and wings. This soaring play has both.

Dave Windass
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Throughout the festival, Dave Windass will be posting reviews and comments.
He is a critic for the Big Issue, The Stage and a full-time journalist for the Hull Daily Mail.
Weblog: http://killingtime.crimsonblog.com *