POETRY, PLEASE!
IT is the first time that Nottingham Playhouse has hosted a poetry event of this size and you only have one opportunity to see it. For one night only you can enjoy the “quite enormous poetry event” and of course, that one night is on National Poetry Day: Thursday, October 3.
Promising to be “an evening of staggering verbal acrobatics from world-renowned artistes of the spoken and written word...” the evening will be hosted by Ben Norris and will feature performances including Dizraeli, Liz Berry, Caroline Bird, Vanessa Kisuule, Debris Stevenson, Bohdan Piasecki, Will Harris, Georgina Wilding, Jamie Thrasivoulou and Michael Southan.
A Quite Enormous Poetry Event promises to be just that: Enormous.
The main-stage show is preceded by several hours of poetic amusements and distractions in the shape of The Poetry Funfair, curated by
Becky Cullen, who said: “In Nottingham, we have a rich tradition of using poetry to speak our minds. The theme of National Poetry Day this year is Truth, which seems really important in this era of fake news; I like our heritage of people who say it as it is, whether that’s Jesse and Florence Boot making medicine and books available to the working classes, or Byron speaking out for fair treatment of refugees.
“I’ve been thinking about how we can reach new audiences for poetry while keeping track of all the poetry oozing out of the slabs in the square and finding its way into cafés, caves and classrooms all over the city and county, so it seemed like the natural next step to bring together the celebration of poetry in Nottingham and the celebration of National Poetry Day with the first ever Nottingham Poetry Funfair!”
Kicking off with a free poetry workshop at 5pm, and a chance to see films produced as part of the Poetry Pulse project. Activities also include guess-the-weight-of-the-truth, poetry hook-a-duck, a poetry fortune teller, juggler, and ghost train.
Susannah Herbert, director of Forward Arts Foundation, the charity responsible for National Poetry Day, said: “A Quite Enormous Poetry Event is a fabulous trail-blazing sampler of the best of contemporary poetry: National Poetry Day and the Forward Arts Foundation are thrilled to support an evening which engages so entertainingly with the timely theme of Truth.
“Nottingham – UN City of Literature – famously describes itself as the city of 1,000 poets: this event, which brings together poets and poetry lovers from all over the UK, means that it’s now a serious contender for the title of the UK’s most poetic city.”
Ben Norris, host and producer of the show, but also creative associate at Nottingham Playhouse, added: “These are some of my favourite writers and performers from the Nottingham and wider UK scenes working today, from right across the spectrum of what poetry can be, and I’m so excited to be gathering them all under one roof for a huge celebration of the art form.
“Poetry is in a really strong place, and more and more people are turning to it in these times of uncertainty, either for distraction, amusement and entertainment, or for solace, compassion and reflection. Indeed, poetry at its best is all of these things at once. I remember the first time I saw live poetry that really spoke to me, and there is nothing quite like that feeling; it’s electric. I hope we can give the Playhouse audience that very same feeling on National Poetry Day this year.”
■ A Quite Enormous Poetry Event, Nottingham Playhouse, Thursday, October 3. Poetry Funfair from 5pm (free). Main show 8pm (Price: £18/£12), Tickets: nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk Box office: 0115 941 9419.