Review: What I Heard About the World**

At Sheffield Studio

Third Angel is a company that operates in the high stakes world of devised theatre. Why high stakes? When it goes wrong, it can really go wrong.

As a company, Third Angel has a great track record, with some genuinely beautiful and touching work; unfortunately, this new show can't be counted among the successes.

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There are fragile little moments of beauty within it, but, as a whole, this collection of strung-together stories of different countries simply doesn't connect enough, nor contain enough narrative drive to take the audience along with it.

The Sheffield-based company has teamed up with mala voadora, a Portuguese theatre company, to create its latest show.

Developed over a period of months, What I Heard About the World began when Third Angel's Alex Kelly held a scratch performance in Sheffield, asking people for different stories they had relating to countries around the world.

The show has developed into this piece of work, but it still feels underdeveloped.

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Part of the problem is that it falls into the trap laid on the path of creating devised work, of becoming too self-involved without being self aware enough.

The performers on stage appear to be enjoying themselves, but they don't allow us into the world often enough to share in the fun.

The piece opens with Chris Thorpe playing guitar and singing into a microphone – and already it feels a little too self indulgent.

Thorpe, Alex Kelly and mala voadora's Jorge Andrade then tell seemingly unconnected stories about countries in the world.

Many of the stories are forgettable and it is easy to come away without any real sense of what the show is trying to tell us.

To October 30.

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