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Searching undeterred: The Gift @ParkTheatre

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I recently had a few parcels go missing from where I live. The first parcel disappeared without a trace. The second parcel's contents were removed, and the box was left alone in the lobby. It's one of the things that you have to put up with living in central London. Apart from complaining to the delivery company and filing a police report, it crossed my mind to think about what would happen if I sent myself something rather unpleasant for a future parcel thief to open up. Well, Dave Florez's new work, The Gift, is in this line of thinking, except that the lead receives an anonymous gift of a turd in the mail rather than sending it to himself. It is lovingly gift-wrapped in a cake box from a posh north London bakery. It's a fascinating and hilarious three-hander currently playing at Park Theatre .  Colin (Nicholas Burns) is a little obsessive at the best of times. He doesn't let things drop quickly and is obsessed with the details behind anything and everythi...

(Pop up) Theatre: Inzain

Fine Artis Tree's production of Inzain under the railway arches at Queens Circus Battersea is an example of a great concept in bringing new theatre to the unlikeliest of places. The company specialises in pop up theatres and in this case is next door to a tile shop. It was a pity we didn't arrive earlier as the tile shop had closed and we could have done with some inspiration for our next mosaic, but we were somewhat distracted by the plethora of gastropubs in the Battersea area serving good quality food and had lingered longer than we should have over bangers and mash and burgers.

The play is a two-hander by Leah Chillery, it tells the story of Zain who had a vision that he would become a player at Crystal Palace Football club and his battles with the club manager. The stage is set for battles over faith, entitlement and youth culture. And football. It is an interesting premise but the punches are often pulled. Also the vast space of a railway arch means that the audience are watching the action on the sidelines... Literally.

But all told the trip to Battersea proved to be an unexpected experimental diversion for an evening. It runs through to 19 November and good discounts are available if you look for them...

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Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

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