Month: March 2018

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Poems and plays and some dance thrown in too

Back in Peterborough after an exciting four days in Southend-on-Sea, I faced several busy days last week.

The next season of theatre for Platform 8, delivered by Jumped-Up-Theatre with Battersea Arts began.  This is a bi-yearly event not to be missed and sees some top-quality theatre in the ‘boro! The first event Live Before You Die with Byron Vincent was a show exploring maleness and mental health. Byron looked at his life and main friendship with Dave McGinn as it was and is affected by his PTSD and bipolar disorder. Leading up to the event, he was involved in discussions with local community groups and hosted a curry evening – Curry and Chaat.  I went along to help, ate some delicious curry from Punjab Balti House and took part in the conversations.  One of the key discussions in our group was on the subject of who we share with and how much we disclose.  Lots to think about.

The 21st March was World Poetry Day.  I was invited to Avery House Care Home in Hampton Vale to deliver a poetry workshop and share some of my own pieces with them.  I oversaw a session with links to The Dreamcatcher Project (a former venture with Jumped-Up-Theatre and One-To-One Development Trust – see the link). The residents shared their hopes and aspirations for the future of Avery House and then drew on their surroundings and encounters to contribute to a poem.  I’m going to work on their material and return to perform the poem to them. It was great to talk about the qualities occupants brought to the building – a plethora of wisdom and experiences.

On the evening of World Poetry Day spoken word artist Alex Tyler kicked off a new event for Peterborough in the shape of a poetry slam – the first of its kind locally.  It was a fantastic event at the Broadway Theatre and had a big audience, including a large contingency from Lincoln. Mark Grist performed a set in the interval (he noted that it was the first full length set he remembered doing in the city for years).  I enjoyed having an unusual break from performing.  I relaxed, was entertained and spent most the evening laughing.  The overall winner was Amber Page, who performed two incredibly poignant pieces – the deserved slam champion!

Good Shout Slam  photos courtesy of Thomas Davies

After only two days break from poetry and theatre happenings, it was back to it on Saturday for two more Platform 8 events.  The first was a family-centred story by Paddleboat Theatre Company called According to Arthur. If I had to pick, I think this would be my highlight of the week.  The show traced the journey of old Arthur – a man who had become shut off from the world around him.  It followed the search for his friend the moon, which leads him to remember a more connected time and ultimately value friendships. Movement and props were used in unusual and brilliant ways, but the test of it all – an energetic five-year-old who sat enthralled throughout and loved showing old Arthur some funky dance moves.

To finish the week, I went with my daughter to The Head Wrap Diaries, from Uchenna Dance (brought to the city by Peterborough Presents for Platform 8, Jumped-Up-Theatre) – a complete change of tone from Paddleboat Theatre and a great experience.  I especially enjoyed the celebration of women in all their diversity alongside their cultural roots – symbolised by hair and the head wrap.  The performance was beautiful and dynamic. At home we had been watching He Named Me Malala (which I would highly recommend) – a documentary about the young activist Malala Yousafzai who was shut in the head by the Taliban for speaking out about the rights of girls. All-in-all we enjoyed a good couple of days of female empowerment and inspiration.

Photo courtesy of Tony Nero

There are still three other Platform 8 performances that are open for booking. They are Sponge by Turned On Its Head, for babies, young children and their carers, Anonymous by home-grown ensemble URock and Ugly Chief by Victoria Melody.  All look set to be fantastic events and well-worth booking in to.  For more information see the Jumped-Up-Theatre site.

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Writers House 2

Today – snow – after even having to take off my outer layers when walking to the seafront yesterday!  It was a shock to open the blinds to it this morning, but a bit of a treat to get the estuary views in clear sunlight and then snow in the space of two days.

Yesterday I finished off a day of writing by listening to some poets at the Sundown Arts’ event I am Looking for Words. Let’s just say I laughed – a lot, especially at Rachel Pantechnicon.  I don’t think I’ve heard anything quite like it in poetry circles, in a surreal, ground-breaking type of way.  I need to hear or read about the Cheesegrater Leg-Iron Lion again!  Molly Naylor was another of my highlights on a completely different level.  She read some observant and moving poetry from her new book Badminton, published by Burning Eye Books.

On a snow day it was appropriate that I was spending time indoors.  I attended Situated Practice: a one day creative writing course relating to place, at Metal with celebrated author Lee Rourke.  The day was spent examining the traits and mechanisms of writing that evokes a clear sense of place.  It was really good to meet new people and learn from each other and Lee (who was a mine of wisdom and information).  I took on the task of writing a short piece evoking the fenlands back home, something that I feel better equipped to do as a result of the day.

In the lunch hour, I did a ten minute reading slot in Café Valise at Metal, reciting some of my more recent poetry.  It was good to get some positive feedback from the listeners.

It’s been a pretty sociable day! I went out in the early evening to an Italian street-food restaurant with my fellow resident Veronique Chance.  Veronique is an artist on sabbatical from university lecturing and is developing a piece of work on running – investigating the body’s response to its environment through it.  She relays pictures and tracks her runs as part of the process and is working towards running from the source of the Thames to the sea.  It was great to chat over pasta and a glass or two of red about her incredibly interesting project.

We returned quite noisily right at the start of another event – Exotic England: The Making of a Curious Nation, with Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.  A leading commentator on race and human rights with multiple television and radio appearances to her name, Yasmine examined the curiosity the English have always had for other civilisations.  She read from her recent book and endowed everyone with the sense of the richness that England had always craved and gained especially from Eastern nations, and the relationship between them spanning centuries of history. Lots and lots to think about.

Being in residence at Chalkwell Hall has been extremely worthwhile.  It’s been so good to have time to develop ideas, be stimulated by workshops, performance and discussion and to be still and draw from the environment.  I feel like I’ve benefited from several weeks’ worth of input in relatively few days.  It’s been great to be here – thank you Metal

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Writers House 1

It feels like a good opportunity to publish a post from Southend-on Sea, where I’m staying as part of the Essex Book festival.  During March, Metal at Chalkwell Hall has morphed into a pop-up Writers House and is offering a wide range of events celebrating writers and books of all genres.  This includes talks with guest authors, spoken word poetry and prose performance, seminars, and discussion.  Over the course of the month, the Georgian grade II listed hall is also housing seven writers-in-residence, of which I’m one.

I arrived on Thursday evening and settled into a large room with a writing desk and estuary views, then joined the Big Book Club Get-Together, which was taking place in the building.  All the book clubs in the area had been invited to read the same book – a lesser-known science fiction novella by E.M. Forster: The Machine Stops – and to meet together to discuss it. Key sections of text were read aloud by actress Sarah Mayhew and lots of lively discussion came afterwards.

I am familiar with several of Forster’s novels, but not The Machine Stops and it seemed this had been the case for a lot of people attending.  The reaction from those at the event was to marvel at how precisely and uncannily Forster wrote about the future, when writing in an age when radio was not yet a mass medium! He wrote about a machine as a medium for nearly all interactions, in a world devoid of nurture and human touch.  An idea considered valuable was one which had been handed on through at least ten intermediaries – evoking the current click/share culture and there were many more current thought-provoking themes. The overwhelming response from those involved, was shock at how accurate Forster’s predictions were and an inclination to read more science fiction in the future.

Whilst in residence at Chalkwell Hall I’ll be continuing to work on a one-person play for the Shall I Speak For You project with Jumped Up Theatre and Battersea Arts.  I’m currently developing the play-script which focuses on sport, mental health and motherhood.

The play consists of a series of monologues and spoken word pieces addressing the body – firstly as something the central character is in love with – a sports woman, who has always valued being a strong physical force. And secondly, in contrast, the body that finds the mental load of everyday life difficult.

Thinkers such as Plato wanted to separate mind from body, placing the emphasis on the intellectual. But later philosophers such as Merleau-Ponty had a far more holistic approach, writing about the bodily nature of consciousness. I find this fascinating, especially talk of muscle-memory and ideas that not all memory is stored in the brain.  Our bodies adjust to our own surroundings, for example – If we drive, we learn to perceive the car as an extension of ourselves.  It is also incredibly interesting to hear stories from patients who’ve received transplants reporting that they’ve inherited thoughts, feelings and personality traits from the organ donor.  Our bodies as mediums through which we form a grip on the world is something I want to explore further in my writing, especially as a woman.

Tonight I’m excited to be attending I’m Looking For Words, with Sundown Arts – an evening of spoken word with Matt Abbott, Molly Naylor and other poets.

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A Writer’s Pub – Write Club

This week is a busy one for the diary – full of spaces to write and perform.  As I type, poets in the city are gearing up for the this evening’s Write Club – an event which pits teams of writers/performers against each other, as they compete for the ultimate prize – free beer.

It’s good to see people with different angles and writing styles all sharing in a local space. I’m taking on the role of team captain for the first time and have an awesome squad of poets (even if I’m biased), including some new faces.

The evening, which is held at The Stoneworks, beginning at 8pm, is hosted by Charley Genever – Peterborough Poet Laureate 2016 and sees Chris Martin and Keely Mills as the two other team captains.  The theme (chosen by an audience member at the previous Write Club) is ‘Thoughtlessness’.