Every time, not just occasionally, but
every time I hear of a senseless death
at the hands of a lunatic,
the ones who believe they are
an avenging angel of death, of retribution,
of dark black clad mindfilled with hate
reckoning bathed in their own
self righteous haze,
I think of you.
It is bad enough you haunt my dreams
that I dare not sleep at times
because I know you will
come to me like a lover scorned,
Poe like finger shaking as the rotted corpse
…and all they wanted to do was kiss,
dance the night
away in some safe, secluded spot
and forget the world, forget the hate
and the day…
and the day
that should have driven by joy,
by finding a love, a sensual kiss
with someone so beautiful
instead turns red, turns violent
and where desire once filled the hall,
where attraction and solidarity
filled the air,
bullets now fly and tears, the sense of insanity
reigns in bitterness and recriminations
and the tears rue the day that Government decreed
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
If you could imagine for a single moment what life would be like if you had already heard the finest album you ever likely to hear before you even turn to the hopeful and fruitful years that being a teenager can provide, then surely to keep searching for the ultimate musical experience would be considered an act of folly, a dangerous illusion to which the only thing to suffer is your bank balance and your sanity. Yet somehow despite all that you keep searching, you keep hoping something will appear out of the dark, a vital moment will present itself to you and make it all worthwhile.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The desire to keep moving, to find a way to forever keep the feet itchy and the mind in a permanent yearning state may well be called wanderlust. For many thought it is more about a sense of freedom, the liberty to pick yourself up and move on to the next town and see how they do things there; for in giving in to wanderlust is one of the great and utter delights that is afforded humanity and one that should be celebrated with keen thought.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Luke Pasqualino, Ryan Gage, Tamla Kari, Alexandra Dowling, Matthew McNulty, Hugo Speer, Rupert Everett, Dan Parr, Thalissa Tiexeira, Oliver Chris, Jan Spanbauer, Barry McCormick, Jodie Hay, Frances Magee, Janet Walker, Duran Fulton Brown, Matt Stokoe, Crispin Letts, Christopher Brand, Andy Linden, Ian Conningham.
At Bristol Temple Meads Station,
a place I had known well
since the days of travelling, sideswiped
by having my soul
trapped between south and middle of the road
middle of decisions of going back and forth
on rails, on tracks, keeping on track…
I set out to conquer a new world
with the help of Michael Palin standing
directly behind me as the August
sun sapped my strength.
My father, the man who got me into
the beautiful game along with a man
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Sean McGinley, Donal Gallery, Ryan Donaldson, Iara McGowan, Chris McCurry, Marcus Lamb, Jonny Holden, Andy Kellegher, Paul Kennedy.
The lies and propaganda that was used to call up millions of men during World War One never seems to be anything but staggering, almost contemptible and yet those millions took the call to arms against people they had never met in a battle to preserve the status quo; as each county in the United Kingdom offered up more and more men to the front line, so too did the sense of belonging and camaraderie take hold in the trenches.
James rolled his eyes inside the Fly
as we pulled down our glasses,
just a notch, enough to make the sentence
that passed round the table
to loud cheers
as football fans took
great delight in the opening goal,
to live and breathe in the land of innuendo.
The girl in ginger had long passed
off to another pub and we were left,
bereft upon the sea of groovy insinuation
and tied to the mundane,
until James, his wonderful
malapropisms and habit of ordering rum
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: James Cartwright.
Poetry is not confined to the short poetic burst associated with lovelorn teenagers finding the prospect of double Maths with a wreck of a teacher a dull and boring distraction to writing early sonnets to the person who catches their eye, neither is it the sole preserve of the clever academic reaching the very pinnacle of their career as they accept another title, another seal of recognition. Poetry is in the everyday, it reigns supreme in the smallest of conversations or in the biggest of events and it something that the playwright Jim Cartwright proves with devastating effect in his play Raz.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Francesca Connolly, Myles Harper, Mathilde Caeyers, George Cartwright, Eirik Dreyer, Sellevoll, Synne Eriksen, Emily Fox, Jasmine Gough, Ada Holden, Phoebe Hudson.
The musical Rouge, based on the Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor film Moulin Rouge, began intensely, erratic and emotionally charged and which was maintained throughout the show that made the hour it was on for seem fast-paced and full of rapid delivery. From the beginning it was touching seeing the huge effort both physically and mentally the second year dance students of L.I.P.A. put into the production and with the overall result being that it was amazing!