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Ruthless People: Ruthless - Arches Lane Theatre

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What is it about the Madoff’s that writers can’t resist writing about? Sure, it may have been the largest Ponzi scheme to collapse (so far), but there isn’t much more to explore. Or is there? In Ruthless by writer Roger Steinmann, Ruth Madoff is imagined as a wronged, gun-toting woman anchored in the past while trying to move on with her life. It’s not entirely successful but a fascinating look at life and wig choices, It’s currently playing at the theatre now known as the Arches Lane Theatre in Battersea. Ruth Madoff, played by Emily Swain, is here wearing a wig. I thought it was an odd look until I reviewed how closely it matched the photo of her interview in  The New York Times .  Typically, it’s the sort of wig you might see worn by Ladies on a night out in central London, not someone who once had over $80m in assets. With Bernie in Jail and both her sons now dead - one by suicide and one due to cancer, she is setting a table for the men who have left her. And ordering p...

Theatre preview: Trial of the Mariner

I caught a preview of The Trial of the Mariner at the Hoxton Hall this week. This is a work that is presented by the Lotos Collective and Hoxton Hall, and part of their Rebirth programme. It was not the full performance, but where they had got to so far in their work and it looks set to be an imaginative take on sustainability issues.

Hello Boys (Trail of the mariner preview)As it is an interactive multi-media piece about plastic, there are some creative uses for old margarine tubs, milk bottles, yogurt pots and the like. It was in the bar before the performance where you are greeted with this creation (that should be incorporated into the production in future). She was somewhat menacing yet also strangely alluring with large paper-mache breasts and milk bottle tops for nipples. The Lotos Collective have previously undertaken performances and site-specific projects in London, Naples, Ghana and Beirut and this piece continues along their ethos.

The story is set in year 2111, and a group of desperate sailors embark on a voyage to new land and arrive at a plastic continent, where things are not quite the paradise expected. It is inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark (not too mention other sources such as Waterworld and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and explores themes around destruction of oceans, climate change, and the final resting place of all those plastic bags...

It is a performance that is an "immersive sensory experience". So be prepared to be pushed around and have a banana or two thrown at you. At one point I couldn't hold a wobble board as I had a drink and three bananas. I don't think I have found myself in that situation at a theatre before and I didn't want to eat the props before opening night. There is dance, circus arts, music and fabulous puppetry involving jellyfish-like creatures. The set is made from recycled materials and built by the local community and schools.

One of the best things about the piece is that you can focus on what you want as the story comes together, set to live music by The Junk Orchestra. Just be ready to duck from time to time when those long tubes of reused plastic come blowing towards you...

It opens on the 7 May. The Hoxton Hall is a great venue and close to a number of sensible bars and restaurants in the East End. It's good good value and worth catching.

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