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CAR SHOW

Car Show plays took place inside three cars parked outside the college campus. Written and performed by playwright students from the Southend University’s Centre for Theatre Studies, they were watched from the back seats of each car.

We found ourselves in the middle of a conversation, in each cases the dialogue exposed an underlining story of the couple’s relationship. We started the journey in a Mini where an experienced social worker argues with a new employee about the difference betweeen her ideals and reality. Next, a girl gets lost on the road with her grandfather, their conversation first opening and then closing their generational gap through the process of assesing the grandfather’s traditional views and values. Finally, a couple on their way to a ballet performance change their course after an unexpected encounter with a car wash worker.

THE REAL BRITAIN

On Saturday, East 15 acting school celebrated the opening of their newly refurbished theatre and studios in an elaborate experimental production reflecting the Britain’s history and culture. Individual vignettes elaborated on multiculturalism, xenophobism and prejudices of the past and the present, including for example the rise of nationalism upon the arrival of Caribbean workers and the story of the Hungarian film-maker Robert Vas, who depicted the life in East End of London in 1960’s.

Upon entering, we were given ‘passports’ which had to be presented throughout the play. If you’ve never experienced the sharp and intimidating look of a border patrol officer, here was your chance.