4 MARCH 2026

Hello, team.

Hope everyone is having a good one?

I’ve had a lovely week, hanging out with the wonderful Gael Doorneweerd-Perry - watching films, playing retro side-scrolling computer games, being majestically athletic and determinedly trying not to talk about improv.

(We talked about improv a lot.)

Rule of three (Hanging out with Gael edition)

[Sport] Pickleball
A relatively new sport that’s a cross between badminton and table tennis. What this means in practice is that the court is smaller, the ball moves slower and players can pull off the kind of ridiculous shots that previously would only be available in their dreams. It became popular with grandparents playing their grandkids on a relatively level field - so as a middle-aged man, I feel like I’m slap bang in the middle of the demographic.

[Video Game] Absolum
I used to love two-player side-scrolling beat ‘em ups when I was younger - Golden Axe and Altered Beast were my favourites. This modern version adds roguelite mechanics (you do the same run over and over again and level up your character as you do so) and the art direction and animation is gorgeous. It’s seriously beautiful to behold. An absolute blast of a couch co-op game. I would rate it five golden axes out of five.

🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓 (this is the best I could do)

[Movie] Bugonia
You’ll already know if you’re going to like this new Yorgos Lanthimos film based on whether you were enamoured with Poor Things, The Lobster and The Favourite. Emma Stone is, once again, sensational but Jesse Plemons steals the show, almost unrecognisable as a razor-thin, super-intelligent zero-contract worker who believes his boss is an alien queen. It gets weird.

Spotlight

Pretend Night is coming up quickly. This month we have Dan Seyfried and Ella Galt coming over to perform and teach with us.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to have them here. It’s a new thing, actually flying practitioners over, so I really hope a few of you take advantage of the opportunity.

Ella and Dan are really world-class, their skill and commitment onstage and their joy and precision in teaching is unmatched. They don’t get over here too often, so this is a real feather in The Pretend Company’s cap.

Playing with No Words | Dan Seyfried | 20 March 6pm
This 90mins workshop proceeds the Pretend Night show and includes a voucher to get into the show for half price. This one is nearly full so get in there quickly.
Buy tickets

Pretend Night | 20 March 8pm
Ella and Dan will present their show Origami Swan which is a tour de force of theatrical improv - centring around one couple and all the millions of different decisions that could change their lives (like an improvised Sliding Doors meets all those multiverse movies in the MCU). There will also be a couple of Pretend Ensembles to support this brilliant headline performance.
Buy tickets

Unplug Your Brain | Dan Seyfried | 21 March 11am
Spend a whole day with Dan exploring finding ease and play in improv again. He is a master of this kind of thing and will genuinely shift the way you approach playing.
Buy tickets

Radio contact

Radio on a frosty morning.