There’s simply no excuse not to see touring theatre company Mikron’s two new shows, says Katherine MacAlister – they’re brilliant, cheap and playing right on your doorstep

Mikron Theatre Company drifts on its travelling narrowboat into Oxfordshire every summer like a breath of fresh air, bringing with it a massively inventive schedule of plays and locations – from pubs to boatyards.

The company’s first play, which opens at Oxford’s Science Park on Tuesday, is Troupers, about the entertainment acts sent to cheer up the troops during WW1. A fascinating and highly researched script has resulted in a brilliant music hall/cabaret-style show.

Seen through the eyes of Lena Ashwell, who was tasked with gathering a troupe of actors and musicians to take to France after her own audiences dried up during the war, this poignant, fun and often haunting production has been enthralling audiences up and down the country’s canals since Mikron embarked on their summer tour in May.

Mikron invariably breaks up its summer programme with a less serious second production, this year it’s Till The Cows Come Home – an insightful look at the future of food. It follows the story of Harvey Granelli who tries to recreate his father’s gelato recipe and come up with the perfect ice cream recipe.

Artistic director Marianne McNamara says: “It’s about being topical and both shows are going down a storm, people are really enjoying them.”

Setting off from Welford in Leicestershire on Tyseley, the company narrow boat, Mikron’s cast of four has already sung and acted their way through London and Reading before coming to Oxford.

So what can we expect? “Troupers has been a fascinating journey for everyone at Mikron. There have been numerous films and plays about men at the front on the battle fields, so this is a different way of showing it, a new angle, and the response has been amazing. There have been people in tears in village halls because these are stories about camaraderie, about keeping your chin up, about making art in times of austerity, something everyone can relate to,” says Marianne.

“We researched it by reading books such as Voices From The Somme – first hand accounts from soldiers who remember the joy the entertainment brought, an escape from the mud and horror.”

As for Till The Cows Come Home, Marianne says: “People are so into their food and where it comes from, and this is the third part in a trilogy about the slow food movement.”

So what is it about Mikron that packs audiences in?

“It’s accessibility,” Marianne says. “We take theatre to the people, so we attract audiences that wouldn’t ordinarily go. Mikron is almost pop-up theatre. It’s not highbrow and it’s affordable. We just want people to come and see it.

“One man at a pub who saw a recent play said: ‘I don’t go to the theatre but that was bloody brilliant,’ and that sums it up really.”

CHECK IT OUT
Troupers tours from August 5 at the Oxford Science Park; Till the Cows Come Home kicks off on August 8 at The Plough, Wolvercote. For more information go to mikron.org.uk or call 01484 843701

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