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Interview: Rebecca Harper on 'Greyjoy'

Interview: Rebecca Harper on Greyjoy On a sunny Thursday morning nestled next to a window in the Independent Café, I sit down with Rebecca Harper, writer/director of Greyjoy , to talk about the play’s upcoming run at the Camden Fringe Festival, her and Tom Onslow's Blackstar Productions, and all things theatre. We end up chatting for nearly two and half hours, but somewhere in the middle of that time is an hour-long interview, which you can read (in cut down form) below. This being my first go at conducting an interview, I’ve tried to set myself some ground rules: questions/comments from me are in bold , and Harper’s responses are italicized . It can be difficult to translate things like jokes, irony, and the natural exchanges of a fast-paced conversation into writing, but I've tried to preserve the most interesting parts of our chat, which was in reality a little more casual. The interview begins with mostly scripted questions focusing on Greyjoy , and its latter half contain...
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Review: ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ at the O’Reilly Theatre

Review: Little Shop of Horrors at the Keble O’Reilly Theatre It’s pouring with rain as I rush to see  Cross Key Productions ’ newest show, directed by  Madi Bouchta  – I always seem to be running late on my way to the O’Reilly. As I lay my sodden coat over the back of a seat in the front row and sit down, I’m a little unsure of what to expect. I know plenty of people who seem obsessed with Little Shop of Horrors , but it’s never really crossed my path. It's safe to say that I'm in for a few surprises. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's beautifully 60s-styled horror-comedy musical follows Seymour ( Will Jacobs ), a bumbling florist who discovers that his exotic plant named Audrey II ( Wally McCabe ) demands human flesh in order to grow. In a rather unconventional plot structure for a musical, things go increasingly wrong as Audrey II's thirst for blood combines with Seymour's thirst for fame, at the peril of other characters.  Musical Director Louis Benneyworth  (w...
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Review: 'My Dead Mum's AI Boyfriend' at the BT Studio

Review: My Dead Mum's AI Boyfriend at the Burton Taylor Studio Sali Adams ' new one-person play, My Dead Mum's AI Boyfriend , is probably the show I've anticipated more eagerly than anything else I've seen in OUDS. Having toured 113 with her, I've had some exclusive insights into the development of this show (which Adams herself wrote, stars in, and has co-directed alongside Aman Arya ; produced through her and Alex Rawnsley 's Interrobang Productions ). When we were in Wales together in December, Adams was finalising the script; in Leeds last month, they were painstakingly arranging the show's many sound cues. In the interim, I even got to read the script: as soon as I'd finished it, I was desperate to see it performed live. Adams' topical new play follows Carrie (Adams), a young teacher mourning the recent death of her reserved mother, who is tasked with taking her mum's secret AI companion, Aled ( Billy Morton ), on a road-trip to scatter ...
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Production Diary: 'Othello' at the Hen and Chickens Theatre

Production Diary: Othello at the Hen and Chickens Theatre Wednesday 7th January: The First Rehearsal Some months ago, the Oxford Repertory Company (a very active amateur rep group of mainly recent Oxford graduates) announced that they were putting on Othello, and setting it in the milieu of the British ska revival and countercultural skinhead movement of the late 70s and early 80s. I happen to be a big fan of ska (I had only recently seen The Beat and Madness, the latter for the fourth of  fifth time), and for this I have to thank my father and his obsessive love for Two-Tone. "I could do that," I think, "Dad will like it." After all, I haven't had the chance to perform with Ox Rep yet (I had planned to be in their production of Brideshead Revisited over summer, but it was unfortunately cancelled), although I've seen their productions and know many people who have enjoyed being involved with them. I throw my hat in the ring.  Iago is taken, I am told (...
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Review: 'Company' at the Playhouse

Review: Company at the Oxford Playhouse What is there left for me to say about Joshua Robey and Fennec Fox Productions ' stunning rendition of George Furth and Stephen Sondheim's Company ? The show has already been praised effusively by an array of reviews, and my understanding of musical theatre is by no means extensive. To make my own contribution, it may suffice to give a few brief personal thoughts. Known as one of the seminal 'Concept Musicals', Company is less concerned with a linear plot than it is with exploring themes of love, marriage, loneliness, and growing up through the experiences of popular newly-35-year-old 70's bachelor Bobby ( Aaron Gelkoff ). His attention is constantly pursued by 5 couples of close friends (each with their own unique stories for Bobby to uncover), 3 romantic partners (introduced by a gloriously camp number,  You Could Drive a Person Crazy ), and questions about whether he is ready to get married and move on in his life.  I w...
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Production Diary: Cold-Reading for 'Greyjoy' at the Pilch

Production Diary: Cold-Reading for Greyjoy at the Michael Pilch Studio Saturday 31st January: Going in Head-First The incredibly talented Rebecca Harper, whom I first encountered as the producer of our 2024  Macbeth  but have since seen perform in Your Funeral (an all-round creative force), has now written a play, Greyjoy , that's being put on at the Pilch by her and Tom Onslow's Blackstar Productions (like the Bowie album). Part of the play involves cold-readers, who know nothing about the plot ahead of time, but are given a script as they go onstage, and have to perform it aloud as they read it for the first time. Thinking this sounded like a fun idea, and a good way to dip my toe back into OUDS without rehearsals, I volunteered to be one of these cold-readers.  When I arrive at the Pilch on Saturday evening, I am greeted by Tom and the rest of the play's friendly cast and crew (though Rebecca sadly cannot make it). There are five of us cold-readers, and each of us is...
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Review: 'Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons' at the BT Studio

Review:  Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons at the Burton Taylor Studio I first read Sam Steiner's  Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons when I was around 16, and was lucky enough to see it in a brilliant production at the Harold Pinter Theatre with Jenna Coleman and Aidan Turner in 2023. I've previously found it difficult to fully enjoy student productions of plays I had already seen great professional renditions of, but I try to keep an open mind as I sit down for Lighthouse Productions ' version, directed by Alys Young and Ivana Clapperton . This episodic play tells the story of the relationship between lawyer Bernadette ( Caeli Colgan ) and musician-turned-activist Oliver ( Kit Rush ) as they wrestle with the implementation of an authoritarian new law that limits citizens to speaking only 140 words per day. "Romantic two-hander with a conceptual twist" is a very popular genre at Edinburgh Fringe (which Lemons played for three consecutive years), and groups Lem...
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