I studied English Literature and Theatre Studies at Glasgow University where I did a lot of acting, before spending 18 months on a music tour around Europe. While I was abroad, I began writing poetry to document the experiences I had and the people I met. When I returned to Glasgow, I was struck by the blossoming, vibrant spoken word poetry scene which I hadn’t been aware of when I lived there before.
I began attending as many events as I could and loved the opportunity to blend my talents in writing, performing and music to create poetry that came alive on stage. I wrote a Fringe show in 2018 to see how it felt pairing poetry with a theatrical narrative and a musical score. It felt like a dynamic combination and one that, since then, I’ve pushed in various ways - working more heavily with music to take my poetry to music festivals or leaning into lyrical playwriting to write for theatre stages.
When I’m on tour, a typical day can be a long drive before pitching up at a music festival or arts venue, getting to know the site or city and then performing into the night. When I’m writing, days can be focused and solitary - depending on what I’m working on, I’ll either shut myself at my desk and write in silence or I’ll find a noisy cafe and write for hours surrounded by voices. I’m currently in rehearsals for my show, Love The Sinner, so a typical day is spent at the National Theatre of Scotland with my creative team putting my material on its feet, exploring the show’s set, and practising with the live music.
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Love The Sinner began life as a poetry collection and is now being transformed, in a collaboration between myself and Vanishing Point, into a pulsating full-scale theatre show: a fusion of performance poetry, visual theatre and electronic music. It tells the story of the seven deadly sins, except the sins are characters in contemporary Scotland. It’s a commentary on human frailty but also human resilience and is a rallying cry to reject the pressures of social judgements and instead embrace authenticity and community.
I want to keep on surprising people with what poetry can look and sound like. I want to convince them that poetry is for them - it is accessible, exciting, and vibrant and you can experience it as easily as you would a gig or theatre show. I’ve worked hard to make Love The Sinner a perfect example of this - it has moments where the musicality makes you want to dance, where the theatricality keeps you on the edge of the seat, where the poetry brings tears to your eyes. I want people to watch my work and think - wow, I had no idea poetry could exist like this.
Audience connection is the beating heart of everything I do. And my career allows me to take my art to the most eclectic groups of people and experience connections that are genuinely life-affirming. I remember being on tour last year when, in the same week, I performed my poetry with a live jazz band in London, at an open-air festival in Finland and then in a tiny arts venue in the north of Scotland. Each event had completely different audiences so the way I performed had to be responsive to those people and their environments. It’s such a thrill! Spoken word is so direct and immediate as an art form, it feels like a special type of connection with a listener. I feel nourished after every show.
Glasgow’s spoken word scene is hardy! It took such a beating over the pandemic and with so many nights and events cancelled, I worried that irreparable damage had been done. But slowly but surely, it’s coming back and it’s a joy to see old favourites and new events emerge together. I’ve always admired the diversity of Glasgow’s scene - there’s a platform for everyone and a seemingly unending pool of bold, exciting voices claiming their space to speak.
Imogen Stirling’s debut album Love The Sinner is out on 5th May followed by the run of shows in collaboration with Vanishing Point at the Tron Theatre 11 - 13 May / Traverse Theatre 16 - 17 May. Pre-save the album: distrokid.com/hyperfollow/imogenstirling/love-the-sinner . For tickets for the shows head to: www.tron.co.uk/shows/love-the-sinner/ and www.traverse.co.uk/book?id=203802
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