The Arches Brick Award, the latest scheme to nurture new talent, has brought two hits from last year's Fringe to Glasgow.

What’s most interesting is how well the two productions compliment each other. They both have a reliance on multi-media, making creative use of film, music and projections, and are heavily focused on style over substance. Any unknowing audience member could easily assume that they are two acts created by the same theatre company. Whether this is a happy coincidence or a consideration in the selection of the two pieces is unknown.

The first is Mile End. Inspired by a true story, the play is the brainchild of Analogue, a rising theatre company that devises its productions and celebrates its use of ‘multi-disciplinary performance’ techniques. The play is akin to morality tales found in The Twilight Zone or around campfires: it follows three characters, couple Alex and Kate and loner Michael, as their reality is challenged by events that hint at the supernatural.

The story is actually predictable, pedestrian even. What is remarkable, however, is how well the story is told. There is no lack of creativity in how Mile End is produced. In fact, the style of direction and the constantly clever staging is of far more interest than the story or the characters. Because of this, it’s easy to feel a little vacant about the play after its conclusion because we aren’t allowed to emotionally invest in the characters. Still, with its innovative staging, Mile End is a worthy production that makes one desire to see what Analogue will create next.

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The Arches Brick Award: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

1927

The second piece is 1927’s Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. More of a sarcastic cabaret mocking death and family, the piece is played before a screen onto which is projected a mixture of cinema, animation and puppetry. Echoing the feel of a silent movie, Lillian Henley provides brilliant piano accompaniment. Its two actors, Suzanne Andrade and Esme Appleton, look and sound like a cross between Joel Grey’s Emcee in Cabaret and the two dead sisters from Kubrick’s The Shining. They all give performances that are funny and eerie at the same time, and their timing and interaction with the projected images are sheer perfection.

But it is the work of film-maker and technician Paul Bill Barritt that demands the most attention. His projections, from complicated animation down to funny title cards, are a marvel to look at. As good as his work is, however, the show is a bit too dependent on it. This was highlighted on the opening night when a fault with the projector stopped the play for a few minutes (mercifully saved by Henley’s continued piano playing). Nevertheless, this is a talented mixture of acting, music, movement and technology.

With artistic director Andy Arnold’s exit from The Arches, the future of the Brick Award is unknown. However, if the nod to these two productions has accomplished anything, it has highlighted how important it is for innovative and daring voices to be given a platform. Hopefully, the new artistic director will continue with initiatives such as this.