Preview: Tin Girl Story at Studio Salford

If you turn up on Wednesday night at the King Arms, I'll wager you'll never have seen the like of this before.

Actor and poet Kate Gilbert joins forces with classically-trained double bassist Michael Cretu to produce a fanstastical urban fairytale called Tin Girl Story.

Beginning tomorrow at the upstairs space in the Kings' Arms pub on Bloom Street, Tin Girl Story takes in the original story of a spoken word and sung play about a young girl is imprisoned in the Tin Man's shop, dreaming of her escape. One day she is given a way out. But will anyone ever melt her tin heart?

Kate's poetry - which she's performed as far away as New York - becomes the heart of the piece, with Michael's double bass interweaving into the story to become more than just accompaniment.

The pair (typically for Salford creative collborations) met in the pub, and although had difficulty working out how to present the story, have produced a fascinating take on "musical theatre".

Michael is an interesting character on his own. His grandfather was a musician in the St Petersburg orchestra as the Russian revolution broke out in 1917. He learnt his trade in a family who looked back to the Romanian traditional folk scene alongside the more classical conservatoire-trained musicians.

His solo show - which Michael will specially perform after Tin Girl Story from Thursday 7th to Saturday 9th April - goes on the road in the summer, taking in Manchester, London Jazz Festival and the city of love, Paris.

Andy Rogers is the current assistant director at Manchester's Royal Exchange theatre, and through him, the classical-jazz musings of Michael's soulful bass and Kate's lyrical poetry, Tin Girl Story becomes much more than your bog-standard play.

I for one can't wait for this to open.

£7/£5

Dates: Wed 6th Apr @ 7.30pm (ends 9.30pm*), Thu 7th Apr @ 8.00pm (ends 9.30pm*), Fri 8th Apr @ 8.00pm (ends 9.30pm*), Sat 9th Apr @ 8.00pm (ends 9.30pm*)

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• salford
• manchester
• play
• double bass
• tin girl story
• michael cretu

[JonThm]

Are yuo doing any shows?