prattling on

Poetry, it has to be said, is a bit of a solo pursuit. Most of the time, you write and edit and practise alone. You share a stage with other poets, but you don’t often get to collaborate with them.

Right now, that’s all changed. For the past couple of months I’ve been working with poets Dave Pitt and Emma Purshouse on a three-handed play, all about what happens when three poets meet up in a pub to put on a show. How did we come up with that idea? Easy. The three of us met in a pub (more than once) had a few drinks (as you do), took the mick out of each other (repeatedly), and somewhere in the ensuing mayhem and pandemonium, the show took shape.

‘poets, prattlers, and pandemonialists’ has been a huge amount of fun to be involved with. It’s also been challenging, and demanding, and bloody hard work. It’s eaten up evening after evening in rehearsals as we improve, re-write, improvise, edit, add to, and change the script. And I’ve loved every minute.

Now we’re just ten days away from show time. April 21st, in the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton. It’s going to be theatre, and it’s going to be poetry and it’s going to be more banter than you can shake a stick at. It’ll be like nothing you’ve ever seen before. It’s going to be ace.

It’s also going to be the only performance of ‘poets, prattlers, and pandemonialists’ before we take it up north for a week’s run at a large arts festival in a certain scottish city. We think we should probably mention that. It’s quite exciting. Come and see what we’re making this song and dance about!

Ahem. If you haven’t got them already, you can buy your tickets here (or click on any of the highlighted text). Thanks.