Review: GLITCH at the Alma Tavern Theatre Bristol
Thoroughly entertaining evening seeing new work hit the Bristol stage
Uncaged Theatre wound up its regional Spring tour at the Alma Tavern Theatre this weekend.
Glitch, described as a series of comedies ‘from a world on the blink’, brought four brand new pieces of writing to the stage. The stories ‘crack open the systems we live in and laugh at the very structures that shape us.’
The work was from four early career playwrights based mostly in the South West region of England. The vast majority of the writers, creatives and cast and all of those involved in the production are either locally based in Bristol and Bath, or are from the wider region.
Actors Harry Freeman, Jordan Lee, Lee Beldam, Meg Pickup and Nicky Cooper perform across the different pieces, showing their range as actors.
The Authors
Cast and Creatives
Writer: Jamillah Knowles
Director: Phoebe Mulcahy
Dex: Harry Freeman
Rikki: Meg Pickup
Benja: Nicky Cooper
The Authors immediately had Game On energy, but without the problematic issues the 90’s TV show has with a 2026 lens. The writing was on point and extremely funny.
Benja (Nicky Cooper) is “cosplaying” the tortured artist. He is attempting to write a comedy, though with little success. His revelation to his housemates that he is writing comedy causes great mirth in the literal face of his demeanor of woe.
Benja’s nights are filled with alcohol, staying up into the early hours by trying to “seduce” his muse. This all causes him to fall asleep at the kitchen table. In 2026, it almost feels like a Gen X throwback, especially in comparison to his housemate Dex.
Benja is horrified that fitness and clean-living programmer Dex, could generate ten times the amount work in ten minutes with an AI program. But does it have the nuance of the human experience?
It’s very much a contemporary debate, especially considering AI is learning through the theft of work in creative industries.
Rikki (Meg Pickup) the third housemate throws a third perspective into the themes. She uses AI to generate scripts for her foot fetish work. It’s a booming business, meaning she is often picking up more than her share of the rent and bills.
The Authors is a genuinely funny piece of writing, immediately giving us three characters we want to know more about. In some respects it feels like a screen play. It would work well on television. It has a similar feel to Douglas Murdoch’s play Peacock, who interestingly is another Bath Spa graduate and post graduate.
With The Authors, Jamillah Knowles has created three characters in a scenario that is begging for further development into a longer piece. It was a really strong piece of theatre.
End of the World
Cast and Creatives
Writer: Geraint Hughes
Assistant Director: Ross Corbett
Jake: Jordan Lee
Pat: Lee Beldam
Alice and Ash: Meg Pickup
FOS: Nicky Cooper
Geraint Hughes’ writing is another funny and smart piece of theatre, merging together themes of AI, climate and environmental concerns and contemporary political issues.
It’s done through the famous ending in Reservoir Dogs – A Mexican standoff. Or is the term ‘Mexican standoff racist now? Google AI says that it’s better to use the words ‘stalemate, deadlock, or impasse’. Jake (Jordan Lee) does not advocate for a Google AI explanation, asking Ash (Meg Pickup) not to use it when she checks.
When it comes towards the end, the accent of Pat (Lee Beldam) is one of the best theatrical reveals in a long time. The audience loved this piece of theatre which kept on giving.
That contemporary issues are explored through a film that’s over thirty years old is theatrically smart. It remains an iconic piece of cinema history. The age of the film invites its comparison with current affairs as seen through younger audiences.
The writing stretches back even further, drawing comparison with AI issues in the plot of 2001: A Space Odyssey. When the actors hit back at FOS (Nicky Cooper), the AI interface in charge, they are going to need a much more creative solution than that of 2001to take the system down.
The End Of The World also explores interesting ideas about how audience reaction, focus groups, YouGov and audience feedback shapes art and culture. There is an additional layer of controlling AI on top of this.
Geraint Hughes writing was genuinely very funny and original.
The Bus Stop
Cast and Creatives
Writer: Patrick Euan Large
Director: Joe Makarov
Benedict: Jordan Lee
Mackenzie: Lee Beldam
Clementine: Phoebe Mulcahy
The Bus Stop is an exceptionally funny piece of theatre catching the interactions between two young men from opposite backgrounds – at a bus stop.
It’s well-written and perfectly acted by Lee Beldam (Mac) and Jordan Lee (Ben).
Lee Beldam has a singular ability at being able to carry a story on little more than facial expressions. He’s incredibly funny in each performance he gives.
Jordan Lee’s performance of Ben is also a joy. He’s uptight. A trust-fund wielding fiend with the kind of RP accent you want to shake. Coming up against Beldam’s broad Country accent with all the ‘pacifics’ ‘expressos’ he soon reaches boiling point.
Beldam as Mac is laid back, chilled and just isn’t bothered about Ben’s controlling need for class status and words to be pronounced correctly. Ben’s hypocrisy is exposed towards the end when encountering someone else from his own social class.
This was a brilliantly funny piece of theatre performed by two actors who excel at comedy performances.
God Is Dead
Cast and Creatives
Writer: Joe Brooks
Assistant Director: Siri Bolin
Devil: Harry Freeman
Dr Hill: Jordan Lee
Inspector Price: Lee Beldam
DI Taylor: Meg Pickup
PC Blake: Nicky Cooper
For some absurdist, existentialist and satirical theatre, we have Joe Brooks with God Is Dead.
The body of God is discovered by an escort and a man engaged in puppy play. It’s a novel take on the ‘discovered by a dog walker’ usually read in newspapers when a body has been discovered.
This evening’s body is located in none other than Weston Super Mare.
This drops us into a cross between a gritty crime drama and satire, with Meg Pickup brilliantly giving us ITV Drama Detective energy.
When running through the list of potential suspects, which is pretty much anyone at all, will they be able to call the Devil in for questioning? All they have is a bottle of virgin olive oil…
Joe Brooks’ writing is there but perhaps didn’t meet the right audience on the night. Individually, performances were great. However, it’s quite an ambitious theme and scale to fit into around 20 minutes.
The existentialist idea that God is dead, the list of suspects and then the summoning of the devil (loving Harry Freeman’s performance as the devil) is quite a lot to pack in. It might have been better to keep a focus on either existentialism or the religious aspect. And the religious aspect always has so much to give in terms of comedy.
Overall, Glitch was a really fascinating and funny ride into the different ways we are either destroying our own world – or setting up AI to do it for us.
When AI finally takes over, it’s time to arm up with water pistols.
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Glitched was produced by Taruna Nalini. Director and Technician was Billie-Jo Rainbird and Technician was Alex Latham.
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