A devout, literary-minded congregation gathers for a night of poetry, storytelling and mild misbehaviour in St Leonard's Church.
There's something about being in a church that's just asking for mischief. Add lashings of liquor, puppets, a printing press, a poet from Barnsley and a boy with Robert Pattinson style hair standing on a pulpit innocently minding his own business, and misbehaviour is irresistible. Complying with the bring your own policy, I arrive at St Leonard's Church armed with a bottle of Tescos' finest plonk and two Easter mugs (they were all out of paper cups) to watch The Art of Storytelling. The inside of the church resembles a kind of village fête, with streamers of luggage-tag bunting, tables of posters and chips for sale courtesy of the industrious Henningham Family Press and groups of skittishly chummy people propped up against pillars with drumstick lollies.
We all shuffle up and take a pew as the proceedings begin. First up, specially commissioned poet Ian McMillan takes to the stage to perform the festival's official Chip Shop Poem. McMillan gets things off to a flying start as his thickly laden Yorkshire glottal stops spurt out from his mouth at break neck speed. By the time we actually get to the Chip Shop poem, The Epic Friday Night Travels of Norman McNorman I am in a mild state of hysterics and so unfortunately can't recall the finer details, but it's very funny, ingenious and has something to do with a man called Norman and a late night trip to the Chip Shop. Hats off to Ian who manages to get the words 'pigeon', 'fusspot', 'crepuscular', 'incandescent', 'hopscotch', and 'jump' along with other maverick mots into a well-rhymed jumble with a particularly good last line involving the word 'spatula'.
Next up is the amazing animator and musician Matthew Robins and his heart-warmingly funny shadow puppet stories of Flyboy, a half-insect, half-human miscreant. Accompanied by screen-projected storyboards, we learn how Flyboy is cruelly abandoned by his mother and then left morose by Mothboy's unrequited affections. The whole shadow opera is slick, sweet and darkly humorous. Lines like “I haven't laughed my whole life and I've seen a sausage dog run” tickle me a lot.
During the interval there's a chance to marvel at The Tree of Lost Things – a collection of things mourned by the public, handwritten on little labels and tied to rows of string. Some are funny – “I lost my hamster and found him two weeks later in a mouse trap” – some are deeply personal; most are bog standard “I lost my iPod” mundane offerings. There's one which is even borderline obscene: “I lost my heart to the boy in a pulpit (and he wasn't the vicar either). If you find him please ring 07927131920”.
Last up is Terry Saunders whose hopelessly romantic tale of wasted opportunity, Six and a Half Loves, brings the laugh-a-minute evening to a close. There's Natalie and Sean who've had 528 missed kisses, Nigel and Sue ending their relationship as they have “no song” and Kim and Lenny who feel like they've reached their sell by date. Then there's Laura/Louise, a girl Lenny picks up in a nightclub, Christian, the drug dealer Natalie hooks up with in Australia, and an inflatable sex doll. The bed-hopping story which unfolds isn't really a tale of happy endings – Christian ends up marrying Laura/Louise even through they aren't the true lovers of the piece – but oh well, that's life I suppose.
My friend and I leave with slightly sore muscles from all the hearty laughter, red wine stained lips and our dignity in tatters for reasons I couldn't possibly disclose. What another absolutely amazing night. To all at the London Word Festival, a thousand thank-yous for a month's worth of fabulous evenings. Oh, and to the boy in the pulpit, whoever you are, I apologise profusely.
Click here for all London Comedy
Click here for all London Theatre
Click here for things to do in London.
Return to Spoonfed's London Art homepage.
Image Credit: Alex Muller.
Add an event
Twombly, Maple, Kinetica - Editor's Choice, Exhibitions
From Tuesday 7th February Cy Twombly @ Eykyn Maclean New York gallerists Eykyn Maclean launch their bra...