Last night, I once again found myself over at Sheffield Local Theatre to see this weeks show, Make/Shift. Well actually, before that, I found myself sitting on the train there, phone dead, half asleep. I started thinking to myself "Yeah, perhaps I should actually start looking into what I'm seeing before I see it? Just a little bit?", realising I'd exclusively read the information in the season brochure and absolutely nothing else. After a quick battle with the tram (as usual), I finally actually made it to the theatre, and as soon as the performance started I remembered just why I love going into shows near enough blind so much.
Based on life as a queer millennial, the spoken word piece of theatre "Make/Shift" follows Bibi and Ross, two young people who live together but almost exclusively speak by mid-shift text messages, good mornings and good nights. It explores the worlds attitudes to those that identify outside of the gender binary, found family and the so-called "generational differences" within society and the economy and the effect it's having on young people. The performance was dynamic and ever-changing, leaving nothing to be desired - nothing about it was "pretentious" as some may think spoken word is and despite it being done in such an unconventional way, the storyline was still everything I could have wanted. The idea of spoken word theatre was something I'd never really come across until this particular show and I once again found myself leaving the theatre feeling inspired after seeing something so refreshing and new. I really hope that I get the chance to see more of In The Works and more of this style of theatre. I think it's really incredible that Sheffield Local Theatre have so many completely different genres and styles in over the next few months and I can't wait to see what else is to come - if you haven't already, I'd recommend having a look through their online brochure which you can find HERE because I can guarantee there'll be something you fancy on! One thing that I really admire about The Local Theatre is that every show they have on is well tailored to the venue. In such an intimate space, this minimalist approach to theatre really worked. Sometimes, stripping back to the basics and just relying exclusively on the power of the words being said and the story being told is just what a subject matter needs to do it justice and this was certainly one of those times - I can't think of any other local space that would have been as perfect for this show. As per usual, my little theatre geek self is rambling just a little bit so I'm gonna wrap this up after this paragraph, I promise. I cannot recommend this performance enough because it is beautiful, empowering and inspiring. There is truly not enough theatre focused around the struggles queer people go through daily in the world right now and this was a really wonderful example of that. It was emotional and deep down, quite sad, but I think one of the best parts was that I didn't leave the theatre feeling miserable. This piece of theatre was so thought provoking and I left the theatre feeling inspired, and wanting to make a change, and isn't that what theatre should be all about? Thank you once again to the wonderful people at Sheffield Local Theatre and In The Works for having me! Overall Rating: ☆☆☆☆ Accessibility: The venue itself is unfortunately not wheelchair accessible if I recall correctly. No flashing lights of any sorts were used and there was nothing else notable! Sensitive Content: Homophobia and transphobia (nothing too graphic or violent but worth noting!), mention of alcohol You can book tickets to see Make/Shift HERE! GRACE XXX
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