Sketches on Theatre – Opposition Review

slogan chanting audience @Bike Shed theatre, photo Eileen Long

Big (and Bold) Thank You to Miriam Gillinson for an excellent & detailed review of Opposition at Pulse last week.  It’s great to have comments on the non-lectern sections of the work e.g the sofa cut up news part & audience interaction – and it also raises that question of how to label the show…by calling it/me many things. I’m thinking about this issue at the moment, might blog about it soon….Read the full review here: Sketches on Theatre, and here’s an extract:

Hannah Silva is one of a kind. In fact, she’s about five performers in one; a performance poet, an expressive dancer, a lecturer, a motivational speaker and an impressionist. Her show, ‘Opposition’, is positively schizophrenic. It’s a wired, slippery and brilliantly insightful performance, in which Silva not only explores but embodies the idea of political double speak.

[....] As the TV flickers robotically in the shadows, Silva blurts out depressing, obscure headlines; ’1 year old murdered pregnant girl!’ The news stories have been warped beyond recognition yet, frighteningly, they still feel real. Amidst these headlines, Silva also voices her own confusion. As she marvels at just how fucked up mankind is, her body twists oddly around the sofa, mimicking the churning she (and we) feels inside….(Miriam Gillinson)

Opposition @PulseFringe

Last week I went back to Suffolk (where I grew up) to perform Opposition at Pulse Fringe Festival, The New Wolsey Theatre.

I was a bit nervous about taking Opposition to Pulse, because I tour it on my own now, and it’s a pretty tech-heavy show. But actually we finished our tech early. There was a great team. The sound was possibly the best it’s been. Also a great audience, sold out, or very nearly. And my parents got to see it at last (quite encouraging during the performance to be able to pick out their laughter). And I loved performing in a larger space than I can usually get –being able to project my voice and body properly. It’s a big show, my big idea – David – and we do big things – Barrack – best in big spaces, because we are at our best when we are boldest – Tony.

Finally….I managed to get the show filmed. So I’ve got rid of that old youtube clip from the preview a year ago as it was too long and I’ve re-developed the show since. Here’s my new trailer. Not perfect I know – it’s a DIY job – also…with a trailer….thought maybe I shouldn’t give away all the best bits …

One of the new sections works with that Ed Miliband public sector strikes interview loop. I added it after the interview was referenced by a couple of reviewers of Opposition at Edinburgh last year – Lizzie Stewart at the Skinny, and Tom Chivers, Hand and Star. – The Charlie Brooker feature.

…there are some great comments about the Pulse show online.

What’s on Stage came, got an amazing review from them in Edinburgh so was a little nervous but all very good, I’m chuffed (although with my name spelled wrong it weirdly makes me feel like it’s not me she is talking about…):

The whirlwind of energy which is Hanna Silva, a deliberately androgynous figure in a well-tailored business suit, grabs the audience’s attention from start to finish…Silva pours out her torrent of words often while performing an extremely energetic and acrobatic sort of obbligato to what is being said. If I was asked to name my top show from all those I’ve seen this year at Pulse, this would be a very strong contender.

And Suzanne Hawkes from ‘one suffolk’ said it was -

A tour de force of a performance – if at times a bit like spending an hour in the mad house.

I know what she means.

Pulse is a great festival. Wish I could have spent more time there, and hope I get to go again…

Read more about the festival on Catherine Love’s blog…