Review // Wasted / Pintsized Productions

Known for hosting Pintsized projects in alternative venues Pintsized Productions brought their portrayal of Kat Woods’ Wasted to The American Bar in Belfast after a successful tour of the production in November 2018. 

Pintsized Productions’s recipe is unique and innovative: we scour the country for new and emerging talented professionals, mix with established artists, collaborate with different venues and tailor pint-sized projects to make exceptional work. This will bring new audiences into the arts through their interest in one or all of these ingredients.

Making a return to various community groups throughout February and March, we saw the first 2019 version of this show which sees Emma, Oli and their friends on a night out clubbing. The morning after the night before sees both Emma and Oli a little fuzzy on what happened between them after more than a few shots of tequila were consumed. Neither Oli, nor Emma is entirely sure what to call what happened that night, and I appreciated the honesty and truthfulness of the fact that the story doesn’t have much of a resolution, not forcing an opinion or certain point of view on the audience.

Sometimes more similar to dance than theatre, actors Shannon Wilkinson and Thomas Martin barrel their way through this 60 minute show, bouncing off each other, switching genders, playing multiple characters and somehow managing not to knock anything over in the tiny space they have been provided. The choreography of the performance is impeccable and thanks to director Nuala Donnelly this staging of Wasted is equal amounts entertaining and harrowing.

This dynamic, emotive and provocative production shows that not everything is as black and white as we would like when it comes to flirting, drinking and consent. Staged as a reaction to the highly publicised events of 2018 in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Wasted is as relevant as ever, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea if this production was toured through universities to make young men and women think about these complex issues more deeply.

You can find Wasted at the following locations:
-Sunday 24th Feb @ 3pm & 8pm, at The American Bar
-Monday 25th Feb @ 2pm at St Paul’s Bessbrook
-Tuesday 26th Feb @ 6pm at The Simon Community Northern IrelandHostels Coleraine
– Wednesday 6th March @ 7.30pm at The Greenway Women’s Centre 
-Friday 8th March @ 7.30pm at The Ardoyne Community Centre
-Friday 22nd March @ 8pm at The Black Box for The Shankill Women’s Centre IWD Celebrations
-Tuesday 26th March, Whitewell Community Centre, St Mary’s Parish Hall @ 7pm
-Wednesday 27th March @ 7pm at The Pilots Row Community Centre