Originally published 22/4/2004 northwestend.com/the-story-forge-make-your-own-myths-unity-theatre/#google_vignette

Andrew Lee 
4 stars 

Performed by a frightening pedigree of silliness, from Silly History Boys, Rubbish Shakespeare company, and Wing It Impro, The Story Forge is a family show, where myths and legends are improvised based on topics given to the actors by the audience. Historical experts (though I suspect not) Dr Professor Lee Hithersay, and Professor Doctor Robert Bond led us on adventures through time and space, educating us on the definitely accurate history of things like dog poo bags, and ointment.
The performance was great fun, perfectly pitched, and exactly what one would expect from an improvised piece of theatre. The clown work is fantastic, and whilst the show was a family one, the focus was where it ought to have been, which was on the kids.
There was a great understanding of the audience and the locale of the piece, with some hilarious moments aimed at Liverpudlians. The audience interaction was superb, particularly with the kids, but there were lots there for adults to enjoy too.

The physical theatre, predominantly from Hithersay, was atrociously funny, and he used every part of his body (and his clothing) to get into character as some hilarious creatures. The voice work, particularly from Bond, was excellent, and we can all only be grateful that there was a Welsh person in the audience, so we got to witness the Welsh accent.
I never expected to laugh so much, and the fantastic thing about an improv show is that you feel like you have had a totally unique experience that will never be replicated. The show had the perfect level of not taking itself too seriously.

​The Story Forge was a perfect way to open Saturday at the Liverpool Improv Festival. This has felt like a truly special event and has been a joy to witness.  Unity theatre continues to be a significant cornerstone in the culture of our city. Congratulations to Unity and everyone involved with Liverpool Improv Festival.

Original article - EdFringe: Improvised Rubbish Shakespeare - The Incomplete Works - At The Theatre

5 stars

Sheldon Chadwick

I confess I have watched this show before in an early outing in Liverpool in 2022 and I was already a fan. I was curious to see what the new cast would bring and hence my trip from Glasgow to the Edinburgh fringe. I am pleased to say that Improvised Rubbish Shakespeare – The Incomplete works is as good as I remember, if not better. This is indeed praise as I had previously rated it five stars in my previous review.

The work is very funny, clever and played throughout with a cheeky glint in the players eyes. The premise is that the company of players are here to perform William Shakespeare’s latest play ‘Cardenio’ – for those who are Bard fans you will know this one of his lost plays. The Bard does not arrive, and the players are left without the text from which to perform. Earlier in the pre-show a member of the audience is bestowed a crown and becomes King James – not a fan of Shakespeare or his work and thus the players must entertain the King or face execution.

Led by Shakespeare’s finest actor Lee Hithersay the company gather a few key ingredients from which they then create a brand-new Shakespeare play. What takes place over the next hour is phenomenal as we meet multiple characters, plots twists and off the cuff humour which would put many a comedy script writer to shame. Set in Glasgow – our play opens with a prologue delivered by the impressive Alexander McDonald who sets up our tale of the tyrant Duke Chris a man who is determined to repress his people, he is immediately booed by the audience.

We meet a lovelorn Prince played by the physically funny Kirst Heitmann who is seeking a bride, a pair of geriatric pirates who reminisce of former glories and are up for one final ‘Pillage’. The watchman played by Robert Bond whose keen eye observes all, and expertly ties many of the threads of the story together. As with much of Shakespeare there are deaths a plenty in this play the mother of Duke Chris has her head removed which means he is finally free of her constant pecking.
​
Improvised Rubbish Shakespeare – The Incomplete Works is highly skilled; each member of the hilarious ensemble is comfortable in creating both prose and verse spontaneously. They make this look effortless. The use of live music and sound effects provided by the gifted guitarist Danny Bradley aka ‘Duke Box’ creates an impressive additional layer which is seldom seen when comparing it to other work of this nature. I would liken the show to ‘Horrible Histories’ with a dash of the ‘Young Ones’ anarchy, I highly recommend that you catch this show if you can. Conceived and directed by Mark Smith this co-production between Rubbish Shakespeare Company and Wing it Impro is a triumph of improvised theatre.

Image: Andrew AB

Recently we tested a new score in front of a live audience for the classic Horror film Nosferatu. This was a prototype to see if this is something that could be developed into a full-length piece of work. The feedback has been positive from audiences as you can see below.

I thought the performance was brilliant! Danny was incredible - the way he used his whole body to interact with the instruments and move around the stage. I found his playing so captivating; I kept forgetting to watch the film! It was funny, engaging, energetic, enchanting. I loved the use of props; the quill writing was fun, added a nice theatrical addition. The rat was really funny. The music was beautiful; so clever!!! My only sadness is that it ended!  (Anonymous, 2023)
 
The experience of a live score was something that people had not experienced before, and it was clear that this film was one that folk were not familiar with. The reason for testing with a free event and seeking anonymous feedback is something that I have been undertaking recently. It allows audiences to watch with no vested financial interest, I believe this elicits feedback which is a true reflection of their experience i.e., people can be honest. They also if they enjoyed it have great ideas from which we can either build upon or not. Development of small-scale performance is tricky, one; venues have very little money or space to put on work, two; when they do they need to know that there is a demand for such an experience and finally that the work is ready for the public. Most new work takes time to develop and ensuring the audience is part of this experience is key to building something that people want.
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We have taken on board the feedback and now we will build towards a final draft in 2024.
 
 
 
 

Last week the first festival took place at our host venue and supporter the Unity theatre, Liverpool. 

The anecdotal feedback has been extremely positive and this gives me great hope in the model that we tested in this pilot event. We hosted 12 shows from artists / companies / teams from across the region as well as four workshops. 

The plan was always to host a cross section of the improvisation community and this seems anecdotally to have been a strength of the festival and something we will continue to build upon and develop further. I am open to feedback as I know there are a number of areas to develop for the future. Throughout the two days I was taking notes and will act on these as well as the feedback from audiences and visiting artists and companies. I will share a full report (June) and response as we move forward, transparency is key and if I got something wrong I will act on this to ensure the best possible experience for everyone. 

From the outset my driving desire was to place improvisation into a theatre and thus profiling the talent that exists across the region. Secondly was for companies and artists to benefit financially, each company was on a guarantee to ensure that it covered their expenses. If they surpassed this they then took the full box office (worth 70%) the host venue took the rest - I am pleased to say that every single company achieved this. Finally, the work to be documented and shared to and for the wider community. 

I think we achieved the start of something and I thank those companies and artists who said 'yes and' and to the participants (workshops), artists, companies and teams I am very grateful for your faith and support.   

This has personally been a huge undertaking - I have invested a huge amount of time and money in organising this first festival single handedly. This is not sustainable for the future and thus I will need some support (volunteers) who have expertise in marketing, social media, logistics as liaising with the Unity, press, artists and trying to market the festival has taken its toll. Please feel free to get in touch via [email protected] if you can spare some time to lift up and grow your community. 

Peace and love 

Mark 

This is a copy of the review from Robin Winters - the original can be found via this link Talk to the Hand - Unity Theatre, Liverpool - The Reviews Hub

The Unity Theatre in Liverpool hosted their first-ever improvisation festival this weekend. In the upstairs space (Unity 2) along with a packed audience a new piece of work from Liverpool company, Wing It – Impro was presented. Talk to the Hand is a combination of puppetry and improvisation and the tone for the work was set from the pre-show with interactions between the performers and audience. However, my eyes were only drawn to the purple puppet perched upon a waist-height platform.


The set-up for this improvised play is simple, the company ask the audience three simple questions. A location, a problem and a character flaw and from this stimulus, the company create a full story. The introduction was led by the calm and assured Mark Smith who listened to the numerous suggestions shouted out by the enthusiastic audience, finally he picked out the play’s location of Atlantis.

Jo the protagonist operated by Alice Rowbottom and Lisa Chae is questioned by the very funny Trev Fleming (the doctor) and from this short interaction, the flesh out the audience’s suggestions and lay out key moments from which we go back and see how events unfold. Laid out on three chairs are the ensemble’s other puppets or I should say puppet parts. These consist of eyeballs, hair, gloves and various costumes. It is from this that the company can switch and change characters with remarkable speed.


With a swift lighting change the company dive under the water bringing to life this tale of love, water, fridges and political machinations. Each puppeteer armed with a torch either light their own or someone else’s puppet, a very simple but effective way of highlighting each character. Aisling Leyne as Claire was very funny with her high falsetto voice, this was matched by Chris Murray the downtrodden would-be suitor. Amongst all of this is Jo the land lubber cast into the depths and ordered to buy a fridge by the would-be villains who wish to profit from the downfall of Atlantis by creating a second ice age. Fleming and Chae create a series of likeable characters who dip in and out of the story of Jo played by the excellent Rowbottom.


Talk to the Hand is great fun, highly skilled and very funny. It had real moments of horror as one character was torn from limb to limb and seeing a set of eyeballs floating to the bottom of the sea will live long in the memory. The work is not something I have seen before, and this makes a refreshing change. It wasn’t flawless as there were moments where the action briefly stalled as puppets were being dressed between scenes, but this is a minor note. I highly recommend that you catch this show if you can. As Smith stated in the introduction this was an experiment and as such it works extremely well. Talk to the Hand is playful puppetry with an improv twist and this marriage of artforms works brilliantly.

This is a copy of the original review - the link takes you through to the At the Theatre website - The Incomplete Works of Shakespeare - At The Theatre 

Written by Sheldon Chadwick - 28/10/2022

The Incomplete Works of Shakespeare– 5 stars!
Presented by The Rubbish Shakespeare company and Wing It – Impro & Stories
The John Foster Drama studio was packed for this new piece of work from Liverpool companies Rubbish Shakespeare and Wing it impro. The tone for the work was set from the pre-show interactions between the actors and audience in addition to the sounds of the medieval version of Thunderstruck.
The set up for this improvised play is simple, William Shakespeare has failed to arrive with the new play. The company all members of the ‘Kings men’ decide that the show must go on as King James is sat in the audience. To ensure it does they derive three ideas from the audience in addition to the title of the play in this instance ‘Sharks Spears forget’ – one of the suggestions ‘the problem’ was based on sharks. From these simple ingredients this troupe of talented actors set about creating a Shakespeare play.
The next 90 minutes is a cavalcade of characters, chaos and clown. The skill of the work is in knitting together the ideas borne out in the early part of the play and slowly linking them to the conclusion. And yes, it is Shakespearean as the company use both prose and verse to create the text. In between all of this we experience love, death, magic – all played and generated in the moment. What was so impressive was the playfulness between both the company and the audience, if you require an extra actor pull them from the crowd. The highlight being a member of the audience instructed to sing ‘the song of war’ – daunting, but the company support the person, named ‘Big Tim’ in doing this. The level of interaction emerges organically and does not feel forced. The stage by the end is littered with props, costume, and musical instruments all of which have been used in different ways.
I highly recommend that you catch this show if you can. It is different to the normal improv work on offer, and this makes a refreshing change. It blends live music, clown, magic realism, physical theatre and storytelling into a delicious mix. The work is rooted in ‘play’ and we enjoy the actor’s childlike spontaneity in discovering each moment. Lee Hithersay, Rob Bond, Mark Smith and musician actor Pete Smith are extremely funny. Each made me laugh and in combination they are hilarious. The final moment of the play is decided by King James – the power of life and death in his hands as he is asked to give a thumbs up or down. As per the King, I give it a massive thumbs up. This is improvised theatre at its best. ​

This is a copy of the original review - the link takes you through to the reviews hub website - The Incomplete Works of Shakespeare - Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot - The Reviews Hub


The audience are greeted by the actors and live music as they enter the Sir Ken Dodd Garden a fabulous outdoor performance space set within the grounds of Shakespeare North. This pre-show is but a taster of what is to come. The space is simply set up with various costumes, musical instruments, props, wigs and weapons.
The company of fours actors all members of Shakespeare’s acting troop ‘The Kings Men’ (The reality is a combination of the teams behind The Rubbish Shakespeare Company and Wing It Impro & Stories) take to the stage ready to perform William Shakespeare’s latest play, but William fails to show, reportedly delayed in Leicester as he has a taste for the cheese. Without a script what are they to do?
The company decide to proceed – they tell us ‘We are going to wing it and hope we don’t create rubbish Shakespeare’ (a nod to each company name). And this is where the audience help as they provide the suggestions from which a new play will be made. With these bare bones, our play is set.

What emerges over the next 70 minutes is quite brilliant and delightfully bonkers. We watch scenes of arranged marriage, death, evil, feuding families, murder, revenge and unrequited love. All themes which have been used in various ways by the bard himself. It is quite clear these actors understand the tropes and structure of Shakespeare and as such you feel safe in their hands as they improvise a brand-new play in this instance ‘The Beautiful, Lovely Woman of Verona’ or ‘As you Will’ titled by a member of the audience.
The lovely woman of Verona is played by Robert Rhys Bond – she is hosting a masked ball, masked because there is a plague. The mad and evil mayor of Verona played by Lee Hithersay plans to scupper the event because, as he reminds us, he is Evil. The subplot is that young Patricio played by Ryan Byrne is having doubts about his arranged marriage to Susan a plan to unite their warring families. And finally, we have the Russian princess played by Mark Smith who having seen the portrait of the mad mayor has ridden thousands of miles to seek his hand and fall in love. This is a tragedy and of course, love never runs smoothly in this case it ends with death and the rats of Verona feasting upon the corpses of the dead.

Each member of the hilarious ensemble is comfortable in creating prose and verse spontaneously, this is made to look effortless. The use of live music and sound effects creates an additional layer which is impressive and certainly takes the frivolity to another level when comparing it to other impro groups of this nature.
Although the story being presented may have been a tragedy, tonight’s entertainment was extremely funny – the audience at various points roaring with laughter. The subtle and playful interactions with the audience were nicely judged and ensured we felt included throughout.  Imagine, mixing Monty Python, Blackadder and The Mighty Boosh together and then getting them to perform Shakespeare, this would be the result.
The Incomplete Works of Shakespeare is a brilliant, bold, and very funny evening’s entertainment. It may be aimed at a family audience – but trust me, you don’t need a child to enjoy this!
​

This is copied from the website this link takes you through to the original - The Incomplete Works of Shakespeare - Shakespeare North Playhouse - North West End UK

I was very excited to visit the Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot, being from Liverpool and usually having to travel down to Stratford – upon- Avon or London to see these fine performances. It is such a joy to have this on my doorstep. The building is on the original site of the Shakespearean theatre that was originally built by Richard Harrington from 1597-1603.  This rebuild was under the Prescot 1597 Project and was funded by the Lottery Heritage Fund.  A great opportunity to have a modern building on the grounds of such a prestigious site.

Today the theatre was presenting the “incomplete works” in the small outdoor theatre known as the Sir Ken Dodd Memorial Gardens and again this felt very fitting, as I was a great fan of this wonderful Liverpudlian comedian. The garden was an arena of stone steps that portrayed an embedded photo of Ken and his lovey sayings, and these steps lay bare to an open area that was prepared with wigs and costumes as the audience entered the area.

The play was performed by four very talented cast members Mark Smith, Ran Byrne, Lee Hithersay and Rob Bond, who equally demonstrated their awesome skills and creativity to ad-lib and improvise with ease and myth. 

Although the bright summer afternoon some became cold and windy, the change in temperature did not dampen the spirits of the cast or the audience who filled the small outdoor area. The cast intermingled with the audience and playing drums and a mandolin, soon welcomed us to their unique show.
Although cold, the audience were soon clapping, laughing and cheering along with the cast and when the cast announced that William Shakespeare “Bill” was stuck in Leicester and could not join them the four members turned to the audience for ideas on what their uncompleted works were to be based upon. 

Given the challenging tasks that were offered by the tantalising audience – “midnight”, “2,000 years B.C”. and “who has taken by tangerines?”, the four were unperturbed at the task that lay before them and rightly so, as the four were “on it”- constantly changing accents, costumes and guises in a non-stop turmoil of myth, laughter and tomfoolery that had the audience ‘in stiches’ laughing. 
Their references to St Helens, The Wirral and Rock ferry made this a very local play, and this enamoured them to all who were there. Amazingly, the plot did cover all suggestions requested and after an hour of mayhem the uncompleted works of Shakespeare was completed.
The audience loved it and interacted enthusiastically and so did the four men- experts of improvisation, who I could imagine were very proud of their comical achievement.

The play is on again on Sunday 18th September at 1pm and at 3pm.

It’s a real family fun-filled afternoon for families of all ages.

​Reviewer Jan Mellor
Reviewed: 17th September 2022
North West End UK Rating: ★★★★

I met online (via zoom) with journalist Vicky Anderson. Vicky has been a long time supporter of improv within Liverpool. We discussed numerous things improv, past, present and future. The long read also interviews numerous other improvisors who are based in the city. It is a great read - LONG READ: The story of Liverpool improv — Made Up: (onstageinliverpool.com)