"A Hero in the Making"

And the reviews just keep flooding in! Here's four more from Venue. You can read their thoughts on May here, Epic here, the four and a half stars they gave to Sam Halmarack & The Miserablites here and their two stars for Ousia here.

"Frantic Passionate Dancing"

Here are another couple of reviews of Mayfest shows from A Younger Theatre. They reviewed May here and Ouisa here.

Venue's Top Mayfest Picks

Save Me - Harbourside (Thur 5-Sun 15)
• Every Mayfest boasts one or two stand-out, off-the-wall delights – shows boasting Herculean staging demands (like last year’s ‘Electric Hotel’) or promising to subtly alter the emotional co-ordinates of all who see it (see last year, again, and the emotional, intimate ‘Internal’). This year’s eye-catcher is ‘Save Me’, a semaphore soap opera performed, using giant flags, by Bristol performance duo Search Party. Performers Pete Phillips and Jodie Hawkes will converse over 11 days using the flag semaphore system, building up a narrative over time: audiences, bystanders, commuters and city strollers are invited to get involved and steer the story. “Often the audience try to manipulate the piece into a love story, offering advice on how we should make up or hold out for an apology,” says Pete, reflecting on past performances, including a session on London’s South Bank. “The mood is always very hopeful – the audience are willing the connection to succeed.” SP will spend Mayfest on the Floating Harbour – Pete at Cascade Steps, Jodie on Pero’s Bridge – and will invite audiences and passers-by to decode messages and send their own. “You can engage with the performance in various ways – visually it’s quite arresting, which makes a nice contrast with the often day-to-day nature of the conversation.” Pete recommends returning to the piece often over its 11-day run, to engage with its distinctive rolling narrative. Audiences are also invited to leave their own stories of when they have been apart from someone. “We provide tags and pens for people to leave their own stories as a memorial to the people they miss, which we’ll weave into the dialogue.”

A Haunting World of Exploration, Escapism and Denial

Here’s a bit of footage from Darren Johnston/Array’s hauntingly beautiful visual art and dance spectacle, Ousia. First produced in 2009, it has been reworked for 2011 and is showing at Arnolfini this Mayfest.

Meet The Mayfest Crew: Kerrie Avery

What is your job at Mayfest?
Project Manager

Which 3 shows are you most looking forward to at this year's Mayfest?
I am very excited about Fortnight, it will be a unique chance to let something beautiful take control of your life. Icebook will be incredible - a modern day fairy tale which will make you feel like a child again. Also, Ousia by Darren Johnston will be an awesome spectacle - unique and extreme, wholly absorbing and visually miraculous.

I love Mayfest because...
It makes me believe that there are no limits to implementing creative ideas.

Sum up Mayfest in 3 shiny words.
Mind opening experiences.

Tom Wainwright's Top Mayfest Picks

Tom Wainwright is a writer, performer and theatre maker based in Bristol. Tom makes solo work (he's currently touring his show Pedestrian); writes plays (his first play Muscle has been produced by both Bristol Old Vic and Hull Truck and is under commission to write another for Hull Truck) and collaborates with artists from all disciplines. Tom is currently working on a collaboration with Sam Halmarack (of...and The Miserablites) through the Ferment development programme at Bristol Old Vic.

Which 3 shows are you most looking forward to at this year’s Mayfest?

My top 3 are all unlike anything I have ever seen before:

Operation Greenfield is heart-breakingly smart and so funny, epic and joyous it made me want to jump out my seat and roar when I saw it (twice) in Edinburgh 2010.

Ousia is terrifying and beautiful. And way cool.

And Fortnight. I was a guinea pig for trials for this show and all of us lab rats became completely obsessed with it. I don't mean to sound like a nob but it's very romantic.

Ousia

Darren Johnston/Array
7pm, 8.30pm and 10pm, Thursday 12th until Saturday 14th May 2011 @ Arnolfini

Acclaimed choreographer Darren Johnston makes his startling Bristol debut with a specially reworked version of his celebrated 2009 piece Ousia. A solo dancer in a stark white room delves deep into her own solitary existence. Through the hazy, strobe-filled space, her ritualistic patterns conjure up a clone-like avatar. Ousia creates a hauntingly beautiful world of exploration, escapism and denial quite unlike anything else.

Johnston has gained notoriety for his distinctly immersive performances, a heady mix of dance, installation and theatre that have seen him work with Aphex Twin/Chris Cunningham, Squarepusher and Warp Records.

“As much installation as dance…a striking mix of optical illusion, movement and architecture.” Independent