1. Review on an Arts Event<br />This review is based on the play “Pied Piper”, having been awarded an Olivier in 2006 on its first performance out in Theatre Royal Stratford East. The show was transferred to The Barbican Theatre and performed on the 11th March 2009 where I witnessed it. I was attracted to the event because a good friend gave a short, positive review of the event; it was also in celebration of a birthday. <br />The play was modern day’s re-write of Pied piper. In the original well known tale, Pied Piper was a boy who was told to charm away the “vermin” of the street with his instrument in order to be rewarded by the townsmen. In this version the “vermin” were young teenagers with anti-social behaviour orders this was shown to the audience on the clothing that they wore. They wore all blacked out clothing including black hoods with “ASBO” printed on the back. Sam Kenrick (Choreographer and Performer) played the role of Pied Piper as he attempted to charm away the young kids off the street. <br />Music Producer, Michael Asante used sound effects and a range of sounds for humour and to build tension in scenes. The actors and actresses mimed through out the play using body language and facial expressions and dance moves to portray emotions, feelings and domination. Not expected, there was a mixed, diverse audience which from my point of view enjoyed the performance and gave a standing ovation.<br />The 90-minute rush of passion and energy is now said to be embarking on a major national tour. In my opinion Barbican Theatre was the perfect place to show the remake of Pied piper. The venue was a clean, designed, big building with staff who escorted me to my seat without confusion, havoc or chaos.<br />Through-out the play, the atmosphere was lifted and I was to lead to have much interest in the ending of the play. Street and break dancing were to the two main genres of dance used in the performance. Communication with the audience was a seen as a specific target for the performance. Although they did not interact with us much, they gave us cues to laugh with eye contact.Overall the play was a highly engaging show that showed humour, action and passion. The amount of rehearsal, thought, effort and dedication was shown on stage. All the performers were very incredibly talented, from the grown professionals to the cute, young children; they all showed professional attitudes through-out the whole play. I especially enjoyed the way the producer or writer twisted the original story of ‘Pied Piper’ into a modern day situation and local communal problem. I would definitely recommend it to a friend and would love to see it again. My rating is 4 stars. I would say the only bad thing about the performance was the pauses which were inserted in breaks for the performers to change clothing and get into character for the next scene. The breaks were filled with short animations projects onto a screen on stage filled with messages and notifications.<br />