This month I almost missed the start of Bilston Voices which explains why I have no idea why Marcia Calame, billed to open, wasn't there. As I entered, carefully trying not to make too much noise, Emma was just starting to read as half of a fill in set that she started and another member of "Women Who Write" (whose name I didn't manage to get) finished. They were reading poems from an old anthology that were very good but perhaps a little over-familiar to the regulars. Then though it was on to the billed program.
Ray Jones I have seen before. He's an entertaining writer but what makes him special is that he's a very fine reader. His opening work was a character piece narrated by a man the day after his 99th birthday in a nursing home. It was by turns poignant and hilarious and occasionally reminiscent of the Alan Bennett Talking Heads monologues. The second piece, about a man seeking marriage guidance because his wife was changing sex, was a touch less successful but nonetheless very funny.
Ray was followed by Sarah James who managed to get herself into a bit of a muddle by reading a three character play. It was a humorous, Monty Python-esque skit about Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin doing the ironing but as a reading it needed three distinct voices and a lot more acting and timing. My impression was that done properly it was probably very good but that it wasn't a suitable piece for this forum. Her set recovered with the subsequent poetry which was well received though not completely to my personal taste.
After the break we had Ron Davies. I don't recall ever seeing him before but his wistful tale of first love in the Black Country seemed very familiar so I think I must have. It was told with good timing and was very entertaining. The humour and gentle sense of longing for childhood innocence were delicately balanced but never slipped. Like Ray Jones in the first half he is a very good reader, though occasionally the use of character accents did seem a touch forced.
The evening finished with Andy Connor who I've definitely not seen before - I'd have remembered. His set consisted of a number of short funny poems, one long serious poem and one long funny poem. All were well crafted. The funny ones very very funny. The serious one, about the Paris tomb of the Unknown Soldier was skillfully done and my personal favourite. What struck me about his set though was that it was practically a master class in the best way to use slant rhymes. I know a lot of people Who wouldn't have liked him. They are the kind of people who think that all poetry should rhyme and that if it doesn't it isn't poetry. They should listen to Andy who, like last month's headliner, also performed rather than reading. A careful analysis of the rhymes would have found that most of them were near-misses but that was clearly an element of his style and the recitation showed just why this isn't actually important. Historically rhyming poetry is a relatively modern invention, something that the "doesn't rhyme, ain't a poem" brigade would do well to check up on.
One last thing that struck me was actually something he said in introducing his serious poem, "Life's not that simple. It would be dishonest to only write humourous verse."
It's an admirable sentiment and one I agree with wholeheartedly.
So, once more an excellent night out, marred for me only by the fact that I was dog-tired from my "neighbour problem". That too was resolved though as I rounded the evening with a couple of pints in the pub next door and went home and popped in some very effective silicon ear-plugs and managed to get my first decent sleep in a week.
Ray Jones I have seen before. He's an entertaining writer but what makes him special is that he's a very fine reader. His opening work was a character piece narrated by a man the day after his 99th birthday in a nursing home. It was by turns poignant and hilarious and occasionally reminiscent of the Alan Bennett Talking Heads monologues. The second piece, about a man seeking marriage guidance because his wife was changing sex, was a touch less successful but nonetheless very funny.
Ray was followed by Sarah James who managed to get herself into a bit of a muddle by reading a three character play. It was a humorous, Monty Python-esque skit about Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin doing the ironing but as a reading it needed three distinct voices and a lot more acting and timing. My impression was that done properly it was probably very good but that it wasn't a suitable piece for this forum. Her set recovered with the subsequent poetry which was well received though not completely to my personal taste.
After the break we had Ron Davies. I don't recall ever seeing him before but his wistful tale of first love in the Black Country seemed very familiar so I think I must have. It was told with good timing and was very entertaining. The humour and gentle sense of longing for childhood innocence were delicately balanced but never slipped. Like Ray Jones in the first half he is a very good reader, though occasionally the use of character accents did seem a touch forced.
The evening finished with Andy Connor who I've definitely not seen before - I'd have remembered. His set consisted of a number of short funny poems, one long serious poem and one long funny poem. All were well crafted. The funny ones very very funny. The serious one, about the Paris tomb of the Unknown Soldier was skillfully done and my personal favourite. What struck me about his set though was that it was practically a master class in the best way to use slant rhymes. I know a lot of people Who wouldn't have liked him. They are the kind of people who think that all poetry should rhyme and that if it doesn't it isn't poetry. They should listen to Andy who, like last month's headliner, also performed rather than reading. A careful analysis of the rhymes would have found that most of them were near-misses but that was clearly an element of his style and the recitation showed just why this isn't actually important. Historically rhyming poetry is a relatively modern invention, something that the "doesn't rhyme, ain't a poem" brigade would do well to check up on.
One last thing that struck me was actually something he said in introducing his serious poem, "Life's not that simple. It would be dishonest to only write humourous verse."
It's an admirable sentiment and one I agree with wholeheartedly.
So, once more an excellent night out, marred for me only by the fact that I was dog-tired from my "neighbour problem". That too was resolved though as I rounded the evening with a couple of pints in the pub next door and went home and popped in some very effective silicon ear-plugs and managed to get my first decent sleep in a week.
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