Be Prepared is not loud, in your face obnoxious Fringe fare. It is charming anecdotal adult story-telling that in my books is a must see. Where as TJ. Dawes’ storytelling begins with a real incident but then takes off at some mysterious point into the fantastical, Matthew Bellwood seduces you entirely with his total naturalness and sincerity. He has one of the most easy and musical story-telling voices you would ever want to hear and his subtle vocal interpretation and just right gestures are perfect for his beautifully unwritten and wise text: just watch his clawing hairy hand! He has a quintessentially British sense of patter and language that makes some of his material into delight prose poems. Don’t miss this charmer!
Laura Kehrig, CBC Saskatchewan
Gentle storyteller Matthew Bellwood likes to leave the lights on while he gets down to business. He feels closer to his audience when he can see them, and the connection works both ways during his cozy one-hour show.
The engaging writer-actor from Leeds, England, shares 10 contemplative, intimate stories that each say something funny or sad or idiosyncratic about human nature. Most centre on a revelatory incident in Bellwood’s life. Some are mildly bawdy, a couple left him “rancidly hungover” and one is a cautionary tale about chasing a dream, inspired by a New Year’s Eve fling with drugs. Amusing and casually chatty between tales, he leaves his audience feeling like they’ve just made a new friend.
Pat St. Germain, Winnipeg Free Press
If you’re a grown-up who misses bedtime stories, this is the show for you. Matthew Bellwood writes touching and thoughtful short stories which he unassumingly tells us in this one-man performance. Instead of one long monologue, we’re treated to ten short stories – some provocative, some charming, and some just cute. Sometimes they’re perhaps a bit too cute, and it’s certainly a little self-indulgent (“they’re all about me, really” Matthew admits). Although he’s not a particularly dynamic performer, Matthew does have a simple rapport with the audience that makes his stories work. As for the stories themselves, there’s a lot of lovely, poetic writing (with lines like “all it takes is a strong wind to turn a cigarette into a raging conflagration”). It’s often the slightly fantastic tangents of the stories that make them engaging. Being propositioned by a cab driver leads Matthew to imagine that he should always have an eagle ready to present as a gift – you know, just in case. It’s weird, but it works. This type of simple theatre will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re looking for nothing more than well-written and told stories, it’s worth checking out.
Joff Schmidt, CBC Manitoba