Kate Tempest: Brand New Ancients - BAC
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
LEADING the 2012 September Cook Up season at Battersea Arts Centre will be Brand New Ancients. A show by performance poet and rapper Kate Tempest, it will run from Tuesday, September 4 to Saturday, September 23, 2012.
An epic spoken word performance of every day Gods, the story follows two South London families as their respective generations grow and intertwine into a parable of modern life. Highlighting the immortal and very real truths of life, love and loss, Brand New Ancients is a call to arms for the modern day hero.
Tempest’s spoken word delivery blurs the lines between poetry and theatre as she uses her eloquent and honest voice to generate a vivid tale in the audience’s mind.
Accompanying the narrative is a live quartet comprising of violin, cello, tuba and percussion, creating an instrumental background for Tempest’s storytelling and an emotive soundtrack for the victories and defeats of her everyday heroes.
According to the press release, the effect is an audio feast which Tempest forges into a compelling performance with her elemental and engaging presence, invoking a deep connection between performer and audience which extends to the characters the audience is introduced to.
Born in South London, Tempest is a leading voice in a new wave of British spoken word performers. She resonates resoundingly with a diverse range of audiences, drawing on the charged social and political issues of today for her subject matter, and combining it with a diverse set of influences ranging from William Blake to the Wu-Tang Clan.
Previous collaborations include the BBC, Amnesty International, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Offili. Twice winning the poetry slam at the prestigious Nu-Yorican poetry cafe in New York, she counts Public Enemy founder Chuck D and ‘saviour of UK hip-hop’ Roots Manuva as fans, and has supported Billy Bragg and legendary punk poet John Cooper Clarke with her band Sound of Rum.
Earlier this year Paines Plough commissioned her first play WASTED, which premiered at Latitude Festival to high acclaim.
Brand New Ancients is a BAC co-production which has been developed with BAC audiences through the Scratch process. Tempest is a visionary artist who encapsulates many of the values which BAC holds as part of theatre’s future from her ability to play and provoke simultaneously, to being able to unite an audience into a community.
Tickets: £8 -12, £8 preview (September 4) – available from the box office on 020 7223 2223 or online at www.bac.org.uk.
Time: Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm.