Artistic Director: Kane Husbands
Happy Birthday to The Barbican, the Brutalist arts centre in Central London celebrating its 40th year. And what better way to celebrate than to invite The PappyShow to curate an evening of diverse early-evening entertainment down in the Barbican’s Pit. The party also underlines The PappyShow’s own spectacular journey. A few years ago they performed at the VAULTS festival, and now they are at the top of the Barbican’s birthday list.
The PappyShow specialise in dance and spoken word, and their shows like Boys and Girls give voice to people of colour and, more recently, to disabled people too. Their shows are uplifting celebrations of difference and the acts the artistic director has chosen for tonight reinforce that commitment to difference with over 14 performers each given a few minutes in the spotlight.
There is dance: Feisty dance from Yemurai Zvaraya, and a beautiful pas de deux between Jules Chan and Jordan Johnhope who appear to meet as old mates, remembering the tender moves of friendship, full of laughter and full of mischief. There is music, too, from Simran Hunjun who sings in both English and Sanskrit.
But the evening’s focus is on spoken word, and the most impressive performer is Azan Ahmed, a British South Asian poet. One of his poems, ‘Daytimer’, is about the Asian Underground in the 1990s when British South Asians took over the nightclubs in the daytime, places they were denied entry at night-time. For an afternoon, there was democracy and safety on the dance floor. Another one of his poems begins with a flourish of P words. Gradually they are replaced with words beginning with A, and then with K, before ending in a wealth of adjectives starting with I. It comes as a shock to realise that he’s been spelling out a word. His poem is a stunning piece of theatre.
Disabled performer Saida Ahmed’s poetry is powerful because of its forthrightness – ‘from tomorrow we will abolish ableism’ – while André Fyffe’s ‘Look At Me’ challenges ideas that people have about black masculinity. Aaron Gordon’s story about love makes the heart sing. Jess Murrain uses a loop pedal board to accompany her poem on the theme of the evening – Radical Joy.
Bringing some naughtiness to proceedings is Marlene Peach with her modern burlesque while Lydia Barton Lovett and her accordion invites the audience to sing along to some campfire classics. However, the last proclamation of the show may make any teacher or lecturer shiver: ‘Don’t let academic grades define you’. But there is truth in those words
Cheekily and informally hosted by The PappyShow’s own Kwami Odoom and Bea Holland, the whole evening is full of love and it doesn’t take much persuasion to be tempted up to the dance floor at the evening’s end. It’s a party you don’t want to finish.
Reviewed on 5 March 2022
The Reviews Hub Score
Radical Joy
