Jim’s poetic homage to beloved arts scene
Perthshire poet Jim Mackintosh has written a heartfelt poem about his love of the arts scene.
Jim’s work details his passion for live performance, the positive impact it has on people’s lives, how much everyone is missing gathering for theatre and concerts, and the devastating effect venue closures are having on those who work in the live events industry.
Everyone Means Something was premiered on Saturday, October 3 as part of Perth Theatre’s Fun Palaces weekend of creativity in the community.
Jim performed the poem from the empty Perth Theatre auditorium to a video of images of productions, performances and audiences.
The video was broadcast on Perth Theatre’s free Zoom Palace channel at 11.30am.
Jim is also calling out to the people of Perthshire to take part in a film poem that he is creating about what they’ve missed about theatre and live performance and what their hopes are for the future.
He is asking for theatre and concert lovers to record a short video clip “I saw …” about a memory they have from a show they’ve attended, or an idea they have about what they want to see when venues reopen – “I see …”.
The clips will be edited together to create a new and original work for broadcast at a future date.
Jim said: “The idea for Everyone Means Something was sparked when Perth
Theatre asked me to take part in the Fun Palaces weekend.
“Thinking about what I could do for the event made me reflect on how desperately we miss live performance – either doing it or watching it.
“I also want to draw attention to the terrible plight faced by all those working in the events industry whose lives have been devastated by the effects of venue closures and the ongoing impact this is having on organisations such as Horsecross Arts.
“The film poem which I’m hoping that everyone will take part in is a way of asking audiences of all ages as well as performers and people working in the Arts to reflect on what it is they miss and what they’re looking forward to when our theatres and concert halls reopen.
“So I’m asking: What have you missed? What have you missed about theatre? What are you looking forward to?
“We need you to tell us. We are going to make one long film about all that we miss and all that we hope for the future.”
Jim joined a line-up of locals sharing their skills at Perth Theatre’s free online Zoom Palace from 11am until 4.30pm on Saturday.
These included Pete Wishart MP who was teaching the introduction to Runrig’s classic version of Loch Lomond on keyboard, Perth panto dame Barrie Hunter gave a lesson in panto dame make-up and Rhona Sullivan from Perth Museum and Art Gallery ran an Ask a Curator session.
Artist Sarah Draper offered some inspiration for how to decorate windows to turn the streets of Perth into galleries.
There are many innovative ways to get involved, from decorating windows to chalking out a pavement hopscotch course to holding a doorstep dance off or serenading the street.