Going along to Project Brand New reminds me a lot of performance days at Brunel. These happened at the end of term when our modules finished and every group had to show their work. They both involve seeing lots of short pieces in a short space of time, all the pieces are brand new and often being seen by an audience for the first time. I would be fairly certain that I would not like all of it, but it would different and exciting. I love going to PBN because my brain feels so full of ideas by the end of the night. New ideas and new ways of doing and looking at things.

This is the first time that I actually have tickets to all three nights and I’m looking forward to being inspired and mentally stimulated for three nights in a row!

Last night the theatre was already packed when I got there and full of excited people looking forward to the night ahead. Finally the lights went down and the show began!

The first piece was called Blooming Great and it was about the life cycle of a flower. It was wonderful! The only dialogue came from a voice-over that sounded almost like a biology text book. Everything came from the actors’ phyiscallity and facial expressions. This meant it was very visual and really beautiful! The interaction between the Flower and the Bee was very sweet and funny. The Flower had such wonderful facial expressions and even though the piece was only about 15 minutes long, it was really quite emotional. I loved it!

The second piece was Storybook and for me it was the piece that felt most finished and polished. That’s not a critisim. I only mention it because Project Brand New is often billed as being works-in-progress or artist’s experimentation, but this didn’t feel like that. It still felt fresh and new and different, but at a very high standard. It involved a light projector (those projectors that lecturer use with acetate slides) which I loved because I also think they are great and have always wanted to use one in a performance! And concluded with short pieces of text from novels, which we actually tried as an ending for our dissertation piece. It worked a lot better in this piece which was simple and engaging.

The third piece was a dance piece called A Still Return. I thought this was interesting and a lot of the movement was very beatiful but it didn’t do a great deal for me. I don’t think I know enough about dance to critque it. It is described in the programme as a ‘meditative solo’ and I agree with that. It made me feel peaceful, while also wishing that my body could move like that!

The final piece was called Jesus has my Mom in there and has beat her up real bad. This was one that really felt like a work-in-progress, probably because it was a first look at a show that Loose Canon Theatre Company are preparing for the autumn. It was interesting and a bit chaotic but had some nice moments. It felt like a rough draft but one that made me interested to see the finished product.

Blooming Great was my favourite piece of the night and it could have gone on for twice as long and I think I still would have loved it.

I’m heading back for another batch of brand new theatre tonight and looking forward to it!