{"id":543,"date":"2010-02-07T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-07T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=543"},"modified":"2010-02-07T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-07T16:00:00","slug":"review-you-are-here-poetry-show-norwich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/review-you-are-here-poetry-show-norwich\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: You Are Here poetry show, Norwich"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><meta name=\"Title\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Keywords\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\">\n<link style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" rel=\"File-List\" 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*\/\ntable.MsoNormalTable\n\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\n\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\n\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;\n\tmso-para-margin:0cm;\n\tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:10.0pt;\n\tfont-family:Helvetica;\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:\"Trebuchet MS\";\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Gill Sans MT\";\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:\"Trebuchet MS\";\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><br \/>\n<!--StartFragment--><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><b style=\"\"><i style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">You Are Here, a poetry show<\/span><\/i><\/b><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">: Colette Bryce, Daljit Nagra and Jo Shapcott<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><b style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">20<br \/>\nJanuary 2010, Norwich Arts Centre<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">An interesting evening.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>When I bought my ticket from the venue, five days in advance, it was<br \/>\nnumbered only 34 and I had the sinking feeling that once again I\u2019d be sitting<br \/>\nin a small audience in a large venue watching first-rate poets who\u2019d travelled<br \/>\nhundreds of miles to be here.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>Needn\u2019t have worried, as it turned out: tickets were also available from<br \/>\nother outlets and, apparently, offered two-for-the-price-of-one online in the<br \/>\ndays leading up to the performance.<span style=\"\">&nbsp;<br \/>\n<\/span>If that was the marketing strategy, it certainly worked and the<br \/>\n130-seater auditorium was almost full.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">The event was subtitled \u2018a poetry show\u2019, as opposed to a plain, old poetry<br \/>\nreading.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>This was because the<br \/>\nperformance had been choreographed, with the three readers on stage together<br \/>\nmost of the time, but moving between a limited number of props, eg some<br \/>\nchairs and a table.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>The programme<br \/>\nsays the person responsible once directed a play called <i style=\"\">Two Women and a Chair<\/i>!<span style=\"\"> <\/span>In fact, it was a valiant attempt at overcoming the usually static nature<br \/>\nof poetry.<span style=\"\"> <br \/><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><span style=\"\"><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><span style=\"\"><\/span>Did it work?<span style=\"\"> <\/span>Well, yes \u2013 but I only wish they\u2019d<br \/>\nmoved slightly less frequently.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>As<br \/>\nit was, I found myself anticipating the next shift-round, rather like that<br \/>\ndrama warm-up game: \u2018Sit, Stand, Lie Down\u2019.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>However, a lot of people present didn\u2019t find it obtrusive<br \/>\nand opinion remained split.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>When<br \/>\nthe chair was placed upside down on the floor with someone kneeling behind it,<br \/>\nI thought it might represent a pew \u2013 especially as the choreographed pouring<br \/>\nand drinking of water by the poets also seemed to be ritualistic \u2013 but maybe<br \/>\nnot.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>Two of them got the wrong<br \/>\nglass at one point (well, it was the opening night); hope no-one had \u2018flu.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>And does the fact that the audience<br \/>\nnoted this mean that action had overtaken words as the focus of attention?<span style=\"\"> <\/span>Perhaps, at times \u2013 but I\u2019m still glad<br \/>\nthis production had the courage to try a different approach and see what poetry<br \/>\ncan do\/what can be done with poetry.<span style=\"\">&nbsp;<br \/>\n<\/span><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Of course, there have always been performance poets who take a more<br \/>\nactive stance, but these were page poets writing about identity; no chance of<br \/>\nanyone here whipping out their little ukulele \u2013 although Colette Bryce did tell<br \/>\na joke.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>As part of the 30% of the British population with some Irish culture-and-heritage, have to<br \/>\nsay my toes curled when she did <i style=\"\">that joke<\/i><br \/>\nabout Jesus being Irish (well, Derryman, Kerryman \u2013 insert the county of your<br \/>\nchoice).<span style=\"\"> <\/span>You know: thirty-three,<br \/>\nunmarried and living at home with his parents.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>However, most of the feedback I heard was that Ms Bryce was<br \/>\nthe preferred turn of the evening, with her tinkling slant-rhymes and twinkly<br \/>\ndelivery, so perhaps it was just the massive chip on my shoulder that prevented<br \/>\nme from finding this funny.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>Certainly<br \/>\nher poems about the leaving of Derry addressed the nature of belonging more<br \/>\ndirectly than Jo Shapcott\u2019s sophisticated imagery regarding illness and its<br \/>\nimpact upon self-image.<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span><br \/><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><br \/><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">But for me,<br \/>\nthe star of the show was Daljit Nagra \u2013 OK, I admit it: I was already a fan and<br \/>\nturned out on a freezing January night especially to see him.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>And I wasn\u2019t disappointed: all the<br \/>\nchairs and other presentational devices just fell away as he stood (or sat)<br \/>\nopen-handed and told us in deceptively simple language about the harsh things<br \/>\nof life, e.g. <i style=\"\">In A White Town<\/i>: \u2018She<br \/>\nnever looked like other boys\u2019 mums\u2026<span style=\"\">&nbsp;<br \/>\n<\/span>That\u2019s why I\u2019d bin the letters about parents\u2019 evenings\u2019.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>My toes curled again, but in a<br \/>\ncompletely different way, as decades vanished and I was once again that little<br \/>\ngirl with tawny curls and freckles who thought she was East Anglian and didn\u2019t<br \/>\nunderstand why (during The Troubles) strangers in the street would shout things<br \/>\nin her face, like: \u2018Oi, Paddy!<span style=\"\">&nbsp; <\/span>Why<br \/>\ndon\u2019t you fuck off back where you come from?\u2019<span style=\"\"> <\/span>And now here I sat in the audience, listening to the<br \/>\ncrushing blows experienced by optimistic Asian people and trying not to cry, ashamed<br \/>\nat the decades of dyeing my hair yellow.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>This is what poetry is supposed to do\u2026<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><i style=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">You Are<br \/>\nHere <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">has another ten dates on its tour of England this year.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>It comes in at under an hour in length<br \/>\n(no interval), but only costs \u00a37 and is more engaging than some theatrical<br \/>\nshows costing over three times as much.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>All the poets are assured and interesting: there\u2019s something for<br \/>\neveryone \u2013 you pays your money and you takes your choice.<span style=\"\"> <\/span>Bring a pen, as the programme contains<br \/>\na detailed audience questionnaire.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><br \/><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: right; font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">&#8230;review by Bev Ellis<\/span> (Bev Ellis is a poet working in the extreme East of England. She is a lifelong Alice Cooper fan.)<\/span><br \/><\/font><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You Are Here, a poetry show: Colette Bryce, Daljit Nagra and Jo Shapcott 20 January 2010, Norwich Arts Centre &nbsp; An interesting evening. When I bought my ticket from the venue, five days in advance, it was numbered only 34 and I had the sinking feeling that once again I\u2019d be sitting in a small [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}