Ovalhouse, 52-54 Kennington Oval, London SE11 5SW Wednesday 30th January – Saturday 6th April 2019

Random Selfies (Image courtesy of The Other Richard)

2019 is a significant year for Ovalhouse as it marks their final year programming theatre in their current home, before an exciting nine months, staging performances in unusual locations, prior to moving into their new space in Brixton. Ovalhouse’s Spring Season 2019 presents two full length shows and five FiRST BiTES as their theme of care and, most importantly, survival is further explored to strengthen the theatre’s important principles of nurturing emerging artists.

Kicking off the season with Rhiannon Faith’s Smack That (a conversation), Ovalhouse will transform the theatre into a giant house party, complete with cider and popcorn.  But, this is no ordinary party.  The powerful production is a very raw and honest account of domestic abuse, performed by a mixed cast of professional dancers and domestic abuse survivors.  As part of this production, Ovalhouse will become a J9 venue, supporting women in our community who experience domestic abuse; this unusual setting creates a safe space for them to share the challenges they have faced and celebrate their endurance with the audience.

Following its premiere earlier this year and Off-West End nomination for Best Production for Young People, the incredible digitally-animated Random Selfies by Olivier Award-winning playwright Mike Kenny will return for a three-week run.  Directed by Owen Calvert-Lyons, Ovalhouse’s Head of Theatre & Artist Development, this play explores child loneliness while bringing to life the vivid imagination of ten-year-old Loretta; a lonely girl in a busy world.

As ever, Ovalhouse’s FiRST BiTE programme is packed full of bright ideas and powerful personal stories.  Richard Stamp tells the story of his tumultuous six-months of diagnosis to amputation in Dick.  Coco Mbassi teaches us the power of music in Haendel on the Estate, while Sherine Chalhie stages her semi-autobiographical tale Hijabi Matters.

Additionally, Ovalhouse welcome back Pecho Mama with a work-in-progress showing of their new show Divine Intervention – an electrifying gig-theatre production telling the story of two broken people and their search for salvation.  And, Koko Brown will work together with Ovalhouse’s new Associate Artist Joana Nastari to create Amazonian Sweat Lodge, exploring the consumerism and faux spiritualism in a new collaboration with CASA.

Owen Calvert-Lyons, Ovalhouse’s Head of Theatre & Artist Development, comments, We are delighted to be bringing Rhiannon Faith’s Smack That to Ovalhouse this spring.  This is a really important production exploring the impact of domestic abuse against people.  The show celebrates what it means to survive.  As part of this process, we are training all our staff in order for Ovalhouse to become a J9 venue; supporting people in our community who experience domestic abuse.  Mike Kenny’s Random Selfies makes a welcome return after the success of its run last year which saw the show nominated for Best Production for Young People. We are also announcing our brilliant new Associate Artists: Joana Nastari, Xana and The Thelmas.  These three artists will work with us over the next two years, beginning with Jo Nastari’s latest production Amazonian Sweat Lodge which questions society’s fascination with consumerism and faux spirituality.  These are all extraordinary artists and I can’t wait to introduce our audiences to their work.

Tickets are available priced £15 | £10 concessions   Preview tickets are £9 Random Selfies tickets are £10 adult |£7 under 16s Discount family packages|£28 (2 adults, 2 children)  FiRST BiTES tickets|£5 in advance |£8 on the door Available from Ovalhouse Box Office and

More details of the programme from: www.ovalhouse.com, 020 7582 7680.

Twitter @Ovalhouse

www.facebook.com/Ovalhouse

Lots to look forward to:

Rotterdam – Donnacadh O’Briain’s Olivier award-winning production

The fastest growing arts festival in the UK, VAULT Festival returns to Waterloo (23 Jan – 17 Mar) with its biggest and boldest programme yet with the best in new writing for theatre and comedy, immersive experiences, cabaret, live performance and late night parties.

Making her West End debut, Star Trek: The Next Generation star Marina Sirtis will take the lead in the world premiere of Dark Sublime, the love-letter to British sci-fi television for both those that make it and those that adore it. (25 June – 3 Aug, Trafalgar Studios)

Tackling the migrant experience and performed by a mixed ensemble, including those who have recently sought refuge in the UK, Welcome to the UK has its world premiere at The Bunker. (22 Jan – 16 Feb)

The first time Soho Theatre have programmed circus, No Show joyously and heartbreakingly deconstructs superhuman circus performers and reveals what lies hidden beneath the showmanship. (22 Jan – 9 Feb)

In 2019, Waltham Forest will be the first ever London Borough of Culture and to mark this, audio visual artists Greenaway & Greenaway, in a unique collaboration with award-winning musician Talvin Singh, have created a spectacular projection for the Town Hall as part of the opening event, Welcome To The Forest. (9 – 13 Jan)

Across the UK:

Following critically acclaimed runs in London and a highly successful transfer to New York, Donnacadh O’Briain’s Olivier award-winning production of Rotterdam, which explores transitioning and sexuality, will now embark on an extensive UK tour (Apr – June 2019).

Following its acclaimed premiere in spring 2017, good dog by Arinzé Kene (Netflix’s Crazyhead; BBC’s EastEnders; Channel 4’s Youngers; Girl From the North Country, West End; Misty, Bush Theatre and West End) embarks on a national tour (Jan – Mar 2019).

A punchy and poetic exploration of family, race, identity and love from Manchester-based dual heritage writer David Judge, SparkPlug is the story of a white man who becomes the adoptive father, mother and best friend of a mixed-race child. (Feb – Apr 2019)

With their first foray into new writing, Chippy Lane Productions present the world premiere of BLUE – the debut play of young Welsh writer Rhys Warrington which shines a light on the current state of innumerable families across Wales as vital medical and NHS services are cut. (5 – 16 Feb, Chapter, Cardiff)

The title says it all.  How does a talented, intelligent young man grow up, pursue a career and find a life partner, with cancer sitting on his shoulder?

A fifteen year old shouldn’t get cancer at all – but Mark did – a malignant melanoma. Treatment at the time was to remove the tumour and cross your fingers. Because there was little else available, and a high chance the cancer would return.

55% five year survival; 50% ten year survival – these were the stark figures Mark heard during a medical lecture on melanoma, four years later. Yes, Mark was studying medicine – partly to help others but also to give himself the best chance. In which 50% would he fall? Would he even get to qualify as a doctor?

He did – but a severe stomach pain shattered the reprieve and on his 27^th birthday he learned that his cancer was back.

There was some hope though. Research had made massive leaps, and a new treatment could specifically target an abnormal protein found in 50% of melanomas. Would he be in the right 50% this time? He was, and started Dabrafenib. The tumours shrank, but didn’t disappear.

Importantly Mark felt better and grabbed the opportunity to live – really live.  He wrote a bucket list, ticking off every country in Europe with his twin brother, and arranged a big party in Malta. He raised money for Cancer Research UK. Within a few days he’d raised £20,000. (Today his fund is well over £200,000).

He wrote a blog. Through writing and fund-raising he raised awareness of melanoma and received numerous awards, and he gave many talks. At one of these Mark experienced another major life-event – LOVE. Georgie, a pretty medical student didn’t shy away from Mark’s frightening diagnosis. They were drawn together immediately and supported each other throughout, even training for a half marathon – an incredible achievement for someone with melanoma.

Mark gives a perceptive insight into being a patient and a doctor. He quickly learned that a consultant audience probably meant bad news; and he could spot ‘Palliative Care Team’ on a name badge from a distance.

His bravery throughout is humbling. We read how he dealt with hope, later to be dashed; unbelievable medical traumas – sepsis, stroke, excruciating headaches and stomach pain; the horror of finding his brain was full of tumours; his fight to get back to medical work and normality; his eventual acceptance of his fate.

Incredibly during all this, he wrote his book, which he almost finished – his mother, a publisher and poet, wrote the final chapter.

It is a journey of love, bravery, medical explanations and patient experience. I can highly recommend it.

Available at Poetryspace and on Amazon. Proceeds go to Cancer Research UK.

Splitting Sunlight, a collection of poems by his mother, Susan Sims, about Mark’s cancer from her viewpoint, will be published by Dempsey & Windle in January 2019.

By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co,uk

For me, the best thing about January is it is too cold and wet for me to feel I should be getting outdoors and I am able to indulge myself with a comfy armchair, a cosy blanket and a pile crime novels. Here are three great new reads for the post Christmas season.

Half Way by B.E. Jones

This starts out as a story of strangers being trapped by a snowstorm in an isolated building just before Christmas. They soon realise that there is more going on than they first thought, especially when student Lee makes a discovery in the cellar. The local PC Lissa Lloyd is struggling to make a name for herself at the police station and jumps at the chance to investigate a missing person and heads out into the snow.

So far it seems like a classic plot but then the story becomes an intriguing and claustrophobic tale of twists and turns right up to the end, where nobody is quite who you think they are. I was completely caught by surprise by the final chapter. Each chapter changes which character we are focusing on to keep us readers on our toes and gives the book great pace as well as being unsettling, in a good way.

The author is a former police press officer and crime reporter bringing her ‘true crime’ knowledge to this murky world of the psychological thriller. I do hope the policewoman is not based on anyone she knows…

Little Brown pb £8.99

Under The Ice by Rachael Blok

Jenny is an exhausted young woman struggling to cope with the demands of new motherhood, let alone coping with family demands in the run up to Christmas. Then a child is murdered and Jenny starts having visions of the night of the murder.

Her sleepwalking in the crime scene leads to involvement in the investigation and the police are getting suspicious, but could a secret from her past hold the key to the solution?

A suspenseful, gripping drama that pulls you right into the confusion in Jenny’s head, which then contrasts with the clear headed lead investigator. I felt the author really captured both the domestic upheaval a new baby can bring and the fascination of good police procedure. This was a thoroughly enjoyable debut novel and I look forward to the author’s next book. – Great jacket, too.

Head of Zeus Hb £18.99

The Body In The Boat by A.J. Mackenzie

The year is 1796 and Romney Marsh is awash with smugglers. But some of the cargo is unusual. And a few days after a birthday party, why is the body of a respectable banker found afloat, having been shot dead?

The local clergyman Reverend Hardcastle, as acting Justice of the Peace, and his widowed friend Mrs Chaytor are drawn into a twisting mystery of high finance and organised crime with international implications.

This is the third outing for the engaging amateur detectives, written by an Anglo-Canadian husband and wife team of writers and historians. As well as the main characters being just charming enough, the minor characters are also nicely draw. The historical details are laid in without too much of a heavy hand, setting the scene nicely for this pacy and enjoyable adventure. Perfect to be devoured in one setting on a wet afternoon. Maybe with a tot of rum for authenticity.

Bonnier Zaffre pb £7.99

All I need now is someone to keep me topped up with hot chocolate and leftover Christmas cake.

To help you finish the hunt for the best vacuum cleaner, we review the comparison between the new V8 and its less powerful predecessor, the Dyson V6. Let’s run these two stick vacuum head to head and identify the reason you should upgrade to the new Dyson V8. 

Concerning price, the V8 comes at a higher rate than the V6 model; it’s prudent to check out all the possible aspects of various cleaners before settling on the best vacuum cleaner. 

Read below to see the comparisons:

Vacuum mechanics 

These two appliances look almost similar when positioned side by side. The only differentiating factor is the color. 

The V8 absolute has purple, red, and bright yellow stick having an attached motor on its top. The motor serves as a nifty hanger for storage in the two vacuums. The Dyson V8 weighs about 6 pounds. It has 0.14 gallons’ dirt bin while the V6 weighs around 5lbs. With a smaller 0.11gallon bin. The two vacuums can be changed into handheld vacuums so that they can access harder to reach areas. 

Cleaning and maintenance 

When cleaning the V8 is so many miles ahead of the v6. The v8 has a soft cleaner roller head with a direct cleaner head. The soft cleaner roller removes dust and debris on hard floors while the direct cleaner digs deep into your carpets to eject dirt. The V6 also involves a direct drive and a soft cleaner roller, but their efficiency is not as productive as those of their successor the v8. The machines also vary in the maintenance sector. For the v6, there’s a push button used for emptying the dirt bin, while the V8 comes with a mess-free and hygienic dirt remover. 

Battery 

During vacuuming, frequent plugging can be tedious. For this reason, Dyson v8 was designed with a battery that can last for 40 minutes unlike the v6 that only lasts for 20 minutes. If you have a bigger space to clean your house, you probably require longer battery life to accomplish the task on time. If you run short of battery, it means all the cleaning activities will be halted for the battery pick up power again. With the new v8, the waiting time will be significantly reduced because once it’s fully charged it takes a longer time before the power is depleted, and by the time it goes off, you would have covered much a bigger area. 

Pricing and accessories 

Like any other household appliances, advanced machines and convenience require much money. The Dyson v8 is more expensive than v6, but the features and quality of serves you get from these appliances is worth the price. But the accessories are still unchanged all along the upgrading journey. 

The v8 is designed with a mobile tool, a crevice tool, a soft brush, and a handy combination tool. The V6 is also lucky to have these accessories that play the same role. 

Bottom line

While we’ve reviewed the features and capabilities of Dyson v8 vs. v6, we have to accept that each appliance is a winner for each consumer. The cleaners do a great job cleaning hard floors and carpets, and they are the best in removing pet hair. Get the appliance that will work the best for your home putting into consideration your budget.  

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