DREAM TEAM
When Hobart poet Pete Hay teams up with flamenco guitarist Paul Gerard, the result is Spanish-themed performance poetry. Their upcoming show An Evening in Andalusia features Hay’s poetry, inspired by Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, set to Gerard’s flamenco music.
Hay has been a fan of Lorca for many years and his interest leapt to a whole new level when he and his wife visited Spain four years ago.
“We went specifically to southern Spain, Andalusia, where Lorca was from, because I wanted to see if I could find where he was buried,” Hay says.
“You can see him everywhere in Andalusia – there are fountains with quotes and so forth. They are very proud of him.
“Before that trip, I’d never been able to write about anything other than Tasmania. Other places overseas have never compelled me to write poetry the way Tasmania compels me every single day. But Spain changed that … I made a point of writing a whole lot of poems inspired by that trip and they were compiled in a book called Girl Reading Lorca.”
Gerard, also passionate about Lorca, heard about the book and contacted Hay to propose the idea of setting the words to his music.
“Lorca’s poetry is already written in a meter that fits in with the rhythms of flamenco,” Gerard says. “And Pete’s poems also fit very well with the tempo and rhythm of flamenco, so it was a perfect fit.”
Hay, 69, has been writing poetry since he was 20, but for most of his life it was only a hobby, as he was an academic in geography and environmental studies at the University of Tasmania from 1985-2008.
But since retiring from academia he has been able to dedicate all of his time to writing.
“And it feels so good,” he says. “I’ve never been in an English department, never studied poetry at uni or anything like that. It all comes from a love of literature and the way poetry distills language down to its very essence, its basics.”
An Evening in Andalusia will be performed at Peacock Theatre, Hobart, on Thursday, August 3; Haus Creative, Devonport, on Saturday, August 19; Burnie Regional Art Gallery, on Sunday, August 20; Paragon Theatre, Queenstown, on Saturday, September 30; Koonya Hall, on Sunday, October 22; and Bruny Island, at a date to be confirmed in October. Tickets are $30, or $25 for concession. For bookings, visit centertainment.com.au or phone 6234 5998