Fresh, alive, vital: The Royal Albert Hall gets relevant?
The Royal Albert Hall and LionHeart presented on Wednesday 1st May (for one night only) The Poet’s Revival. This night at the Royal Albert Hall is presented by one of their associate artists, TEDx winner and award-winning poet LionHeart (Rhael Cape), who also holds the place of first poet in residence at the Saatchi Gallery.
Nine poets took to the stage for this event that somehow managed to encapsulate a feeling of both grandeur and intimacy. Perhaps some of this is down to seeing the Royal Albert Hall set up ‘in the round’ – a first for me – but credit is due to the storytelling power of each performer, all of whom succeed in involving the audience, literally and figuratively, in their set.
Theresa Lola opened the night, with a poise, dignity and elegance that instantly rendered her delivery impeccable, so much so that it was easy to overlook the fact that the substance of her poems was perhaps less than compelling. The ideas were there, the themes obvious winners, yet something failed to move – of course, poetry is intensely a matter of personal taste. And I’d still predictably pick up a book of her poetry if I saw it in a bookshop.
Toby Campion follows, with an excellent performance, as charming and funny as it is vital – although initially his performance veers more towards stand-up comic than it does poetry, his final piece assured me that he has both strings in his bow. If I had to pick – this would be the one to watch.
The other stand-out performances came from well-known names: Kae Tempest, George the Poet, Harry Baker. Suli Breaks deserves a mention, for an incredibly expressive performance that had the audience entirely engaged from start to finish.
More than a 1-9 rating most to least favourite poets, the point of this evening was to remind us of the vital importance of poetry, of experimental spaces, artistic spaces, spaces of communal expression and emotion. From the beginning of the performance, this night felt like a community, barriers between audience and performer broken down, they spoke to us and we spoke back – we may as well have been in the cramped back room of one of London’s many pubs at an open mic. The atmosphere was a hum of aliveness, everyone was welcome, and everyone was listened to. The Royal Albert Hall has a tumultuous rich history with poetry with recitals by Dylan Thomas to an 18-year ban on poetry in 1966 – this poet’s revival truly earned the name.