Poet In Da Corner was a high energy, explosive performance! Being the first grime musical it has opened up so many doors.
A downside of this musical was the confusing delivery regarding the storyline. There was a question asked near the beginning of the play by Vyper, and personally I feel the question wasn’t answered. We got a full history of Debris and her life; witnessing the heartbreaking pressures and stresses, the trauma and restrictions of religion and her rebellious teenage years. This was emotionally and powerfully shown - physically through the use of dance and movement and through the strength and vigour of the dialogue/grime lyrics. However, the question wasn’t clearly answered, maybe I focused too much on the story, as this musical is a groundbreaking turn in theatre productions and so much can now grow from it. This is a new genre artists can look to, to portray their biography; the next phenomenon could be Stormzy’s Life: The Musical.
The actors were amazing, to be able to keep the energy alive the whole time was insane; I was sweating just watching them. But they were invested in the story, in the performance, in the VIBE, so a huge congrats to Stacy Abalogun, Kirubel Belay, Jammz and Debris Stevenson!
This was just one stop on their tour, it was held at the Royal Court. I felt that for the demographic they are intending, the Royal Court fell short. As insightful as it would have been for this audience to witness some of the lives within the community portrayed as well as be exposed to a genre of music they may not be familiar with, I can’t wait to see it again at Hackney Empire. It will be very interesting to see how they change the delivery, performance, energy and whole vibe. So stay tuned for a follow up review of the same performance at Hackney Empire.
Congrats to the whole team involved in creating this great production!