Hopelessly Devoted by Kate Tempest

I’ve been trying to think of imaginative ways to greet you, but I’m going back to basics with the classic;

Hello there

I’m so classy. I hope everything is wonderful and you’re all as chirpy as a chirper. If you’re not, there’s no need to worry, I have a blogpost that will turn your frown upside down into a beautiful (albeit slightly crumpled smile). I don’t really know what I’m talking about either, just smile and nod and I’ll go to sleep soon.

So, it’s the first day of the last month of the year. This is incredibly exciting because it’s now socially acceptable to eat chocolate before breakfast. But remember folks, eating chocolate is not just for christmas, it’s a year-round lifestyle choice.

Because it’s Christmas, I am purposefully not going to talk about Christmas. This is because I’m so alternative and I don’t believe in bombarding you with festive boughs of merriment…yet. That’s a December 14th kind of blogpost, for sure.

Note: Is blogpost one word or two? No idea. Apologies if I have been wrong all this time – I am a menace to society.

No, I’m not going to talk about Christmas, because you’re most likely aware that Christmas is occurring and I’ll leave it to, you know, everyone else to coerce you into shaking your bellies like bowls full of jellies (eh, I tried).

Instead I am going to talk about a wonderful wonderful wonderful piece of theatre that I saw this week – ‘Hopelessly Devoted’ by Kate Tempest. If you aren’t aware of Kate Tempest – hang your head in shame. She’s a spoken word artist/rapper/Mercury prize nominee/poet/playwright/general goddess.

Bit o’ background: James Grieve (one of the co-artistic directors of Paines Plough) saw Kate Tempest performing live, and commissioned her to write her first play ‘Wasted’. Paines Plough is a touring theatre company (which I have had the pleasure and good fortune of working with), who work with playwrights all over the country to create amazing amazing work.

I saw this play on Tuesday, without even having to leave my house. That’s right, the entire cast came to my home and performed the show just for me. Well, actually that didn’t happen, as believable as it may have sounded. I really do toy with your emotions on this blog, don’t I? Don’t I understand that I’m a role model for young people everywhere? In the words of Lena Dunham:

I don’t want to freak you out, but I think that I may be the voice of my generation.

I will most definitely reflect on Lena Dunham’s sheer awesomeness in another episode of ‘Writing, Rewriting, Writing etc.’. I’m afraid we can only discuss one inspirational woman at a time. I know it’s sad, but we’ll make it through.