Poets and Illustrators
Sat 26 May 8pm
St George’s Church
With Hollie McNish, Bridget Minamore, Toby Campion & Theresa Lola
Illustrations by Jess Wilson & Cressida Djambov
This one-off show brought together five renowned young poets exploring the theme of “hard work”. The work was interpreted live by projections created by two artists.
Toby Campion kicked off with witty poetry about the trials and tribulations of gay dating. Second up was Bridget Minamore whose poems dealt with her pangs of resentment at her inner city upbringing and her coming to terms with where she comes from.
These first two poets were accompanied by an artist who was sat drawing on the stage and a camera filmed her desk as she worked and projected it onto a big screen. This was quite interesting to watch as you listened to the poetry but unfortunately I didn’t warm to the work very much. It was mildly interesting to watch it being created but the cartoon-style pen and ink with washes had nothing pleasing about the composition and lacked any discernible subject.
The second two poets were accompanied by an artist who was using a computer program to create her works. This was painful to watch as the mouse kept clicking boxes open and closed and the screen jerked and out of zoom and spun around. The finished work was, to my mind, unimaginative and doodle-like.
Theresa Lola also explored teenage life in London. Hollie McNish was of course the star of the show and her humour and charisma shone brightly. She was rude and funny and sent everyone off feeling good. All in all a curate’s egg, full of promise – but sadly unfulfilling.
