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The brown word: Death on the Throne @gatehouselondon

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We’re warned at the start of the show with an upbeat number that this is not the usual sort of musical. And it turns out to be just that. But with boundless enthusiasm and energy from its two leads, who deploy a range of voices and breathtaking energy to create a series of voices for puppet characters, a bedtime story becomes a silly oddball tale about four souls stuck in purgatory. With puppets. And various toilet humour references. It’s currently playing at Upstairs At The Gatehouse . The piece starts as a bedtime story. Daddy (Mark Underwood) is about to read a bedtime story for Louise (Sarah Louise Hughes). But her stomach felt funny, and soon, she went to the bathroom. Then, for reasons that seem to only make sense in the confines of the show, they start telling the story of four people who died in unfortunate circumstances in the bathroom. Depicted as puppets, they’re stuck in purgatory as St Peter doesn’t have enough space for each of them in the afterlife. And so begins a puppe...

Come inside and take a seat: Unfamiliar at home


Continuing the online theatrical experiences is Unfamiliar at Home. Streamed online using the all-too-familiar office video conferencing facilities of Zoom, it brings to life the trials of domestic life, being queer and the desire for a family. It's part performance, mixed media and office meeting. But it captures the ordinary and extraordinary lives of creative people living in improvised and unexpected domestic arrangements.

The piece introduces us to Victor and Yorgos. They want to have children. Or at least that's what they think. But past run-ins with parents, the economic uncertainty of being artists and the struggle of finding a surrogate are barriers. And there's plenty of unsolicited advice about what makes a family and how to become queer parents. I was surprised none of the advice was about making childproof their home, but maybe nobody had seen their overstuffed bookcases until now.


The story is autobiographical and at times intimate as it goes into the detail about their lives and the challenges of being artists during a pandemic that has hit freelancers hard. And for many of us, the scenes of shared confined spaces during lockdown feel all too familiar. 

Given Google's YouTube seems to be the preferred platform for streaming shows due to its size. But the service is a mess with a layout designed to serve non-stop clickbait and throw you down any number of rabbit holes of disinformation. But watching theatre by Zoom can also be unnerving. It's hard to escape into a world of storytelling sitting in the same kitchen spot watching a performance that you also spend the day working. 

Created and performed by Victor Essex and Yorgos Petrou, Unfamiliar At Home has completed its online meetings for now but check their website for updates.




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