The Exhibition of The Teenager at Taunton's Brewhouse Theatre opened last night with a live music and poetry night. As I mentioned here before I had been commissioned to write seven poems for this event exploring the changing experience of the Teenager since the 1950s when the term was first used. Between each poem young (all under 20!) local musicians played songs from each decade (50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s) and I rounded things off with a final poem "The Teenager Of The Future". The event drew a good crowd of 50 odd people.
I'll be honest, everyone was there for the music and the exhibition. Apart from the three people that came with me no one was there specifically to hear some poetry and certainly not specifically to see me. There was more than an element of waryness in the air. "Is this guy about to stand up and bore us tears?" people were asking themselves.
I started with the 50s poem "Shotgun Wedding" which was the most serious poem of the set. It is just the way it fell when I wrote it. No matter. It went ok. Within a few lines everyone was listening & I had their attention. A good start. Poem 2 "Manifesto of a 1960s Teenager" went across well. Both earned some applause that I would call "polite plus". Number 3 "Haircut 77" was the first hit. Genuine laughter in the right places plus enthusiastic applause and then I bowled the 80s poem "1980s Teenage Love Drama" down the wicket. I knew I was on strong ground with this one and it was as solid as I thought it would be. Featuring over 100 1980s song titles woven into a narrative there were groans when there should have been groans and belly laughs when there should have been belly laughs. Perfect. On to the 90s with "Generation Exceptional" a good follow up with a few easy laughs and I don't think anyone was too offended by the reference to anal sex! The 00s poem "Scenes From A Comprehensive School Prom 2009" was probably the poem that connected the best with the younger end of the audience. It was a lighter companion piece to the first poem exploring similar themes 5 decades on. The final poem "The Teenager Of The Future" was the perfect end-piece. Tidied up the loose ends and left people smiling. The applause was genuine and voluminous. Phew. Job well done and a pint well earned. The twenty pamphlets of the poems I had bought with me were quickly snapped up.
I will post all the poems tomorrow and maybe even some video. Watch this space.
2 comments:
Saw you at the exhibition & loved the poems, they were really clever
Thanks for that Neil. I am glad you enjoyed them. It was a good night all round I thought.
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