Theatre / Reviews
Mayfest 2015 review: A Place in the Sun
The Southbank Club will become a day-time installation on Sunday as part of Tom Marshman’s A Place in the Sun, where you can share your holiday stories while relaxing on a sun lounger.
That was how the world premiere performance of A Place in the Sun began in an hour-long show on Saturday, with Bristol-based Marshman stretched out playing a holiday maker just settling in to his vacation in Lanzarote.
During this one-man show, we also met other people staying in the same all-inclusive hotel including a jaded holiday rep, an enthusiastic karaoke singer and a chatty older holiday maker.
All of these characters were played by Marshman with just the addition of some simple props, as the strange temporary community that is a hotel in high season was explored.
As usual, however, Marshman wasn’t simply content with just himself telling the story, and particularly while in his holiday rep guise he interacted with his audience, many of who were drinking sangria through a straw just to get into the holiday spirit.
A holiday is actually rather like a theatre show. It’s a temporary suspension of reality. And Marshman provided that in spades with the help of a talking camera to add that extra sense of oddness, providing some other-worldly narration as holiday snaps were projected onto a parasol.
Sit back, sail away and enjoy this most intriguing of trips.
A Place in the Sun installation takes place at the Southbank Club on Sunday May 24 between 1pm and 5pm before the performance at 5pm. For more information, visit www.mayfestbristol.co.uk/mayfest2015/a-place-in-the-sun/
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