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Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

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If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging

Art in mildly sadomasochistic times: Gérard Rancinan's Wonderful World


The LondonNewcastle Project Space in Redchurch Street is home to a fabulously frothy and deliciously naughty exhibition of photographer Gerard Rancinan's work called Wonderful World. Rancinan is known for his dynamic and hyper-realistic pieces. Production of one of the pieces on exhibition is depicted in the video clip from French television. It is painstaking and eye-catching work, particularly with half naked models (even if they are wearing cartoon masks and put into positions that echo religious iconography).

Wonderful World is the concluding part of his Trilogy of the Moderns. The everyday meets the kinky, pop culture meets street culture and religious icons meet cartoon icons in a series of images that explore the search for happiness (real or drug induced) in a confused and odd sort of world. So naturally it all suits the Shoreditch area well.

Beautifully presented with fifteen large images surrounded by props, costumes and other features, it is a lot of fun and takes a few good barbs at crap art and celebrity obsessed culture. The exhibition also includes a purpose built set that will serve as the vehicle for the public casting, shooting and unveiling of the final composition in this series on site.

Visitors to the gallery this weekend (9-10 June) will also find themselves auditioning for the casting call. If you have what it takes to make the final tableau you will be initially photographed mug shot style. If you're make it through then the shooting will take place on Tuesday in the gallery. Repeat visits over this month are recommended to savour this part art installation, part film set, part soap opera, part photoshop masterclass...

Work will continue on site through to the unveiling of the finished work at a reception on Wednesday 20th June. Go see it. Get photographed and be fabulously happy, regardless of what chemically enhanced state you may be in. Just don't tell Minnie what they do to Mickey...

It runs from Thursday 7th June 2012 until Sunday 24th June 2012.

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