Brand New Ancients

For Valentines' night, I took myself to see the woman above, Kate Tempest. I've followed the poet/playwright/performer's rise within the industry for the last couple of years, but never had the opportunity to see her live; I saw her play, Hopelessly Devoted, at The Rep in September (but not her in person) and, unfortunately, I'd already done my trip to last year's Fringe before she arrived there. But in November, much to my delight, I realised she was appearing at the Midlands Arts Centre and quickly booked my ticket for Brand New Ancients. This is a show she's been touring for the last year to wide and critical acclaim; an epic, lyric, narrative poem (as she calls it). It was indeed epic, and beautifully lyrical, with a gripping and mesmerizing narrative which built in scale, impact and complexity, the sounds, the scenes and the characters done beautiful and captivating justice by Tempest's vocal skill. All her interests and abilities were brought together in one to produce this gem; hip-hop, rap, spoken word, the beat and rhythm of which was enhanced by the presence of a live band creating an atmospheric underscore to her story.

As I said, I've been intrigued by Tempest and her work for a while and I've watched pretty much every YouTube video of her performing and being interviewed and read almost every article. I knew from this that she was a great character; eccentric, lively, humble, funny and down-to-earth. Having now seen her live, that initial observation has been confirmed. Before starting the performance, Tempest spoke  for a few minutes; about how much she loved Birmingham and the differences between Brum and the Big Smoke, seeing Prince a few weeks prior, and the fact that it was Valentine's Day and the impact she thought that may have on the story she was about to tell. I speak for myself, but also most likely the whole audience, when I say that we were made totally at ease by her presence and were immediately drawn to her infectious personality and zest for life and words. This was only emphasised by Brand New Ancients itself and the evident passion for mythology both old, new, our own and the existing, language, character, people, the ways of the world, our actions, our inherent flaws, our chances and our capability to change.

Whether it's Brand New Ancients or something else, I urge you to go see this woman very soon!