Last months Tongues and Grooves had a drop of darkness in the atmosphere as Paul Birtill, was the night's must see act. Birtill described as an anti laureate, read from his lastest book, Paul Birtill's Collected Poems, with a dryness befitting of the themes of his poems.
Birtill's poetry, written with complete black humour, is daring in his openness and cynicism. Birtill cracked many a rib, with one member of the audience not knowing whether to laugh or to cry.
The evening was characterised by both light and dark tones with Mike Loveday as guest poet and 'Tangle' the headline for the music. Mike Loveday, editor of 14 Magazine, the guest poet of the evening, was described by Maggie Sawkins as an antidote to Paul Birtill.
'Tangle' lightened the mood with their romantic signature tune 'Tangle' performed in harmony. 'Tangle', Angie Sanders and John Bentley, are rapidly gaining popularity of the Portsmouth acoustic scene with their wide repertoire and beautiful harmonies. Special guests for the music were Sue Apicella and Barry Rhea performing well loved folk tunes. Janet Ayers contributed a haunting version of 'Will you Go Lassie Go (Wild Mountain Thyme)', a beautiful Irish song.
Open mic was varied with first time performers Sam Cox with a rap to a accompanied drum beat on the dehumanisation encountered in modern living. Lynda Berry, myself, performed Empty is the Gallery a poem written in the PUSH creative writing class where I volunteered. Amando made another performance of his meaningful poetry on the themes of parenthood.
On the whole the short poetry of the open mic was well received, however longer poems were less well received and it is useful for potentail open mic readers to bear in mind that shorter poems hold the attention of the audience and give a better impression of the skill of the poet.
A thoughtful night was had by all. Tongues and Grooves is on leave for a month until Sunday 26th September, when the musician Nick Molyneux will headline.
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Thursday, August 5, 2010
Opera in the Park Saturday 31st July 2010
Victoria Park was inundated with a large crowd eagerly anticipating the evening’s entertainment. The weather was fine and the sky was clear, perfect for those that brought a picnic. Opera in the Park was organised by Portsmouth City Council and this year they invited the Opera Company Hatstand Opera to take centre stage with 'Golden Moments from Opera' with frivolous results.
The mezzo soprano and compère Kirsty Young introduced the performers and guided the audience through the night's experience with great humour and character.
The opera highlights opened with
Another notable highlight was 'La ci darem' from the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart opera 'Don Giovanni' which includes the ‘most famous chat up line in opera’, 'You lay your hand in mine, dear'[1]. The words being spoken by a wealthy lord to a young woman about to be married to a peasant in the hope she will elope with him.
Well explained and light hearted throughout one of the last numbers of the evening was a classic from the valleys, Tom Jones’s Delia, performed by the tenor Richard Lloyd Owen, soprano Toni Nunn and mezzo soprano Kirsty Young. The performance was true to Owen’s welsh roots.
The final piece was '
[1] Translated fully as ‘There we will entwine our hands’.
http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Hampshire/Portsmouth/PO6/News/Reviews-and-Features/172244-Opera-in-the-Park-Review-by-Lynda-Berrry
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