Neil Young like you've Never Heard him Before

Last night was another great one in The Blind Tiger featuring acapella performances from Bristol Old Vic's Artistic Director, Tom Morris, and local writer Rina Vergano; however, the real show stealer was Guy Dartnell. Fresh from performing his latest show in the Bristol Old Vic Studio, Something Or Nothing, Dartnell climbed the stage and regailed the gathered masses to a memorable version of Neil Young's Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Here's some raw footage of the performance:

Oh Hail, Great, Great Audience!

Here are some extracts from Guy Dartnell's Something or Nothing which is coming to Mayfest this year:

Tom Morris’ Top Mayfest Picks

Tom Morris is a director, producer and the Artist Director of the Bristol Old Vic, Mayfest’s busiest venue with a wealth of shows in the Studio and Basement this year as well as the host of the Mayfest Opening Party.

Which 3 shows are you most looking forward to at this year’s Mayfest?
It’s very hard to make picks from a programme which is so beautifully balanced and which is characterised by a spirit of curiosity and exploration. Some of my all time favourite artists and companies are present in the programme – Faulty Optic, Guy Dartnell and Will Adamsdale to name but three. I know that their work will be astonishing, engaging, strange and (with luck) might even jog the goggles through which you view the world. That, after all, is the point of seeing any artist’s work: to see the world for a moment through their differently gifted eyes.

However, my recommendations are for the shows I know least about – where I can trust the curatorial instincts of Kate Yedigaroff and Matthew Austin to lead me on a journey of discovery which I never suspect. So book early and book often for The Guild of Cheesemakers by the Stand+Stare Collective (in fact I do know them having been startled out of my wits by SS Arcadia last year). On no account miss Music Circus by the strangely compelling clown-maestro Peter Swaffer-Reynolds, and in any free moment you have go to The Blind Tiger for unimaginable nightly japes and fandangles.

Whichever show you begin with, the chances are it will develop into a journey through the collective imaginations of an astonishing range of artists. Be sure to start your journey early, on 5th May, so it has time to unfold.

Something or Nothing

Guy Dartnell
8pm, Tuesday 10th and Wed 11th May 2011 @ Bristol Old Vic Studio

A show about mistaken identity – not just of an individual, but of the human race en masse. Humourous, frank, vulnerable and witty, the inimitable Dartnell mixes video and chalk images with performance, storytelling and stand up, to explore a possible error in our perception – that we believe ourselves to be something, when we might actually be nothing.

Guy Dartnell is an international award winner and Lone Twin Theatre, Improbable and Dance 4 associate. Guy appeared in Lone Twin’s fabulous The Festival at last year’s Mayfest. This is his new solo piece.