By Mel Lynch ÔÿàÔÿàÔÿàÔÿà As a first time visitor to Chapter Arts I arrived optimistic about the quality of production I was set to view. For nearly half a decade Chapter has had the reputation as CardiffÔÇÖs cultural hub, facilitating new talent and showcasing the best of both Welsh and international creativity in their multi-artform space. Apart from knowing it would be a small cast … Continue reading 2023 | Theatre Review
By Max Modell ÔÿàÔÿàÔÿàÔÿà The Flop, Stand up for a show about not being able to get it up! Absurdist comedies can often go too far and be too ridiculous, as a consequence they are often left convoluted and without laughter. While often presented in broad strokes any performer will tell you it is these absurdist comedies which are the hardest to execute. Not … Continue reading Review | The Flop
Our Carnal Hearts, Sunday 2nd April, Chapter Arts Centre, reviewer: Sam Walker GOLD. Always believe in your soul. You got the power to know. YouÔÇÖre indestructible. There was a point during Rachel MarsÔÇÖ performance where I found myself part of a choir singing Spandau Ballet with a bunch of strangers and not even feeling unusual. In her exploration of envy, and the honesty with which … Continue reading Review: Our Carnal Hearts, Chapter Arts Centre – Experimentica Season
Louder is Not Always Clearer, Saturday 1st April, Chapter Arts Centre, reviewer: Bob Wigin A man stands in front of the audience and begins to flail and jump, looking to the crowd for a response. Before long, he types outs sentences which are projected on to a large screen behind him. We learn that he is deaf. Louder Is Not Always Clearer is an impressionistic, … Continue reading Review: Louder is Not Always Clearer, Chapter Arts Centre – Experimentica Season
Class: The Elephant in the Room, Friday 31st March, Chapter Arts Centre, reviewer: Claudia Rutherford Influenced by the injustices circulating his political climate, Pierre Bourdieu proposed the theory that a ÔÇÿcultural capitalÔÇÖ exists within Western societies. It is one, he claims, to be systematically sought after, and promotes the idea that the culture enjoyed by the middle classes, is regarded as more valid than those … Continue reading Review: Class: The Elephant in the Room, Chapter Arts Centre – Experimentica Season
Round and Round and Round, Wedneday 29th March, Chapter Arts Centre, reviewer: Emily Murray Before we walked into the theatre, we were told, “Men enter on the right and women on the left,ÔÇØ followed by, ÔÇ£When you get into the room, men are allowed to sit and women must stand.ÔÇØ The man then handed over a piece of paper to each of us, that read … Continue reading Review: Round and Round and Round, Chapter Arts Centre – Experimentica Season
Frankenshow, Wednesday 29th March, Chapter, reviewer: Rachel Nurse Postmodernist art with a technological twist. This was a very creative and different, but at times, a confusing show. A war between humans, robots and dinosaurs paralleled Earth’s own wars between nations. The narrator explained that war is not the answer to the questions – enacted with dolls, which were cleverly utilised in a scene which saw … Continue reading Review: Frankenshow, Chapter – Experimentica Season
A Regular Little Houdini,┬áFriday 27th January, Chapter Arts Centre. Reviewer:┬áHannah Hopkins A Regular Little Houdini encapsulates perfectly the art and power of storytelling. The performance of A Regular Little Houdini followed the official launch of the Welsh Theatre Awards at Chapter Arts Centre. The one-man play set in Newport is a vibrant coming of age story about the son of a dockworker, who wishes to … Continue reading Review: A Regular Little Houdini, Chapter Arts
Love Steals Us From Loneliness, Thursday 8th December, Chapter Arts Centre. Reviewer: Sarah Harris and Khuram Mahmood.┬á If youÔÇÖve ever been to see a play at Chapter Arts Theatre, youÔÇÖll know theyÔÇÖre not the typical type you would come across at say CardiffÔÇÖs New Theatre or Millennium Centre. Often acted out within a small room, with slightly over a dozen audience members and usually a … Continue reading Review: Love Steals Us From Loneliness, Chapter Arts Centre
Quench chatted with Mark Daman Thomas, founder of Shape Records, member of psychadelic band Islet and curator of Cardiff’s experimental music festival From Now On. After it’s third year filling Chapter Arts Centre, Jack Boyce caught up with Mark to ask about his experience putting on the event. You can read Jack’s review of From Now On Festival here 1) What is your vision for … Continue reading Interview: Mark Daman Thomas – From Now On Festival
From Now On: Curated by Shape Records, From Now On is a hidden gem of a festival that showcases the finest experimental music from the Cardiff music scene and further abroad. Situated over three days at Chapter Arts Centre, the venue becomes as integral a part to the festival as the musical acts. Art projects litter the festival line-up, with the interactive exhibit Arc Vertiac … Continue reading Festival Review: From Now On
As a part of the BFIÔÇÖs love season, Darkened Rooms and Chapter Arts Centre screened Breathless and Am├®lie upstairs in the French restaurant Le Monde. Lines of red seats were set up in front of the projector screen, with a bar near the back serving food and drink. PeopleÔÇÖs silhouettes were superimposed on the bottom of the screen as they moved to their seats like … Continue reading Review: L’amour at Le Monde
Described by Richard Linklater as the ÔÇÿpatron saint of independent filmmakers,ÔÇÖ Orson Welles stands as a formidable figure in the pantheon of all-time greats. As a director he changed the rules of filmmaking in a time when cinema was still a fledgling art form. In the golden era of Hollywood he was funding his own films and passionately fighting for creative control. Tragically, for many … Continue reading Orson Welles at Chapter Arts Centre
Ciara Rafter explores humankind’s need to belong with the help of Philip Ridley’s gripping┬áDark Vanilla Jungle, performed by Wales’ own Company of SIrens. Playwright Phillip RidleyÔÇÖs critically acclaimed Dark Vanilla Jungle premiered at Edinburgh Festival in 2013, featuring Gemma Whelan of Game of Thrones, stunning viewers with a powerful performance on the topic of home and belonging, and the opposition of this concept ÔÇô isolation. … Continue reading Review: Dark Vanilla Jungle, Chapter Arts Centre
Reviewed by Matthew Lee Schneider Comedy. ┬áIt manifests through seemingly infinite methods and mediums, all striving towards one goal: to be funny. ┬áWhen oneÔÇÖs divine judge manifests in the form of fifteen minutes of memorized material alone in front of a dimly lit sea of strangers, one will find arguably the most daunting form of comedy, stand-up. In the world of stand-up, the common theme … Continue reading Review: The Invisible Dot New Wave Tour 2013, Chapter
If youÔÇÖre looking for something a bit different from CardiffÔÇÖs live music, Chapter Arts Centre is your first port of call. Recently, Finnish band Oddarrang played at the Canton venue to promote new album In Cinema. Met by seamless atmospheric instrumentals and ritualistic chanting, their performance was inimitable. Three songs in (though ÔÇÿmusical experiencesÔÇÖ might be a better term), it was revealed that the album … Continue reading Interview: Oddarrang
