With an enriching score and some special effects, performance poet Ross Sutherland presents a compelling memoir of a recent chapter in his life. One that really resonates.
In his mid-20s, working as a music journalist on a Manchester rag, Sutherland is tasked with proclaiming the shape of indie music to come. He takes to this with ease, only to grow suspicious of the self-fulfilling potency of his words. Upon finding this self-fulfilment ingrained in all popular culture, disaffection sets in and he enters a mid-20s life crisis, asserting that the future cannot be written. But then, he loses his job amid the credit crunch and reluctantly opts to return home to Essex to live with his parents. What develops is both a Dave Gorman and Lord of the Rings -esque voyage of personal discovery with the sole aim of liberation for all.
Sutherland is clearly well read and his insights are thought-provoking. The laughs aren’t frequent, but neither are they meant to be: to Sutherland, what’s important is the reality of which he is talking about. The poetry is accessible, with highly imaginative exercising of metaphor, while its instrumentation is an inspired touch, particularly stirring during the highlight of the show: a fairytale brilliantly re-worked with a hilarious end. With talent like this emerging, the future’s never looked so bright.
4/5 
Nick Hemsley
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