Not the TV show, though. Let's get that straight right from the outset. Anyone who's landed here expecting discussion of that, you'd best bail out here and now.
No, I'm talking about the theatrical production based on the Bloodaxe anthology. I haven't seen it yet, but over at Gists & Piths, George Ttoouli has posted this excellent review of the show, which makes me want to make sure that I do, and soon.
I know the anthologies - Staying Alive, Being Alive and now Being Human - have divided opinion in poetryworld at times, but then so does pretty much every anthology that comes along. I'm not mad about the packaging, I suppose, and I can take or leave the division of them into chapters, with little essays introducing each one. When all's said and done, though, all three have contained plenty of poetry that I'm glad to have encountered, and which I might well not have done otherwise. George has a point about some of the more non-mainstream voices generally being represented by their least left-field work, but even so, it puts them in front of a potential new audience.
There's more about the show, including dates and venues, here. I think I'll probably catch it at Uppingham School in October (who thought it would be a good idea to call a festival Up The Arts, though?)
2 comments:
Really enjoyed an event with Neil Astley (with Penelope Shuttle) introducing the anthologies at a launch in the Dylan Thomas Centre some time ago. Couldn't resist adding a postscript to your 'Up the Arts' festival aside, for we used to smile at 'Dylan ... Down the Ups' (which, for those who don't know Swansea, was the Uplands area close to his Cwmdonkin Drive home).
Ah, I think my sister used to live round there!
Penelope Shuttle's a good example of a poet I first came across through those anthologies, I think - and a very good thing too.
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