Playback Theatre – Autumn 2021
Brilliant, lovely to see all the expressions of the actors and hear so many comical stories.
Amos
Really moving. Intimate and curiously therapeutic. Thank you for your work and the gift to us all.
Gabrielle
Surprising and moving – and totally unintrusive.
Poppy
“Secret Innuendos” – Autumn 2021
An engaging and energetic evening of interactive theatre – we thoroughly enjoyed the production which was brilliantly acted and it was great to be involved with the cast!
Emma
Amazing group of actors, humorous, witty and a musical delight – fun for all ages, a “must watch”.
Monty
“This Time Tomorrow…” – June 2021
Really enjoyed each performance, loved how each story had a twisted ending. By the third performance I was dying to find out the quirky twist!
Sarah
Very thought provoking and amusing. A bit of a sucker punch – lulled into security by the humour and wry situation at first, and then the dramatic ending to each segment.
Carolyn Banks
Brrilliant! All three pieces were so well put together and emotionally moving in different ways!
Vicki Banks
Well done! Interesting pieces – each entirely different – very entertaining!
Jane Ware
Memorable. Well though out. Intense. Great Idea
Janwy
Enjoyable – lots of emotions – thanks!
Sue
Very well acted and twists
Ali
What just happened?! Awsome!!!
Lauren
Loved the twists and turns plus the different flavours in each of the acts
Anwray
“This Time Tomorrow…” (the Edinburgh Edition 2015)
Excellent first show of the day – This Time Tomorrow – really skilful storytelling in back of 3 cars – it was wonderful but didn’t have the opportunity to give your cast a round of applause – please give them one from me! The West End is dead – long live the Fringe.
Gail Bishop
Loved This Time Tomorrow – brilliant actors in fantastic cars!
Tina Francis
“Fright At The Museum!”
Random Acts have managed to capture the very essence of Victorian curiosity. Fright at the Museum is a delicious mixture of the absurd and macabre combined with humour and spell-binding story-telling. The Booth Museum is an unlikely Fringe venue, but the cast truly brought it alive with this wonderfully intimate promenade piece. Based on the few known facts about Edward Booth‘s life, the colourful characters and surprises galore, left me feeling like Alice being escorted through Wonderland. I walked home grinning from ear to ear and making a mental note to most definitely catch them when they‘re next in town!
Jess Plant, Charity Worker
We had no idea of the high thrills and deep chills that awaited us as we cautiously followed Random Acts’ performers in and around the museum at night. Taxidermists, butchers, clairvoyants and sooth sayers viscerally immersed us in the life and work of Edward Booth. We were spellbound. And then there was the hands-on gruesome activity… We laughed until we cried and egged each other on to participate, getting braver and braver as the evening went on. History brought to life. A ‘one of a kind’ evening of absolute immersion.
Ann Henry
“No Weddings But A Funeral!”
I absolutely loved the show and it was so perfect for the Manor! For me it worked as a good old- fashioned romp with a little bit of everything in it – a little Carry On, a little Agatha Christie, a little Melodrama and all in-between….I loved the audience participation element too and I was gripped and thoroughly entertained from beginning to end! …Random Acts proved to be the ideal theatre company to work with and trust with our precious historic house…..Preston Manor is way too secret, thank you for bringing some of the Brighton Festival audience to our door…
Paula Wrightson, Creative Programme Officer, Preston Manor/Royal Pavilion Brighton
“This Time Next Year”
All four performances were really engaging – utterly credible and so convincingly acted. Using the back seat as an auditorium created a special intimacy not achieved in a more traditional auditorium.
Susanne Newell, Audience Member, Brighton Festival Fringe
Thought-provoking, innovative, accessible real theatre. No pretension, emotional, disturbing and informing. Really fantastic theatre, thanks.
Daniel Richardson
Magical intrusion into different lives – the best thing about cars in the last 100 years!
Miles Sigley-Brown
Very interesting concept. Beautifully performed and delivered. The intrusive, claustrophobic element accentuated the tension – we wanted to pursue the outcomes.
Chris and Joy Binns
Great concept. Felt very personal but at the same time impersonal as the actors were so close but did not recognise your presence.
Gemma
Really unique! What a fantastic idea and so believable. Big ‘thank you’. Will recommend.
Ali Mayhew
Really enjoyed it, so interesting and such an unusual experience – met lovely people and great actors!
Sophie Midgley
So unique. Didn’t know what to expect, but it was brilliant!
Sue Lewis
Very interesting scenarios and terrific acting.
Angela Ferns
I love having permission to be a voyeur! A teasing mix of pathos and laughter.
Janet W.
Really novel experience – great acting, totally gripping – I loved it!
Nione
Loved it!!! Would be nice to have another mirror so to see glimpse of faces. Excellent!!!
L Barlow
Absolutely brilliant – great idea. Loved the improvised aspect, made it very natural and enjoyable.
L Boyle
Really good idea! Thought provoking and intimate venue!
Ben Craig
Unusual surroundings and great performance art.
Grant Winston
Fantastic performances – was a very intriguing experience to intrude on people’s lives.
Rebecca Turnbull-Simpson
I thought the concept was great – could even have gone anywhere with it – driving off perhaps? Great acting, especially Aislinn Mangan, real intensity and commitment – want to see more!
Anon
“This Time Tomorrow”
Amazing! All so moving, and yet so different. Being so close and ‘in’ the dramas with them made me have goosebumps (even in this heat!)
Vic Walmsay, Audience Member, Brighton Festival Fringe
I absolutely loved it. Great stories that are on the verge of philosophical dilemmas, yet very real. Please give us some more.
Beca
Fantastic – I wanted more vehicles!! Some moments incredibly funny, some so poignant I couldn’t hold back tears.
Ann
Very funny, all different, characters brilliant. Love the unique idea.
Healthycreation.com
Intense – powerful and gripping performances all round.
Mat Rogerson
Great stories – loved the mother/daughter ones – great idea! Very enjoyable and different.
Rachel Whitbread
It’s a great experience, so unusual and powerful to have the actors so close, almost one feels like disturbing the moment. Good performances. I hope batman and Robin get back together. 🙂
Audience member
Fantastic show. Each performance so professional and kept getting better and better.
Debbie Waldon
Poignant, funny, sad, touching, could relate to everything. Original! Brilliant fun. Heartfelt.
Lucy Barlow
It exceeded my expectations. I would use the adjective uncomfortable – in a way that told me I needed to shift my thinking, so unusual, should say unique, disturbing and intense. Amazing cameos, brilliant acting.
Margaret
Very good and very different. Would like some second acts to hear what happened next!
Sue and Doug Christmas
Well balanced pieces of acting altogether, intense acting with the added pressure from closeness to the actors. Superb!
Daniel Lopez
Loved it. Full of humour and humanity.
Janet
Very high standard of acting. By turns very funny, quite touching etc. LOVED it!
Deirdre Stirling
A terrific concept! Hugely entertaining and thought provoking. Very talented performances! Great variety of themes.
Jenny Clay
Absolutely incredible.
Olivia
Really innovative idea and very believable performances – enjoyed it a lot!
Laura Steed
I want to come back tomorrow & see them all again, this time tomorrow, of course!
Ann
Absolutely wonderful! Funny, poignant, touching, surprising – keep me in touch! Thanks
Sue Nunn, Artist
Brilliant – thanks!
Rachel
Absolutely fantastic. Would give anything to see them all again – any time.
Lorna Huntley, Librarian
Fabulous – so much fun & unexpected.
Christine Becklan
Such a great idea. Actors were fantastic – well done!
Fransesca Vasquez
Great setting, very inventive and unexpected!
Paul Tremcett
Fabulous! Very original, innovative & funny
Samantha
Brilliant contrast of scenes. Strong characters and engaging storylines. Loved it!
Ali
Absolutely fabulous concept! Am waiting for the cliff hanger sequels!! Totally loved it!
Cookie
Great idea. Liked the unusual venue. Good scenarios, entertaining
Karen Cameron
Amazing idea! I didn’t want it to end, great characters, it was great to be so upclose & personal.
Rachelle Blackburn
A great experience, a good balance of humour & drama and excellently performed. Thank you!
Paul Blackburn
Very inventive, great fun
Jon Hancock
Fantastic concept. Funny & moving
Cath Rowe
Very enjoyable, very well acted, encore!
Pat Cross
Thank you very much, it was really great fun & really easy to slip into the performance. Loved it.
Faye Skinner
Good fun, unexpected, not seen anything like it before.
Alison Tooke
Definitely the most unique ‘theatre’ I’ve ever been in! Excellent
Lana Christmas
Really great fun – unique idea. Excellent! Loved the camper van & the divorce sketch
Gráinne Nolan
Excellent fun. Loved the 4 different stories. Loved campervan. Magician couple ‘Mary’ was a brilliant actor. ‘Ashleigh’s sister’ was hilarious too.
Annabel Pribelszki
Wow! Fantastic experience – wonderful performances. Well done to all
Ali Jordan
It was like finding the miniatures in the hotel fridge and they were free! Absolutely fab
Hannah
Exhilarating and so intense – wonderful acting.
Doug
Excellent idea and really lovely and varied storytelling
Charlie Whitash
Interesting & different. Intimate setting . The atmosphere was really good. Loved it
Sylvia Bainbridge
A truly mind-blowing experience!
Paul
It was fab! Absolutely loved it. Magic for an hour.
Jo
Loved it. They were so realistic that I had to stop myself from interrupting! You were all wonderful.
Rachel
Amazing… very well written & acted. Really “spirited me away”
Claire Salter
Loved the humour, and the closeness.
Nick
What a quirky festival experience. Great fun & great idea
Sandra Mills
Great hour’s entertainment – funny and makes for different experience
A. Mangan
Superb – just like it was you – in tears one minute and giggling uncontrollably the next – couldn’t be better.
G. Sbuttoni
Loved it all! Especially the camper van & the ‘divorce’ ones. Funny & intimate.
Ben Massey
Brilliant! Laughing one minute and then not… comedic moments & then serious ones. A real rollercoaster experience!
Ali Braithwaite
Awesome!
Louisa & Johnny Porter
Fa-bu-lous! So very well observed… and acted – loved it
Mica
Great, really enjoyed the performances. Felt part of a unique experience
Mark Sawyer-Todd
Excellent totally immersive, random, inspiring stuff!
Kelly Dibbert
Intense, novel & fabulous. Thank you – x
Yvette Salmon
Brilliant but cosy!
Leon Harris
An interesting idea.
Dave
Very good – a new experience. Very intimate – draws you in
Miriam
An unusual experience. I laughed loads. Intense & sometimes uneasy. The whole campervan scene was stupendous
Sarah Sawyer-Todd
Good fun. I’d like to see what happens afterward.
Caroline Richardson
Lovely performances!! Thank you, enjoyed loads!
Cherie Pruden
Clever, witty, unique, totally absorbing
Susie Courtault
Great show, genuine and believable and fabulous original idea
Ali
Playback Theatre
The show on Sunday was a treat. It is astonishing to see how the actors work so fluidly together to produce enactments of events from people’s life, with such truth, authenticity and humour. It was delightful to be able to laugh so much. Thank you – when’s the next one?!
Janet Wilde, Child Centred Councillor, Headteacher
Playback is the closest you can get to sitting in a room with Boal, Fox and Friere. Random Acts holds true to these practitioner’s ideologies that “we are all theatre,” using it to bring random people together through people’s acts in life. A gift of the purest form.
Danny, Theatre Maker, Brighton
I suddenly realised what my story was all about! Thank you
Richard Barge
Babies, bees, mystery and fear, dogs, stories invention and fun – just what Random Acts do – and so well!!
Ben Barker, Artist Potter
Absolutely brilliant performance of my mother with severe short term memory loss. Very funny and so true to life. Thanks
Cathy Whythe, Theatre Maker, Carer – Children with Special Needs and Mum
I found it really therapeutic, in a way that caught me off guard. It was a beautiful show. Thank you.
Lizzie, Actor
I really enjoyed it. I went from tears welling up in my eyes with the emotion to laughing, real satisfying belly laughs! I was incredibly impressed with the actors’ skills of improvisation. I can’t wait to see the next performance!
Sophie Joseph, Shiatsu and Massage Practitioner
Extremely entertaining and fun. They are very inventive. Well done.
Penny Joseph, Hairdresser
An evening of unexpected journeys. Random Acts take a story and make it a happening. You walk into a room full of strangers and leave saying goodbye to friends. Intimate, inventive, ingenious! A hot bath, a cold shower – it pressed every button!
Jacqueline Gilbrook, Artistic Director, Steyning Festival
Incredibly innovative – full of surprises. All the members were very synchronistic. Thank you for a very entertaining evening.
Annabelle Trent, Local Government Officer
Wonderful and heart-warming telling of people’s true life stories, including mine, which brought them to life in a funny and heart breaking way. It made me feel in touch with all the rest of the audience, it made me care, and feel more alive. The acting and improvisation and direction were really well done and most enjoyable to watch and be part of. Thanks. We all laughed, and some of us even cried.
Lisa Halstead: Massage Therapist and Student Support Assistant and Mother of Five!
The performance space was created with warm hearts and colourful imaginations. My dreams were brought to life and the stories of others were laid out for all to share. Thank you Random Acts for the experience of lightness with the stories of life.
Juliette Noske: Drama Teacher/Singer-Songwriter
I didn’t expect to be so amused, or moved, or to find so many parts of the performance both poignant and thought provoking. I thought it was utterly brilliant how ideas and stories from the floor could be interpreted in such innovative and moving ways. Linda and my two girls Chloe and Phoebe were all jolly glad we came to see you!
Alan Jackson, Financial Consultant
inspiring, great, amazing, wow!
– creative – energising – uplifting
inspirational, unique, a fantastic experience!
Thank you
Céline, Aoife & Patrick
This is the second year I have seen this production, and it is always a pleasure. Three talented women acting out improvised theatre based on audience members’ stories. Highly recommended, catch them while you can.
Bill Murphy
What a wonderful awakening evening! The connection between the actors and the musician was amazing, each knowing when to speak without any signs or communication. The content was truly inspirational and I left feeling very uplifted. The most fun I’ve had in ages!
Laura, Professional Nanny
How wonderful to escape the usual round of pubs and spend a Saturday night doing something that was actually enjoyable. I had never experienced anything like this before and was not sure what to expect. What I got was something that was a little bit different, hugely enjoyable, fun, amazing, thought-provoking, jaw-dropping, baffling, humorous and poignant in equal measure. The skill of the performers was immense and seeing my own story being acted out made me feel as if they were giving a private performance just for me. A thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile way to spend an evening. Many thanks!
Sophie, Child Development Worker, Women’s Aid
Absolute magic. I was hooked from the first performance. Since then I have enjoyed several workshops and every performance, when I am in country. Tig is very special and, as the conductor, ensures that even the saddest stories are played back with tenderness and feeling, whilst the fun stories can be hilarious. As the teller of a story you feel really listened to and understood. Enjoy.
Jean Gilardi, Overseas Aid Worker
We had never been to the Fringe before and to be honest never thought it was our thing… the nearest thing we had ever come to this type of theatre was ‘Who’s Line Is It Anyway?’ but this was far better. How the actors managed to carry the audiences stories off without talking to each other before hand and with the minimum of props was amazing! Even the musician had to improvise with the actors… one little girl told of a campout in her back garden and this was re-enacted in the style of Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five.’ Brilliant. In fact the whole hour was great. Stories of how people got to the event, holiday stories and mishaps, all played back in numerous styles…
A great hour spent. We came away wondering how on earth they managed it. We have all ready planned to go and see the wonderful Random Acts theatre company next year at the Fringe.You see the thing about their performance is that every night would be different because of the audience interaction. BRILLIANT!
Tracey Lucas, Lorry Driver
In my experience, Playback is probably one of the most creative forms of theatre there is. Since the audience provides the stories, which are then played back by the performers on the spur of the moment and without discussion, I found that each piece stays totally fresh, spontaneous and alive. The triangle between the audience, conductor and players works like magic and has kept me on the edge of my seat throughout every performance I’ve seen so far. A great set of bold and sensitive players remind me of an experienced jazz band improvising, building and playing together. I find it highly entertaining, deeply moving at times as well as hilarious and very therapeutic.
Playback… a fertile (play) ground for magic moments…………
Eva Campbell, Singer Songwriter
(read a description of this performance by Sara Pascoe)
Random Acts retold our stories about ordinary people having ordinary experiences, but then portrayed them with such skill, humour and humanity that they became extraordinary, moving and thought provoking.
Dr. Jackie Pridham, Clinical Psychologist, Oxleas NHS Trust
Playback Theatre makes the invisible visible, the unspoken spoken and the unconscious conscious. It is a vehicle to start the communication between people in a way we have somehow forgotten.
Christer Ferm, Developmental Team Leader, Sweden
Just like an emergency blanket in life’s inferno…
Aaron Cox, Writer
Our ideas were developed fluidly and intuitively between the performers and reflection back to the audience was used to check the impact of the interpretation to make the experience an involving and intimate process.
Tricia Little, Library Service Manager
You demonstrated an amazing combination of creativity, teamwork, sensitivity and humour…what an inspiration for others…
Renee Elliott, Founder and Managing Director, Planet Organic
Being a bit shy, I was a little apprehensive about the audience participation before going to my first Random Acts performance. But in reality it was great fun – there wasn’t any pressure at all and to my surprise, I found myself sharing a story and loved seeing it recreated. What an incredibly talented bunch of performers. I’ll definitely be back for more!
Izzy Bennett, Practising Medical Herbalist
An enchanting evening filled with humour and sensitivity
Abi Rhodes, Actress
You never know what will happen in a performance… I can guarantee you will laugh, you may even cry… but you’ll be really glad that you came…
Julia Berry, Teacher
Thanks for being my Christmas pudding…a wonderfully funny, spontaneous and healing evening…
Eva Haidl, Singer
Just like the mulled wine, this performance was rich and complex with a satisfying finish..
Julia Hutchinson, Counselling Psychologist
Just how theatre should be…
Jeremy Davis, Actor
I absolutely loved Random Acts. I thoroughly enjoyed the playful and confident but sensitive way you drew us, the audience, in… so that we were part of the amazing roller coaster ride… such aliveness! I was fascinated and delighted…
Sue Rickards, 5 Rhythms Wave Teacher
Random Acts touched me very much. How beautiful to see oneself so clearly reflected back with such kindness, humour and honesty. This is brave work indeed. It is also hugely enjoyable! This is the kind of theatre we need more of to wake us up to the reality of where we are, to help us see ourselves more clearly and to look at what is really possible…
Rachel Caine, Professional Clown and Teacher (aka “Doris the New Age Guru”!)
Improvisation at its best… makes me want to begin to share all the stories that make up my own life.
Vanessa, Out of Hours Learning Co-ordinator
Totally addictive!
Tessa Berry, Swim School Manager
Even your beard has a story to be told…
Marsha, Hackney Community College
“As a teacher of improvisation techniques with the British Theatre Association, I was particularly impressed by the way the group worked together and seemed to pick up each others thoughts almost telepathically. Each one possessed the essential qualities for this kind of work – observation, imagination and integrity.”
“The improvisation was skilfully seamless, and the group performed with compassion and a good sense of fun. These are the qualities that permeated the audience and like a gift we took them with us.”