The Vic Bar in the Tron Theatre is the location for this Sunday afternoon spoken word, comedy and music event. The Sonnet Youth Showcase is the final instalment of the Sonnet Youth Weekender which has seen the ‘spoken word house party’ take over the theatre with a variety of events.
The Showcase is introduced by Sonnet Youth co-hosts Cat Hepburn and Kevin P. Gilday and begins with a short poetry set from Cat. She reads from her book #Girlhood and presents a selection of poems that compare ex-partners to breakfast cereal and take in topics of sex, Instagram and the Christina Aguilera song Dirrty. Cat then makes way for Angie Strachan who is the first featured performer to take the stage this afternoon. She is a poet and a recent finalist in the Scottish Poetry Slam Championship. Angie gets the balance of comedy and seriousness spot on in her poetry. We hear short and engaging pieces on mental health in the workplace, smoking and also seagull massacres. Each poem is delivered with style and humour and present a poet with a distinctive voice and the ability to appeal to an audience.
After a short break solo musician Heir of The Cursed takes to the stage play a short set of haunting and beautiful music. She opens with the song Call of Blood and sets the tone for her set. Her voice has deep and rich tones and she performs with only an electric guitar and effects pedal to add to the soaring and delicate music. Heir of The Cursed is followed by Sonnet Youth co-host Kevin P. Gilday. The poet presented his solo show Gigantic Lying Mouth to a sold out audience earlier this weekend and this afternoon is reading a short selection of his work. As with Cat, he is an excellent performer who likes to cover a diverse topics in his work. We experience a succinct set with poems on masculinity, Dennistoun, Tories and what to do when there is a workie in your house trying to fix a boiler.
The Sonnet Youth Showcase ends with a set from comedian Christopher Macarthur-Boyd. He is an up and coming performer who is presenting his hit Edinburgh Fringe show at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival next month. This afternoon we get a taster from this show and it is obvious why Christopher is regarded as a talent to catch now before he goes onto play bigger stages. The diverse selection of artists and the variety of performances at the Sonnet Youth Showcase demonstrates why it is important to bring spoken word, music, comedy and poetry together and give audiences the opportunity to experience new and exciting work.