91�ȱ�

But we didn't really need it as the adaptation of Euripedes’ Greek tragedy came to a breathtaking climax.

Medea (Carly Tarett) is condemned to play out the killing of her children time and time again while Chorus (Laura Danielle Sharp) insists that Medea wrings every last drop of tragedy out of the performance. And I felt drained too as I found myself totally wrapped up in what was unfolding just a few feet away from me in the improvised venue.

That’s the thing about the 24:7 Festival. All the performances are done in non-theatre venues. So I found myself on Monday night at The Midland Hotel for not one, but two plays.

First up was Concrete Ribbons. You live on the eleventh floor of a seventies tower block, the radio is broken and you've had the TV repossessed. Things can't get any worse can they? Then a coffin containing a neighbour that died six weeks ago jams in the lift. Really, things can't get any worse.

Concrete Ribbons

Set against a backdrop of radio travel news bulletins Lesa Dryburgh and Michael Trainor's play puts us backstage at another unusual performance location, the balcony of the aforementioned tower block flat where the couple who live there perform three minute plays for passing motorists. Comedy turns to tragedy as Mark Winstanley (Man) and Zoe Thomas (Woman) discover that their games are being played for very different reasons. The comedy is fast and pithy while the final climax is both shocking and spectacular.

After a quick change of set and a stretching of the legs, I settle down to my second play of the night. Not With That Hand is written by Paul Hunter, Annie Fitzmaurice and Erika Poole with the latter two playing ageing former school teachers. They are former teachers because of an incident on a school trip which is slowly revealed to us as the play progresses - an event that haunts them in dark and sometimes disturbing ways played out very physically around a kitchen table.

There are a lot of plays to cram into the week long festival and I did manage to squeeze one more in - An Englishman's 91�ȱ� at Pure Blue. Roger Beaumont lives alone in his crumbling mansion. He pours a drink and tells us the story of his downfall. A story that fails on too many levels, mainly originality and depth with a twist that even I spotted well before the end. I don't cope very well with flashback drama and to be honest I found it a tad confusing at times but fortunately I was with someone who could snap it all into focus for me.������

Having said all that, what each of these plays has done is demonstrate the diverse nature of the 24:7 Theatre Festival. Long may it live.