Jacksons Lane Postcards festival (Photo: Tim Easton)
When: 17th – 28th July 2018
Where: Jacksons Lane, 269a Archway Road, London N6 5AA
£: Shows are Pay What You Want, so audiences can reserve their tickets in advance – totally free – and make a donation of their choice after the performance
What is it?
Postcards, a two-week festival of circus, cabaret and performance, will take place at Jacksons Lane in North London from Tuesday 17th to Saturday 28th July.
Now in its eighth year, this unique festival of new work aims to engage new audiences and highlight the diverse programme that Jacksons Lane offers year-round; from emerging to established performers across a range of genres.
Highlights of this year’s festival will include one-woman Shakespearean send-up MacBETTI, literary romp The Full Bronte, and a spectacular closing night cabaret curated by the Bazazi Brothers.
The Postcards 2018 shows are:
Double Bill: Ripe & Folie a Deux on 17th July at 8pm
Embark on an evening of absurdist anarchic circus. Ripe by Tilly Lee-Kronick playfully unpeels the stereotypes wrapped around women’s bodies. Folie a Deux by Gossamer Thread crosses a circus performer with a mentalist in a vaudeville-inspired piece combining magic, circus and overt displays of public affection.
London Calling on 18th July at 8pm
Jessica Andrade presents an evening of defiantly diverse performance, featuring sensational circus shorts, live music, spoken word and undefinable acts to engross and enchant. Celebrating the dynamic characters, creeds and cultures of our capital, this is a night where anything goes (and probably will).
Garry Starr Performs Everything on 19th July at 8pm
After being sacked by the RSC, disgraced actor Garry Starr defies his critics by performing every possible genre of theatre in 60 minutes, thus saving the performing arts from its inevitable extinction. A very physical comedy about over-ambition and under-achievement by Plague of Idiots.
Prison Factory Cult Circus on 20th July at 8pm
Between prison breaks, teen pregnancy and that business with the cult, it’s hard to pinpoint the black sheep of Lucy Frost’s family. This tour-de-force of knife-throwing, lasso and a musical handsaw tells the true story of Lucy and her siblings’ formative years in Sheffield challenging nature, nurture and Thatcher.
Our House on 21st July at 8pm
Curated by emerging artists Vee Smith and Sadiq Ali, Our House brings together circus, drag, performance art and dance to create poignant, fierce and uplifting work that reflects our problematic, joyful, disruptive queer selves.
Get ready for some eclectic performances (Photo: Tim Easton)
Naked Truth on 22nd & 23rd July, from 11am to 5pm
Can nudity help establish trust? This one-to-one intimate performance by circus and performance artist Vendetta Vain blurs the boundaries between talking therapy, performance and confession, taking place in a private room where the artist is nude and invites the audience member to talk about anything for 20 minutes (£10 per ticket).
My Feminist Boner on 23rd July at 8pm
Make yourself hairless, fatless, snotless. Count calories. Figure out how to contour. Join Sarah Blanc as she evaluates over-the-counter beauty contraptions designed to make a better you in this side-splitting dance-comedy.
MacBETTI on 24th July at 8pm
Fed up of men getting all the good roles, Heidi Niemi has decided to play every part in Macbeth. She toils and troubles through the Scottish play with quick wit and even quicker wardrobe changes in this spirited send-up of the bard’s witchiest play.
The Full Bronte on 25th July at 8pm
Join Maria (thespian/glamour puss) and Brannie (ensemble/dogsbody) in a chaotic homage to the Bronte family by Scary Little Girls.
Filibuster on 26th July at 8pm
A man out of time is waiting for happiness to arrive. Tom Gaskin combines technical brilliance with comic physicality as a suave idiot who fights off loneliness with clowning, juggling and trickery. Think Bertie Wooster meets Buster Keaton in a vaudevillian fantasy.
The Black Cat on 27th July at 8pm
A renegade retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s twisted tale. LaPelle’s Factory dismember a macabre classic with the cheekiest of glints in their eyes. Hilarious and horrific, this show wallows in the darkness that lies just beneath the surface.
Bazazi Brothers’ Big Bash on 28th July at 8pm
Batten down the hatches as Bazazi Brothers Edward and Kaveh compere a kaleidoscopic closing-night cabaret. A deadly mix of debauchery, circus and sideshow that’ll knock you sideways. Join them for the show, then join them for the after-party. Wear blue and orange for the full immersive experience.
All uncollected tickets will be released 15 minutes before the performance, so bookers are encouraged to head along early and enjoy the pop-up kitchen and fully-stocked bar featuring craft beer and specially brewed Postcards Punch.