JOLT International Theatre Festival: Scratch Night

The Scratch Night

Various Companies/Cast

Wednesday Night brought Scratch Night to JOLT Theatre Festival, which showcased three different work in progress performances from Jess Dawson, Spaniel in The Works, and then a group of Gloucestershire University students.

First up was an Extract of Cheap Excuses from Jess Dawson, which showed the character of Maude, was a clown, in a small scale box, who was not sure whether she was alive or dead, until she read a letter which confirmed it was the latter of the two. In such a short space of time, the character of Maude really grew and developed well, and definitely has potential on the UK tour traveling in 2015. Jess said afterwards that she would like to credit Sue Morrison for teaching her Clowning.

Next up was Nothing Changes, from Spaniel in the Works, whiched celebrated 100 years of the book 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists', and began with an analogy of Capitalism, with pieces of bread and three members of the audience, before turning to a Jukebox musical about Socialism, and then rounding off with a short extract from a play, which involved a single mother about to jump off a roof after realizing she was pregnant from a result of rape. It was all a difficult subject to bring up, and some parts felt under rehearsed, but it all got feedback afterwards, and there really is a chance to become something quite different in the world's of Theatre.

Finally on stage was Alfie's Adventures, a lyrical music piece from a group of Gloucestershire University students, using a projector and acid tape to tell the story of Alfie, who's dad once fell in the sea to become a merman, so was born a merman, until going to land to fly amongst the stars, whilst being accompanied by songs written by the students. It was a beautifully directed, intriguing, clever piece, and has potential to be developed into a big scale piece with additional scenes if chosen.

Overall, the Scratch Night had a great mix of varying pieces from different companies, which all showed great potential, and a great feel to things that have come out of JOLT.

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