Fuses: Live Lab 2012 New Writing Festival (Newcastle)

The Live theatre played host to Fuses, New Writing Festival and the event was opened with Playlist, a series of mainly two handers that uses song as the stimulus for their narrative. “Writers have been tasked by theatres across the country to write a play inspired by a song and written by an artist from their region, ensuring the plays will be unpredictable and extremely varied”.

The plays although short, (they had to be no longer than the playing time of the song that inspired them) were all well staged in a simple setting with no little need for scenery and props. Why is this important? Well I focused on character, situation and the language, the heart of a really good play.

There were strong performances from a cast of four, changing and swapping roles in each of the five plays, simple but effective direction and some charming playlets. What more could you ask of a night at the theatre. One of the group performances could have been a touch louder, although I would imagine that the space is difficult to judge vocally.

This event continues till 17 March and I would recommend any reader of this review who has interest or a desire to write their own play script to check out the Live Theatre website, the full program of new writing performances, workshops and master classes is available to view. Booking is essential.

Live’s legacy is in championing the wealth of creative talent in the North East and further afield, and if this evening’s taster event is anything to go by, the next week’s events should be inspirational.