The Scotsman's
Hoose and Hame, Saturday 10th May 2008
a wacky young product of the RSAMD's Contemporary Theatre Practice course who - in a brief but occasionally vivid show - ponders the questions of identity and belonging, and wonders how someone brought up in Scotland (but not Glasgow, sorry), with a Welsh father who was born in Berlin, is supposed to understand her identity, in this age of modern nationalism-lite.
... her brief attempts at pronouncing the word 'south' in a suitably estuarine accent are brilliant ... Her finest moment comes when she whips the audience into a Nazi-rally-style choral rendition of the Wee Cooper o'
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Helen Cuinn's solo show, 'Hoose and Hame', manages that most difficult of tasks: tackling the profound and the pressing with a lightness of touch. She brings home to the audience the complexity of 'home' . Though this might be about Helen's insightful and shifting perspectives on 'hame', we're all invited through her gleaming green stage door into an expansive home that resonates beyond the local, the singular or the personal. Expertly working with her audience, Helen transforms the anonymous theatre into a homely space resonating with moments of shared recognition. Importantly, this sense of familiarity is strategically disrupted by moments of the absurd and strange, with the 'hoose and hame' becoming something a little more uncanny. This is a performer with a sharp and probing intelligence and a superb sense of dramaturgy and stage aesthetics. Leaving 'Hoose and Hame' I had a warm glow, as though I'd been spent the evening sitting round a roaring hearth, mesmerised by the boundless and captivating energy of the flame.
Some recent feedback from patrons
'Brilliant! Beautifully performed, telling the stories of those who really make this place happen...'
'Physical, musical, vocal, comic - it had so much!'
'Energetic, live, in the moment.'
'...your hair was mesmerizing.'
'Bring back the Box Lady!'
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