Poet in da Corner

Reviews / Votes

"It's rare to come across a piece of theatre that is so gloriously and absolutely itself as this sparks-flying homage to grime music... one of the most exciting things I've seen all year... this poet deserves to be front & centre." ????? * Evening Standard * An ode to [grime], performed as a poetic monologue but also a kind of grime musical... Stevenson maintains raw energy and passion and it is thrilling to see grime as a mode of theatrical storytelling. The heartstopping moments, though, are in the spoken-word poetry, when words blaze the stage and Stevenson appears like the Kate Tempest of grime. ???? * Guardian * Like Stevenson's sprinting lyrics, Ola Ince's production oozes assurance... the skill with words clings. * The Times * A gutsy, gritty breath of fresh air - a galvanising love letter to the music that allowed her to escape her claustrophobic East London upbringing... Stevenson is a witty wordsmith, spitting punchy, rapid-fire bars on education, on religion, on politics and everything in between, weaving in a classically structured coming-of-age rebellion story of a repressed teenager finding their voice through music... best of all, Poet In Da Corner is alive to its own innate complications... an energetic, exuberant gig-theatre show, built with theatrical savviness on Dizzee Rascal's iron-strong foundation." ???? * WhatsOnStage * Putting grime in a theatre space is always going to feel weird, and 'Poet in da Corner' is endlessly aware of what it means to put a white girl in the middle of this story and this theatre. Does it do enough? I guess I'm not the right person to answer that question. But Stevenson's performance feels undeniable, soaked in the sweat of a '00s east London that's not quite Dizzee Rascal's, but authentically hers. ???? * Time Out London * "Christian is a delicate and thoughtful writer, deftly handling the moral complexity of her material" * The Guardian *