Workshop 2: Creating a Spoken Word Theatre Show

This workshop will look at how we develop a poetry based spoken word show. Some shows seem to be collections of poetry spoken out in front of a basic set with little performance or acting, others are highly integrated physical interpretations of lyric script. This session will focus on what you would do to develop your own show: themes, developing the poetry, thinking cinematically, thinking in 3-D, using other disciplines like visual art, film, music and dance.

To get the best from this session please come prepared with an idea for your show, and any poems you already have that you think you might base the work on.

Joelle Taylor is an award-winning poet, playwright, author and editor who has recently completed a world tour with her latest collection Songs My Enemy Taught Me. She is widely anthologised, the author of 3 full poetry collections and 3 plays and is currently completing her debut book of short stories The Night Alphabet. Her new collection CUNTO will be published in June 2021. She founded the UK’s national youth slam championships SLAMbassadors in 2001, remaining its Artistic Director until 2018. She is the host and co-curator of Out-Spoken, a poetry and music club, currently resident at the Southbank Centre, and the editor of Out-Spoken Press. Her work was recently featured in the arts documentary Butch on Radio 4.

This has been made possible with support from The National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund, Liverpool City Region Covid-19 Emergency Funding and The Steve Morgan Foundation.