MARIA DUARTE, JAMES WALSH and ANDY HEDGECOCK review The Invite, My Father’s Island, Nirvanna: the Band, the Show, the Movie, and Oh My Goodness!
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Mud wrestling with words
Faye Lipson celebrates National Poetry Day by getting down and dirty with spoken-word supremos Bang Said The Gun
PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Full of mysterious religious references and radical sound design, the Scottish duo’s new offering is candidate for album of the year, suggests SIMON DUFF
MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
For the uninitiated I should explain that Bang Said The Gun is not merely the title of a new poetry compilation, it's also a long-running, anarchistic and hilarious poetry night aimed at "people who don't like poetry."
So if you have never heard of Bang Said The Gun - or any of the poets therein - you are in the target audience for maximum enjoyment of this book.
The Bang team have developed a fearsome reputation. Their events are the complete anathema of all the nicey-nicey, terribly Oxbridge poetry of the status quo which is stifling the scene - poetry that is all form and no feeling, that says nothing and threatens nobody.
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