Performance
Wildly eclectic and inventive, many of these performances are unique to Ledbury and will offer something for everyone, from dance with Siobhan Davies Dance to Shakespeare with Roger Lloyd Pack and Harriet Walter.
"Ledbury Poetry Festival offers ten days each summer when the air is thick with declaration and rumination, whispers and shouts of joy"
Joan Bakewell
Festival Co Commission!
2. Differences by Siobhan Davies Dance
Siobhan Davies writes, “As a choreographer I experience both
the excitement and difficulties of organising my material. Last year
I began to read more poetry and I enjoyed it for its’ own sake
completely, but it also allowed me to think about the disciplines poets might use as creative strategies. I recognised some behaviour and questions that could be common to
both a choreographer and a poet. For instance, how do we find the
most economical and accurate written or movement language”.
Differences will involve one silent piece of choreography
co commissioned by The Ledbury Poetry Festival and Siobhan Davies Dance and existing works by several writers.
The dance and poetry will remain distinct and by placing them in the
same context we might start a series of conversations about choreography and the writing of poetry and about how artists shape and phrase a work to hold it together as well as propel
it out to the audience.
3. Holly Pester and James Wilkes
James Wilkes and Holly Pester work collaboratively on themed
poetry sets which explore forms of performed texts and live word-scores. They are currently experimenting with the sound aesthetics and themes of radio, devising a poetics that performs something they term as a ‘radio voice’. Their collaborative Ledbury reading is an accumulation of investigations into the voice and transmission. Using radiophonic scores and parodies of ‘panic broadcasts’ they ask: why does radio seem to so neatly equate with ruin?
Where’s the line between a signal for help, and a transmission call to arms? And, how does the voice preserve the message?
Holly Pester performs regularly throughout the UK including the
recent Serpentine Gallery Poetry Marathon. James Wilkes is a poet,
critic and playwright based in South East London. They both appeared in the anthology Generation Txt (Penned in the Margins, 2006).
BYO (Bring your own drinks, we provide corkscrews and glasses.)
Angel-Headed Hipsters: Four Films on Four American Poets
produced, photographed & directed by Colin Still
Programme A:
The East Coast Scene
11am – 12.40pm
‘Frank O’Hara: How Terrible Orange Is/& Life’,
25 mins [1996]
O’Hara’s work as seen by his friends in the New York art world,
featuring artists Larry Rivers, Norman Bluhm & Alfred Leslie, & poets
Kenneth Koch, Michael McClure & Allen Ginsberg.
‘No More to Say & Nothing to Weep For:
an Elegy for Allen Ginsberg’, 55 mins [1997]
A candid portrait of Allen Ginsberg, filmed in the last two years of his
life, featuring Peter Orlovsky, Robert Creeley, Anne Waldman, Paul
McCartney, Patti Smith, Philip Glass, Ed Sanders & Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Programme B: Way Out West
2.30pm -4.10pm
‘Gary Snyder: Finding the Space in the Heart’, 25 mins [1996]
The work of the beat poet, ecologist & Zen Buddhist Gary Snyder as seen by, among others, Michael McClure, Allen Ginsberg & actor/countercultural activist Peter Coyote.
‘Abstract Alchemist of Flesh: a Film on Michael McClure’, 55 mins [2009]
First public screening of a new documentary, featuring Peter Coyote, actor/director Dennis Hopper, composer Terry Riley & rock legend Ray Manzarek of ‘The Doors’.
Both programmes will be followed by a question & answer session with film-maker Colin Still & the poet Michael McClure.
Festival Co Commission!
10. Differences by Siobhan Davies Dance
Siobhan Davies writes, “As a choreographer I experience both
the excitement and difficulties of organising my material. Last year
I began to read more poetry and I enjoyed it for its’ own sake
completely, but it also allowed me to think about the disciplines poets might use as creative strategies. I recognised some behaviour and questions that could be common to
both a choreographer and a poet. For instance, how do we find the
most economical and accurate written or movement language”.
Differences will involve one silent piece of choreography cocommissioned by The Ledbury Poetry Festival and Siobhan Davies Dance and existing works by several writers.
The dance and poetry will remain distinct and by placing them in the
same context we might start a series of conversations about choreography and the writing of poetry and about
how artists shape and phrase a work to hold it together as well as propel it out to the audience.
11. Estonian Poetry and Song - Kristiina Ehin, Anna Hints and Mari Kalkun
Kristiina Ehin is one of Estonia’s leading poets. Four of her books of poetry have been translated into English by Illmar Lehtpere, including The Drums of Silence and The Scent of Your Shadow. Mari Kalkun is a famous folk singer and musician in Estonia. Anna Hints is a multi disciplinary artist who also sings in various folk groups. Together they are an excellent and authentic example of the power and expressiveness of the Estonian women’s runo song
tradition, which dates back thousands of years.
A head-spinning cocktail of potent poetry and spirited performances, topped off with a twist of wit and a tasty competitive edge. Bard-tenders Sara-Jane Arbury and Marcus Moore call the shots in each round as a bevy of fine wordsmiths pour out
vintage verse in a bid to gain prize points from random judges. Each
poet is marked on three categories – the quality of their writing, the
quality of their performance and the warmth of the audience response. So raucous applause, ecstatic cheering and Mexican waves are necessary to ensure that top-notch poetry receives
top scores. Poets glow and the applause gets fizzier until the
Slam-pagne star produces their magnum opus! For further details
or to enter the Slam, contact Marcus on 01285 640470 or email
info@spiel.wanadoo.co.uk
22. Roger Abbott at Tinsmiths
Watch and listen as Roger Abbott peers at things from odd angles
through his poems on love, food, shoes, trees, raisins, the end of time, and much much more, then decide
if you think he should be certified. With a guest appearance by Roger’s singer/songwriter daughter, Katherine Abbott. Musician and composer Jonathan Fletcher will accompany Roger and Katherine on guitar.
Josephine Foster’s new album, Graphic as a Star, is based upon the
poems of Emily Dickinson, which she performs with Spanish guitarist, Victor Herrera. Foster lays stairsteppy melodies beneath a
collection of Dickinson gems and sings them with burnished
soulfulness like the purple sunsets so often described in the poems. Massachusetts’ mountains, pearled spider webs and folk hero William Tell are present in this unforgettable meeting of poetry and music. Foster is a Colorado-born artist whose songwriting draws from the far corners of the musical spectrum to form a truly singular body of work. Her arresting vocal style makes her
difficult to pigeonhole. She says her craft is strongly shaped by “Tin Pan Alley on my maternal side, rock and roll on my paternal side, Western folk music by birth, art-song and classical music via my adolescent passions.”
BYO (Bring your own drinks, we provide corkscrews and glasses.)
24. Segments - Hordes of Haiku
Segments is a monthly creative writing group of adults who meet as
part of the Festival’s Community Programme. This event will celebrate their writing and you can write a quick haiku while enjoying tea and cake.
The Out Loud event is the culmination of the Poets in Schools
programme organised by Fran Bradley. Pupils from Ledbury, Eastnor,
Cradley, Ashperton, Much Marcle, Pendock, Bromsberrow and Colwall Primary Schools perform their poems.
This year poets Val Bloom, Roz Goddard, Michaela Morgan,
Brian Moses, Emma Purshouse, Philip Wells and Chris White visited
the schools to inspire pupils to read, write and thoroughly enjoy poetry.
30. Film - Bright Star
A drama directed by Jane Campion (The Piano) based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25. “A deeply felt and intelligent film, one of those that has grown in my mind on a second viewing; it is almost certainly the best of Campion’s career”, Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.
32. Shakespeare in the Courtyard
Romance is in the air and Hellens with its’ Tudor history and
atmospheric courtyard is the perfect location for this presentation of famous Shakespeare duologues and romantic sonnets. We are delighted to welcome back Roger Lloyd Pack who has had a long and famous career in theatre, film and television.
Among many highlights he is probably best known for playing
Trigger in Only Fools and Horses, Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley
and Barty Crouch Sr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He will
perform with actress, Jennie Stoller.
Harriet Walter, who was programmed to appear at this event, has had to cancel due to unforseen circumstances. We are delighted that the wonderful Jennie Stoller has agreed to take her place.
34. Ledbury Community Choir Concert
Settings of a number of much-loved poems will be performed by the 80 strong Ledbury Community Choir under their conductor, Malcolm Hughes. The programme will include Burns, Byron, Kipling, Shelley and Tennyson. Local interest is prominent with Ledbury composer John Frith’s settings of Masefield’s ‘Sea-Fever’ and ‘Trade Winds’ from the song cycle, The Wanderer and Bob May’s song cycle of poems by all six Dymock Poets, Under an English Heaven.
Bob May is conductor of the Newent Choral Society. His settings include Rupert Brooke’s ‘The Soldier’ and Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’. Peter Carter, in a repeat of his role with The Wanderer, will introduce and read each of the poems.
Local poets read their work at this informal and enjoyable musical and poetry event. Come and join in, all contributions welcome.
A drama directed by Jane Campion (The Piano) based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25. “A deeply felt and intelligent film, one of those that has grown in my mind on a second viewing; it is almost certainly the best of Campion’s career”, Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.
A gathering of folk musicians and poets. Come and join in or simply
listen and enjoy.
45. Herefordshire High Schools Poetry Slam Final
Hosted by Spoz, Former Birmingham Poet Laureate
7pm – 9pm | £4 John Masefield High School Like gladiators to the coliseum … they come to wage a war of words. Some word warriors will fall and some will triumph … and some will go home
with a jolly nice trophy, a pat on the back from teacher and no detentions for at least a week. This July, a crop of verbose
vagabonds from Herefordshire High Schools will do battle to find out “who has the X Factor” … but in a poetic kind of way.
Our all-star line-up consisting of Linda Blackett, John Collins,
Wendy Grounds, Tony Judge, Denise King, Fran Martel, Peter
Sutton, Richard Wall plus the odd surprise addition, will again be joined by musician Muriel Forrest and Mike Wyndham Thomas the poet in residence of The Robert Frost Society. This represents three generations of poets and provides a dynamic blend
of contrasting yet complementary styles of verse.
55. Snow: Aoife Mannix and Janie Armour
Different Words for Snow takes you on a journey through black holes, Jedi knights, and drowning polar bears. It’s a show that shines with happiness, love and a passionate sense of adventure. Fusing live voice and accordion with pre-recorded text, piano, mandolin, percussion and other samples, Different Words For Snow is a unique blend of poetical musicality. Sexy, funny and romantic, it’s a 21st century tribute to the power of hula hooping through your dreams.
61. Adventures in Poetry with John Masfield High School
An afternoon of specially choreographed dance, devised
drama and visual projected poetry, produced by students from John
Masefield High School inspired and influenced by famous wordsmiths.
Martin Figura’s Whistle is the deeply personal story of his mother’s death at the hands of his father when he was nine years old. Figura
presents the story with a mixture of poetry and story-telling along with the skilful use of family photographs (Figura is also a photographer). Despite the subject matter, his warm stage presence and gentle humour make this a profound and uplifting
experience for the audience.
69. Festival Open Mic hosted by Birmingham Poet Laureates Adrian Johnson and Matt Windle
This is an opportunity to share your poems with a supportive and
friendly audience. Matt Windle was Birmingham’s Young Poet Laureate for 2007/8. Adrian Johnson is Birmingham’s
current Poet Laureate and recently established the nation’s first laureate for storytelling. He has performed his short, prose musical, Love and taxes across the UK – recalling the 20th
anniversary year of passion, revolt and rebellion to the poll tax.
Sign up to perform when you arrive. Everyone will be limited to two
poems or four minutes maximum. BYO (Bring your own drinks, we
provide corkscrews and glasses.)
Writer, comedian and poet Kate Fox writes topical, ‘laugh out loud’ poems for two million listeners on Radio 4’s Saturday Live.
Harbouring the belief that occasional applause from discerning audiences is a salve to the soul, and failing to resist the need to show off, A.F. Harrold entered the twilight world of stand-up comedy and poetry. He is, according to poet Daljit Nagra, “Spike Milligan and Peter Cook rolled into one.” Jo Bell hotfoots it from her stint as Glastonbury Festival’s website Poet in Residence. Her poems are mainly about sex, dead people and boats. So that’s something for everyone then. Byron Vincent was (poorly) educated within the cloying conurbation of various northern sink estates. His flowery name and love of language ensured that his journey was a challenging one. Never a defeatist he fought back with poetry. This was a terrible strategy and he regularly got his head kicked in. “Like a bad ass version of Roger McGough…He’s clever, witty, a cut above” (Rosemary Dun, Big Mouth poetry).
BYO (Bring your own drinks, we provide corkscrews and glasses.)
Performance 2010 highlights...
American modern folk singer-songwriter, Josephine Foster makes an exclusive appearance to perform songs from her new album, Graphic as a Star.
Siobhan Davies has created a new dance piece, inspired by poems by Caryl Churchill, Lavinia Greenlaw and David Harsent. After the dancers have performed the piece, she will talk about her creative process and the similarities she feels exist between the way poets and choreographers work, illustrated through movement by a third dancer.
Kristina Ehin
Anna Hints
Marie Kalkun
James Wilkes and Holly Pester
Roger Abbott at Tinsmiths