Review Archimedes Screw Show case 14/3/14

Review Archimedes Screw The Art House Southampton 14/3/14

I’ve been away months so it was good to see what was happening in Southampton.  The regulars and the new open mic poets have lifted their standard. Next time I will be pushing my poetry envelope because the two winners of the local poet section, Ben and Azra were clearly head and shoulders above an open mi, full of polished and emerging poets. They all had very solid material. The topics ranged from death of children, death to Ukip to celebration of the Art House itself.

What’s also changed is the depth of prizes offered to the winning poets. It  has expanded. As an Archimedes Screw champion you can win a paid gig with Apples and Snakes 451 show but there are other opportunities that are being offered. The extra offerings such as Bournemouth’s Verbal slot make it worth a rural emerging poet’s time to work at winning the local poets section.

Jnz Hart MCing was relaxed and she navigated the heckling home crowd with poise. Her raw urban poetry has made her someone to watch, now she is someone to hire for your festival.

Deana Roger, the evening’s guest poet, has an impressive CV. She is a founder member of Chill Pill. The last Chill Pill guest was amazing and Deana didn’t disappoint. I was charmed by the way she threw out her planned set and recreated a set around the inspiration of the open mic poets. “I’ll have that,” I thought, because it’s a great compliment to the poets who inspired the audience but didn’t win the local poet prize. It edifies our community.  Her performance was relaxed and powerful and I am interested in seeing her one woman show. The exert needed a touch of polishing but it was raw from first draft. Her concept is fascinating and Deana has the stage presence to take us all the way to the shows end.

Finally, Syd Meats is one of my favourite Southampton poets and so is Angela Chicken. It was tough to vote. Syd has a fabulous library poem which I hope he commits to video because it’s an anthem felt by a lot of people suffering library cuts. His show was witty, at times silly and he held the audience in the palm of his hand. 

Angela’s set had some old favourites and I was taken with her IKEA poem. Her set has developed from the personal to the political in her own subtle way. She was worried that she would depress the audience but she captured a mood we are feeling about austerity and injected humour into difficult subjects. So she won the paid gig at 451.  

However Syd’s day is coming and I hope he comes back again because this is Ben’s second try for a paid 451 gig. Steve Larkin will be guest poet in May 9^th and I am going to be there because he is presenting a remake of Hardies Tess of the D’Urbervilles for the modern age.