Emma Bettridge on The Importance of Being at Mayfest...
16 May 2012
I digress.
Mayfest Bristol is very nearly here and with it a programme of work that will really truly honestly inspire:
Exposure by Jo Bannon = beautiful and intimate and nostalgic.
7 Day Drunk by Bryony Kimmings = ridiculous, bonkers and fun tinged with sadness all fixed at the end with a snog.
Crunch by Gary McNair = brilliantly challenges people, a totally spot on comment on the death of cold hard currency (The man next to me was irate on behalf of the chap with a tenner. Red faced and ranting he was.)
Tatty Del in Off the Peg at the Wardrobe Theatre = a great new double act – ones to watch.
Little Bulb with Goose Party = The Party. Always a winner and simply charming (and by golly they’re awfully good musicians).
I personally am very excited about seeing the mysterious things coming to Mayfest.
For starters, The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Heart at the Trinity Centre. The stage is set, the bar is open and the NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND is in town. Come on, you can’t beat a ballad. The Magician is here with Magna Mysteria. There’s a cart outside the Bristol Old Vic, I can hear things and the horse has disappeared. Really rather intriguing. The Furies are sexy, talented and bringing it. Don’t be fooled by the raunch of the trailer, this piece beats with subtle emotive power.
So, there are a couple of my thoughts for what they’re worth, oh and Blind Tiger has promised whiskey sours. That’s all the incentive one needs, surely?
Serious though, as a person who loves having a lovely time; who relishes the chance to be moved by performance and who is really bloody proud of all the talent in (and coming to) the west country, I’m gagging for this all to start. I cannot wait. Festivals are where it’s at. They arrive because some brilliant people took a chance. They happen and then, in a flash, they’ve gone. And you’re sat at home, having a little cry, wishing you were still there. Having a lovely time.
