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The brown word: Death on the Throne @gatehouselondon

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Weā€™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. Itā€™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, theyā€™re stuck in purgatory as St Peter doesnā€™t have enough space for each of them in the afterlife. And so begins a puppe...

Breaking bread: Eating Myself @BrxHouseTheatre

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Food as a starter for conversation, making a new family, and finding a place is at the heart of Eating Myself, Pepa Duarteā€™s story of exploring what it is to be a woman from Peru, living in London, living with unrealistic body images. Itā€™s having a short run at the Brixton House as part of the Housemates season, where artists take over the house throughout July. In this short piece, which has previously been online, Pepa explains how she cooks on a stovetop a Peruvian dish with beans and potatoes and a lot of added extras that, when growing up, she was never supposed to eat. It reminds her of her grandmother and brings her back to her roots. As the show progresses, the dish's aromas waft through the audience bringing to life the words in a sensory experience. And one that might make you a little hungry.  But it also is a story about diets and calorie counting. Pepa directly asks the audience if they think she is fat. Itā€™s a direct question to the audience that sets the scene about ...