Tag Archives: Flora Doble

The Haus Of Kunst

★★★

VAULT Festival 2020

Reviews, , , , , , , ,

The Haus Of Kunst

The Haus Of Kunst

Crescent – The Vaults

Reviewed – 12th March 2020

★★★

 

“Valore’s routine is an absolute showstopper and would be the perfect closer”

 

The Haus of Kunst is a collective of diverse artists from dancers and singers to burlesque and pole dancers. Set in a prohibition-era bar, the Haus of Kunst treats the audience to an array of acts, all of which straddle the line between cabaret, burlesque and circus.

The show is rather slow to start with the drag king presenter Don McNasty performing a far from energetic rendition of No Diggity by Blackstreet ft. Dr Dre and Queen Pen. After ten minutes of back and forth, the actual show begins, opening strong with an incredible dance featuring burlesque feather fans from the sultry Cleopanther. After this, the Sweet Peas, two women dressed identically all in green, perform a cutesy but technically challenging flapper-style dance. The ‘world renowned’ tiger tamer Diva Hollywood takes to the stage next executing impressive whip tricks featuring an (un)lucky member of the audience.

Following this, Miss Laurie, who until now has provided musical accompaniment on the keyboard, sings a humorous song about how everything she does is for attention. Though funny, Laurie unfortunately forgot a large chunk of the song. The Sweet Peas then return for their second dance, this time stage fighting while balancing in pots and pans. The show closes with dancer Kitty Valore performing an exceptional pole routine to the song ‘Kiss the Girl’ from Disney’s The Little Mermaid followed by a final dance from Cleopanther to a medley of rap songs. Valore’s routine is an absolute showstopper and would be the perfect closer.

The set is relatively simple, but it’s barren nature rather conjures up the image of a once-great venue trying to find its feet again. A plain black backdrop and unadorned furnishings do not exactly make the upcoming performances seem like they’re going to be particularly exhilarating. Some more colour would go a long way in piquing the audience’s curiosity. Also, rather strangely, the acts all sit at the back of the stage throughout the entire show which detracts somewhat from the current performer. Exciting-looking acts waiting in the wings naturally attract an audience’s eyes and it would be nice if each act got their moment in the spotlight.

Varied lighting is not used to its full potential though it is unclear how much the production itself could control this seeing as McNasty’s request to turn off one particularly bright light was refused by the technical team. Still, some more colourful light displays would help to immerse the audience in the performances.

The acts’ costumes and outfits are incredible, most notably, Hollywood’s red and gold lion tamer ensemble, and Galore’s iridescent mermaid tail that she later sheds to perform her routine. Galore did take a rather long time with her off-stage costume change, but the wait is certainly worth it.

Haus of Kunst has a lot of potential and has an exceptionally talented cast, but some more style, flair and polish would certainly contribute to the bold, passionate and daring atmosphere that the collective so desires to create.

 

Reviewed by Flora Doble

 

VAULT Festival 2020

 

 

Click here to see all our reviews from VAULT Festival 2020

 

Jekyll & Hyde

Jekyll & Hyde

★★★½

VAULT Festival 2020

Reviews, , , , , ,

Jekyll & Hyde

Jekyll & Hyde

The Vaults

Reviewed – 25th February 2020

★★★½

 

“Fire Hazard Games offer a slick production”

 

Combining mobile gaming, real-world scavenger hunting, narrative storytelling and live performance, Jekyll and Hyde is the latest immersive experience from Fire Hazard Games.

Players meet the chemist Emerson Frey (Daniel Chrisostomou), the lawyer Jude Edmonton (Tim Kennington) and the psychoanalyst Aubrey Goldmann (Chloe Mashiter) who explain that last night you committed a terrible deed. However, you, Dr Jekyll, cannot remember what you did as you took a mysterious serum that both altered your personality and caused selective amnesia of the night’s events.

Players – either solo or in a team of up to three – must thus uncover their missing memories by solving online clues and make decisions about their future, all while under increasing time pressure.

The plot is relatively simple, and there is a fair degree of customisation depending on the choices made. However, it is rather easy for players to ignore the game’s story and focus only on solving clues, as one does not need to remember earlier information to solve later clues.

There are 21 locations with clues to solve around the Waterloo area. It is unlikely that players will have time to cover all of these which gives the game a fair amount of replay value. The most atmospheric locations are the Church (set in the spooky grounds of St John’s Church on Waterloo Road) and the Hospital (set outside the nineteenth century Royal Waterloo Hospital for Children and Women). Other locations, such as Press Night (next to the Young Vic), do not set the scene so well, with blatant reminders – like a Sainsbury’s Local – that players are not in fact exploring Victorian London.

At select locations, Frey, Edmonton and Goldmann will appear to offer players a deal that will affect the outcome of their game. For example, at the Church, Frey makes a frightening appearance, encouraging you to come under his ward and continue the experiments with the mysterious serum. The trio do well to stay in character and are a helpful reminder to think beyond clue hunting and about the wider story.

Unfortunately, not every team will meet the characters individually as this is entirely dependent on the locations one visits. This is a shame for those participants who are especially interested in becoming immersed in the story and its world.

The mobile aspect of the game works well for the most part, though poor internet connectivity outside the VAULT Festival where the game begins does not fill players with much initial confidence. The game is dependent on a strong internet connection and significant phone charge and if these fail there is no way to rejoin. Frey, Edmonton and Goldmann can track players and their actions on their own devices which are cleverly hidden in empty book props. This also means that they can tailor their conversations if they do meet.

Jekyll and Hyde is a lot of fun and Fire Hazard Games offer a slick production that does fairly well to adapt a complicated and multifaceted experience to different interests and game play styles.

 

Reviewed by Flora Doble

 

VAULT Festival 2020

 

 

Click here to see all our reviews from VAULT Festival 2020