Sunday evening at Fishergate Point was buzzing with anticipation for the latest performance by creative collective Poets Off The Endz, who kicked off the first night of their new project with Chapter 1: Power Cut. The concept: a power cut. The question: what comes to light when the power goes out?
In the works since February and managed by Jah Digga, the evening was in collaboration with Nottingham Poetry Festival and the Hustle Collective. As the first public performance for the collective, the night came together as a phenomenal success.
Power Cut was not just any spoken word event, it was a multi-disciplinary production complete with lights, sound, music, and visuals that made for an incredibly immersive experience. The behind-the-scenes crew, alongside the performers, curated something truly intimate, giving the audience front row seats to what is normally concealed behind closed doors.
The concept: a power cut. The question: what comes to light when the power goes out? Against a backdrop of council apartments during an outage, Power Cut blew open discussions about important social and economic issues across different communities that are painfully real, giving voices to those experiencing them. While at times uncomfortable, the production ventured to broach topics that, for this very reason, are regularly underrepresented.
To do everything expected of you societally – to sacrifice dreams, goals, relationships – in pursuit of financial stability is not to feel fulfilled, and their performance bravely delved into the personal impacts of this often-unspoken reality
Sean Gore-Rigby and Kairel Mcleary-Barnes explored the complications of gender roles and parenthood through touching conversations that highlighted the near impossibility of a positive work-life balance in a cost-of-living crisis. To do everything expected of you societally – to sacrifice dreams, goals, relationships – in pursuit of financial stability is not to feel fulfilled, and their performance bravely delved into the personal impacts of this often-unspoken reality.
The on-stage chemistry between Chris Oliver, Jess Gibson, and Gavin Gordon was both dramatic and comical, bringing together three different personal stories that collide to re-connect the trio. Growing up more often than not means growing apart, young adulthood being a particularly tumultuous era of isolation and loneliness. What these three performers did was remind us that, despite the hardships and the drifting apart, friendship is both reparable and invaluable.
Malachi Thomas delivered a thought-provoking soliloquy that took an introspective examination of the sense of self, combined with elements of philosophy and psychology. Along with Karry C, these two poets were memorable for bringing forward prevalent socio-economic dissatisfactions and the resulting violence with an unnerving tone of impending judgement.
But these interrogations of the climate of our world today are not exclusive to the unseen struggles that many of us face. Caetano Capurro and Louise Elworthy portrayed the stark reality of mental health issues and how they impact lives, from forming relationships to maintaining a job. Depression, anxiety, trauma, and imposter syndrome are just some of the subject matters that were dealt with over the course of the evening.
Despite the unwavering sense of dissatisfaction at the state of the world, the material was cleverly injected with moments of wry humour, hope, and togetherness. The true mastery of Power Cut was the interweaving of each story that concluded with the uplifting message that we are ‘powerful not powerless’. Anya Aujla-Jones and Davina Simon ended the night with a Gospel-keyboard number, accompanied by Nick Stez on the saxophone, that saw the whole cast come together with heartwarming engagement from the audience. This was a real moment of unity that is not easily recreated.
In a commendable embrace of vulnerability, identity, and power, Power Cut has certainly put both Poets Off The Endz and Fishergate on the radar; poets and performers alike should watch this space. Ultimately what Power Cut (ironically) sheds light on is that within the myriad of struggles, there are connections to be made and relationships to build; we just need to be willing to reach out, to actively break out of isolation to engage with those around us and re-connect with our communities.
Power Cut by Poets off the Endz took places on Sunday 17 November 2024
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