Liverpool Sound & Vision Rating: * * * *

Cast: Testament, DJ Woody

Blake Remixed is beatboxer and rapper Testament’s first theatre show and looks at how relevant the poetry and art of William Blake still is today. An early influence in Testaments life, this show explores the relevance that Blake’s work and themes can still have on our culture. He compares today’s society to the time of Blake’s and asks if social justice, religious and racial tolerance is any different. Testament takes on Blake’s poetry and puts his own unique stamp on 18th century themes.

The show is structured around a semi- autobiographical story of his own life and how Blake became so instrumental in his story. This is not a solo show, also performing on stage is DJ Woody. Not your ordinary Friday night Disc Jockey but a twice World Champion scratch D.J. and he provided some of the Hip-Hop and sounds. Clever tech meant that he was able to manipulate the images live from his platform above the stage. Films were projected onto a simple but effective wall and featured appearances from U.K. Hip- Hop artists Jehst, Soweto Kinch, Shlomo and Ty. They play the four mythological creatures of Blake’s mythical world – Orc, Los, Urizen and Tharams who interact with Testament as dreamlike visions.

There are many elements that make up this show, from DJ Woody’s platform performance to the sharp little films. Testament puts the audience at ease straight away and fuses together his extraordinary talent of beatboxing with the poetry of Blake. With a mixture of poetry, hop-hop with gentle narrative, Testament deals with some of the larger social issues that overall makes for a unique interactive show.

Janie Phillips