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Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall. The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery.  If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could ...

The elephant in the room: Elephant’s Graveyard @TheProdExch


Saturday is the last day to catch the live stream of Elephants Graveyard. It's a title that piqued my interest, assuming that it was about a bar where old people go and drink.

But it's not that. Instead, it's a combination of oral history, legend and direct to camera straight-faced explanation of the only known lynching of an elephant. Adapted well to the world of COVID with sharp cuts, circus-themed backdrops and the now-familiar multiple camera squares of video streams. 

It's not live theatre, but it's a welcome online diversion with an entertaining story that explores spectacle, violence, rumours and revenge. All the things that seem to be near and dear to our hearts at the moment. 

Written by George Brant, it is set in 1914 in a small forgotten town in Tennessee where people were bored. So a circus coming to town was a chance to escape boredom and have some fun. But during the parade and freak accident happens. Soon rumours are spreading that culminates in this strange form of retribution. 

The ensemble, speaking directly to the camera, brings a series of conflicting stories to life and gives you a sense of the time and place. But most of all it's great to see stories can continue to be told while theatres remain shut and the creative industries are struggling to survive.  

From the The Production Exchange. The Production Exchange is also a charity, which aims to support early-career practitioners through developing skills and access to resources. You can find more about the charity and donate on their website.

Directed by Colin Blumenau, Elephant's Graveyard concludes streaming today. 

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