aha - the old lines written on the wrist trick... Those of you who missed out on the first sea­son of Julie Hill’s play ‘Sto­ries Told to Me by Girls’ should head down to Hap­py tonight or tomor­row (or yes­ter­day or the day before that, if you have the tech­nol­o­gy), to catch a spe­cial return sea­son. Lau­rie Atkin­son’s review in the Dom is suit­ably gush­ing…

It’s like per­for­mance art, but with­out the pre­ten­tious­ness that seems to attach itself to this art form, mixed with revue sketch­es, stand-up com­e­dy and Julie Hill’s knack of com­bin­ing believ­able peo­ple, live­ly, off­beat sto­ries and a dry sense of humour.

We meet along the way a would-be actress and her agent (told with huge sil­houttes onthe screen), a four-year-old Red Rid­ing-Hood, Rebec­ca in an S&M; dun­geon get­ting her revenge on her old maths teacher, the unhap­py life of Dou­gal (told with chalk draw­ings), young Dusty’s sand cas­tles, and Kath­eryn’s horse-rid­ing audi­tion.

[Solo actor] Smith is in comedic con­trol through­out, whether as the actress being told she looks like Liv Tyler, or as the young Dusty and Dou­gal. Add Peter Daube’s music and Megan Adams’ video chore­og­ra­phy to the mix and you have a sparkling begin­ning to the the­atri­cal year.

More info (times/prices) at the Sto­ries For Girls web­site…