Kitchen Garden Cafe

 Stage2 members taking part in this terms skill workshop:

Playwriting, Poetry and the Spoken Word
have spent the term studying poetry and have been working on writing their own poetry. All participants were given the chance to perform their work to a sold out audience at Kings Heath’s Kitchen Garden Cafe.

The night began with an introduction from workshop leader, Alex Butler, who explained the layout of the evening and what had been going on within the term. Audiences were then treated to an evening of showcase of poetry from members young and old.

 ‘You were Icarus and when you flew you built your wings of Phoenix’s so when you burnt the ashes would build a plane around you and fly you to the sunset inside of your eyes.’ – Excerpt from Leah Martindale’s ‘Icarus’

The audience were also given an acoustic set by the ‘Why Is John Lennon Wearing A Skirt?’ Band. At various intervals throughout the evening, the band performed a plethora of songs by The Beatles but also threw in some more contemporary covers of other artists such as The Kings of Leon, Tracy Chapman and Outkast.

‘I went to write a poem
About what I felt regarding life
But I couldn’t make the rhymes fit
Something, something, life’ – Excerpt from Tom Baker’s ‘I Went to Write a Poem’

Whereas most members are well trained in performing the words of Alan Ayckbourn, Claire Dowie, Arthur Ransome and William Shakespeare (to name but a few of the playwrights work Stage2 has/will perform) it is a completely different challenge to perform your own work. You would never have known that the majority of performers had never performed their own work before; as the bought such confidence and life to the stage.

Overall the event was spectacular and a true example of the talent, creativity, passion and dedication of Stage2 members.