Which comes first, the music or the words?
This question underpins the programming of ‘Phrased & Confused’ a programme of original spoken word and music orientated theatre shows running at Unity Theatre this autumn.
Featuring a highly topical social commentary on the state of education today (Jess Green: Burning Books, 13th October), an investigation into dominance, submission and the female body (Hannah Silva: ‘Schlock!’, 27th October) and a rap recital of William Blake’s iconic poetry (Testament: Blake Remixed, 17th November), Phrased & Confused aims to use words and music in an equal standing to investigate issues important to us today.
Matthew Linley, Unity Theatre’s Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer and also a Director of Phrased & Confused says, “I’m delighted to welcome Phrased & Confused into our Autumn programme. P&C has an enviable reputation for commissioning the very best in spoken word. Recent commissionees have included Kate Tempest, Mark Grist and MC Mixy (Dead Poets) and of course Hannah Silva, who appears in this series. In fact all three pieces in the series are all great examples of the wonderful grey area between words and music, as well as the daring new writing coming out of the U.K. today. It’s a real pleasure to bring these shows to Unity Theatre and fit them amongst our bold programme of shows this autumn.”
After viral Youtube hit and Edinburgh Fringe success, poet Jess Green performs Burning Books with the Mischief Thieves on 13th October – a powerful, humorous and highly topical social commentary on the state of education and the teachers and students who survive within it.
At a time when public sector budgets are stretched to breaking point and teachers feel the finger of blame firmly on their heads, Jess Green tells the stories of these everyday underdogs with passionate and lyrical spoken word poetry – underscored by a rousing musical soundtrack from her band, The Mischief Thieves, on acoustic guitar and cajon.
Hannah Silva’s, Schlock! on the 27th October, is a powerful feminist satire for the cut and paste generation. In the grand tradition of literary terrorism, Hannah has ripped up her copy of Fifty Shades of Grey and now, surrounded by the crumpled pages and with the help of radical punk-pirate Kathy Acker, she attempts to put the female body back together. Join them on a journey through texts and voices pregnant with pain and pleasure, mothers and babies, domination and submission. In a performance as strange as it is beautiful, we discover there are no safe words.
Schlock! is preceded by a performance of The Happy Jug by Nathan Jones, a piece of “post-human theatre” combining projection-mapping and sound art.
In the final instalment of Phrased & Confused, World Record-holding beat boxer and acclaimed rapper, Testament, performs Blake Remixed on the 17th November. Testament smashes together U.K. Hip Hop with the iconic poetry of William Blake in his first original theatre show. Celebrating the greatest counter cultural voices in British history, Blake Remixed fuses music and storytelling with a live DJ and interactive video. Made in collaboration with Scratch DJ World Champion, DJ Woody, this is a coming of age story with a difference. Blake Remixed features Hip Hop pioneers, Soweto Kinch, Ty, Jehst and Shlomo.
Tickets for Phrased and Confused shows are £10 each (£8 concession) and there are a limited number of £6 tickets for under 23s. Tickets are available to purchase from the Unity Theatre Box office, by telephone on 0151 7094988 or online at www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk.