Blahblahblah review of You Saw It Here First at Bristol Old Vic
Posted on: 2015-09-22
Our rating:
The audience lapped up line after line of every expertly delivered, impeccably timed, impressively nuanced poem, revelling in the occasional genius of these wizards of words and masters of poetic form.
Poetic musings were thrown around with gleeful abandon on Monday 21st September 2015 when the Bristol Old Vic presented Blahblablah's first in an innovative season of shows, You Saw It Here First.
The gig - presented by the Bristol Old Vic in conjunction with Tangent Books and Thunderbolt Arts Pub - marks the first full-length poetry show by John Osborne and Molly Naylor, two rather splendid poets who are also reeling in the giddy success of their new Sky 1 comedy, After Hours, which was produced and directed by Craig Cash (probably best known as Dave from The Royle Family).
Taking place in the basement of the Old Vic - think a slightly larger-than-your-average garage painted black and illuminated by intense overhead theatre lights and with barely enough seating capacity for between 30-40 people - it was the perfect, intimate venue for such an up-close-and-personal show.
Local poet Malaika Kegode kicked off proceedings with a series of intensely personal poems about love, loss and life. Her stanzas about an ex-boyfriend drug addict was infused with aching emotional power, another about growing up filled with anguished memories and tender yearnings. Another - inspired by a friend who encouraged her to write poetry with the simple words 'Just do it' - was equally brimming with raw, brittle power, made all the more moving by the fact he passed away last year.
John Osborne then sauntered on the stage as first billing of the main double act. His persona was an amusing, charmingly characterful symbiosis of ambling, baffled, slightly scruffy and often perplexed, but this expertly whimsical wordsmith hit all the right poetic notes.
His poem about a chess playing school chum called Michael Jackson was inspired, another about Kylie Minogue using an internet dating site simultaneously chuckle-worthy and poignant. A poetic response based on the true story of an office worker pulling out of a lottery syndicate and missing out a multi-million pound win was hilarious, brutally honest and signed off with the pertinently pithy coda that ultimately all rich people are b******s anyway. Other subjects given the idiosyncratic Osborne poetic treatment were the discomfort felt by wearing other people's socks (what else?), and a touching, pensive, astrology-inspired meaning-of-life verse.
After a short intermission, Molly Naylor graced the stage with a spirited blend of poetry and personal anecdotes, concocting a skillful poetic melting pot of topics covering the agony of writer's block, her affinity for the clumsy weirdos of the world ("the kind who swing their backpacks and knock out a child"), an alleged historic find as the result of a beach combing excursion, and a spot-on trilogy exploring the absurdities, inanities and agonies of falling in love.
The audience lapped up line after line of every expertly delivered, impeccably timed, impressively nuanced poem, revelling in the occasional genius of these wizards of words and masters of poetic form. Teeming with humour, poignancy, emotion, preposterousness, acutely observed human folly and comic verisimilitude, You Saw It Here First was a first-class poetic powerhouse.
5/5
Reviewed by Jamie Caddick for www.365Bristol.com
Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
