acrobat

The Acrobat (Blood Ties), a bloody valentine from Unifaun

Unifaun Theatre burst out of their (dis)comfort zone with a bloody and sexy vampire drama that is, however, closer to the likes of ‘Twilight’ than it may like to admit.

Adapted from the novel of the same title – by Italian author Agnes Moon – by Unifaun founder and head producer Adrian Buckle and directed by Stephen Oliver, The Acrobat (Blood Ties) does poke explicit fun at the sparkly-vampire franchise at a certain point in its script, but its appeals to the young adult crowd can’t be overlooked, no matter how much blood and sex one throws into the mix.

Currently being staged at Spazju Kreattiv at St James Cavalier, the play’s cast is largely rounded off by international talent, with a small Maltese contingent of largely young actors very much proving their mettle in supporting roles. The Dickens-meets-Anne Rice story zooms in on the young thief Liam (Cody Hively), an orphaned thief in the employ of Curt (Mark Windsor, in one of his four roles) - a pederastic Fagin-like character who sports a MAGA hat and goes around in an unsightly pair of underwear, and whose latest assignment for Liam - or ‘acrobat’, as he’s known in the trade - is the theft of a precious dagger from a stately home.

But the job ends up being far more than what the righteously arrogant Liam had bargained for, as breaking into the dilapidated home of the aristocratic Vincent (Marco Michel) sets off a chain of events involving vampirism, sado-masochism… and ultimately, an unraveling of both of their inner demons.

On opening night on February 9, The Acrobat got off to something of a rocky start, with actors all-too-frequently fudging their lines and a creaky scene-to-scene tempo that undercut somewhat the suspenseful build-up that the narrative requires.

But there was still plenty to enjoy here, if only because it showcased a fresh side to the Unifaun repertoire - one that’s less burdened with jolting the audience out of true and that embraces the trappings of a popular genre for their own sake.

Though perhaps somewhat over-used by the end, the three overhanging monitors on stage - an otherwise impeccable set designed by Unifaun regular Romualdo Moretti - that blared out music videos by Depeche Mode certainly set an apposite New Romantic tone, not least when you’re reminded of just how heavily laced with BDSM the songs’ subtext can be. The look and feel of the piece was also complemented by Nicole Cuschieri’s costume design, which betrays an intimate understanding of the material and plays up its flamboyance for all it’s worth. One minor quibble on this front, however: though the play is clearly set in present day (characters speak in modern slang, sometimes over mobile phones) the ‘Occult Hunters’ who show up in the final act do so in full Victorian period costume - a misjudged, jarring move for a play that demands careful worldbuilding.

Moon’s story adds nothing new to the vampire romance canon, but the ‘will-they, won’t-they’ dynamic that’s established between Liam and Vincent plays out convincingly enough on stage, with both actors taking to their roles with relish. Cut from the same cloth that gave us the Vampire Lestat and his countless imitators, Vincent is arch, abusive and ultimately charming, revealing a vulnerability at his core that he allows ‘the acrobat’ to sneak into, with Hively thankfully dropping his perma-sneering streetwise brat schtick to soften into something a bit more complex towards the end.

The Acrobat continues its run at Spazju Kreattiv at St James Cavalier, Valletta tonight and on February 22, 23 and 24. The play is partially funded by the MAF Project Fund, Arts Council Malta.

How to Disable or Remove Recent Files in Adobe Reader and Acrobat DC

All Adobe Acrobat DC products (Pro, Standard, and Reader) are excellent PDF powerhouses. That said, there are certain problematic user interface elements. We recently addressed how you can hide the Tools pane, and get rid of the tacked on tabbed-view. And today, we'll tackle another related issue — the Recent list.

The Recent list provides shortcuts to your most recently accessed/opened files. It is quite convenient too. However, it’s dreadful in terms of privacy, and if you share the device with someone, a real nightmare. It's definitely not fun to have someone stumble upon some sensitive or confidential documents, right?

So let’s see how you should go about removing any items within this list, and also what you must do to disable the feature altogether.

Adobe Acrobat on Desktop

On a desktop, all Adobe Acrobat DC versions let you easily remove shortcuts from the Recent list. And if required, you can choose to disable the list from displaying any of your recent files as well. The process is similar across each version.

Note: Removing items from the Recent list won’t delete the actual files. Only the shortcuts are removed.

Remove Recent Files

Adobe Acrobat syncs your Recent list among devices (desktops and mobiles) where you're signed in with your Adobe ID. However, syncing is limited only to shortcuts that point to files located within the Adobe Document Cloud — those items have a cloud-shaped icon.

So if you remove them, the Recent list on all connected devices gets wiped automatically. That said, there are multiple ways of removing the shortcuts.

On the Recent list, hover over the shortcut that you want to delete. Next, click the box that shows up to the left side of the listing to select it. You should see a separate pane appear on the screen. Click Remove From Recent to get rid of the shortcut. You can also pick multiple items and remove all of them in a single go.

If you have lots of items within the list and want to remove the majority of them, make selecting them less of a chore by clicking the box right underneath Recent. That prompts the application to select all items on the list. Then you may uncheck the items that you want to keep on the list.

Additionally, you can also choose to clear the entire list immediately. There's a Clear Recent option to the lower-right corner of the window. Click it, and then click Clear List on the confirmation pop-up to flush out the entire list.

Disable Recent Files

If you don’t like Recent files populating a list of every file you open, then you can configure Adobe Acrobat to stop showing them. There’s a built-in option that lets you modify the number of items displayed on the list — reducing it to zero effectively disables the Recent list.

Step 1: Pull down the Edit menu, and then click Preferences.

Step 2: On the Preferences pane, click the Documents side-tab. Enter '0' into the box next to Documents in Recently Used List.

Step 3: Click OK to save your changes. And voila! No recently opened files should show up after that.

However, if you open a document located in Adobe Document Cloud, the shortcut to the file will still show up on the Recent list on another desktop or mobile that you've signed in with your Adobe ID. And further, lifting the limit on the Recent list will prompt the application to display the most recent files that you accessed before doing that. These are potential loopholes that someone can exploit to view your documents.

Adobe Acrobat on Mobile

On Android and iOS, the Adobe Acrobat Reader app doesn't let you stop the Recent list from displaying your recently accessed files. But it still allows you to delete individual or multiple items from within the Recent list. Let's find out how you can do that.

Warning: Be careful! Unlike on a desktop, there's also a 'Delete' option that not only removes a shortcut but the actual file as well. So don't get confused.

Android

On the Android version of Adobe Acrobat Reader, it’s merely a matter of tapping the three-dot icon next to a listed item. On the menu that shows up, tap Remove From Recent to remove the shortcut.

To remove multiple shortcuts from the list, tap and hold any one item to get into selection mode. Now, check the boxes next to the items that you want to get rid of, tap the three-dot icon to the upper-right corner of the screen, and then tap Remove From Recent.

You can also clear the entire list in a single go. To do that, tap the three-dot icon to the upper-right corner of the screen without having any item selected, and then tap Clear Recent.

iOS

Removing items from the Recent list on the iOS version of Adobe Acrobat DC is similar to that on Android, except when it comes selecting multiple items for deletion. Tapping and holding won’t work — hence, tap the three-dot icon, and then tap Select to get into selection mode.

After selecting the shortcuts that you want to delete, make sure to tap the correct icon afterward as shown in the image below. Tapping the trash icon would delete the actual file as well, so be careful.

Once again, removing shortcuts from the Recent list to files that are stored on the Adobe Document Cloud will also remove them across all other devices.

Privacy Not an Issue Anymore

The Recent list is a useful implementation, but very detrimental to privacy. Thankfully, it's pretty easy to cover your tracks. Don't forget to disable the list if deleting shortcuts all the time becomes a chore. Here's hoping that the mobile version of Adobe Acrobat Reader gets the ability to turn off the list as well soon.

Next up: Want to delete some pages from a PDF? Unless you go for a paid version, Adobe Acrobat doesn't let you do that. Click the link below to learn about five great online tools that should help you out instead.

Last updated on 12 Feb, 2019

An Acrobat and a Dancer Walk Into a Circus (and Do Ballet in the Air)

What is the difference between dance and circus, and what do you find similar?

I feel the answer, but to describe it is not easy. From my perspective, both are theater genres, and the beauty of theater is communication. Circuses are becoming more and more an art form that can speak like dance, and this is very beautiful because it’s opening a new perspective.

How so?

The vocabulary of dance is much more broad because there are so many different dance styles, and the variation of movement is endless. When you look at circus and you are on a tightrope 10 meters high, your vocabulary is much more limited. You can’t let go, you can’t close your eyes, you can’t just spin: You need to keep your balance aligned because your life is at stake. That never happens in dance. You can get injured, but your life is not really at stake.

How did “Non Solus” come to you?

I was in Chile at the Atacama Desert watching this really incredible sunset. Deserts are really similar to theaters — it’s a huge empty place. You’re left alone with your thoughts. You see this red sand turn even redder by the sun and suddenly there is no one around you. It brings you back to some sort of ancient feelings of humans. “Non Solus” is this.

What was the working process like for you and the performers?

A lot of crying. In the end, it’s like, “I’m not a dancer, I know I look stupid, I don’t want to become a dancer!” [Laughs] There was a lot of insecurity. In a way, the whole piece is about letting go of your ego and finding your own faith. Only when they let go does the show start to work its magic.

How difficult is the partnering?

When you partner in a show for 10 minutes, it’s fine, but when you partner for 60 minutes, it’s very hard. From the viewpoint of circus art, 60 minutes by two people is like the Olympics.

What turns you off in terms of circus?

When I see productions that say they’re doing contemporary circus and deny liking classical circus, but in the end that’s what they do. They just put a new piece of music or change the costume.