[2013033] Anthropoetry
Ben Mellor & Dan Steele @ Gluttony – The Piglet
6:45pm, Wed 20 Feb 2013
Anthropoetry was already on my Shortlist from my first pass through the Fringe Guide; meeting Ben Mellor whilst he was spruiking one evening had him enthusiastically explaining that the show was “beat poetry, with live music” – and those five words, for some reason, tickled my fancy so much that it was swiftly promoted up the list to be Scheduled ASAP.
And so it was that I was sitting down the front of a sparse crowd when Mellor and his musical director & accompaniment, Dan Steele, took to the stage. And that was a little confronting; whilst Mellor was unassumingly attired, Steele took to the stage wearing nowt but a black body-stocking onto which a skeletal image had been printed… and whilst he carefully protected his own modesty, there was always the threat of presenting more than was necessary.
The body stocking was of practical importance, however: once the initial greetings had been made, Mellor elaborated that Anthropoetry was a collection of pieces loosely based around the human anatomy; Steele would occasionally stand up for Mellor to point out the appropriate parts concerning the next poem on his skeleton. But it soon becomes clear that the anatomical connection between poems is tenuous, at best; as they launch into Head State, the progressive inclinations of Mellor’s poems is made clear.
And that was just fine by me.
Whilst Steele remained cheerfully mute as he played guitar and created sampled loops to add rich textures, Mellor’s poems fizz with political intent; religion comes in for a serve, there’s political history in Beat’n’Trachea, with an anti-consumerism message buried inside Peak Love. But the words aren’t preachy – they’re exciting and invigorating, and the insertion of humorous pieces (like the gloriously puerile Naming of Parts, or the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Facelook) keep the show belting along. Mellor’s delivery is absolutely engaging, too, and his occasional forays into crowd interaction (venturing out for examples of anthropometry, the study of measuring the human body) were really well handled.
I love words, I really do… and I loved Anthropoetry. Mellor’s writing is cutting (without losing sight of compassion) and angry (without being blinded by rage); Steele’s accompaniment was beautifully refined, and suited the poems perfectly. But, even though it was a poetry gig, and it was early on a Wednesday evening, and it was the occasionally unfashionable Gluttony, I was still heartbreakingly disappointed that a sub-dozen crowd turned out for this performance… because it was an absolute cracker. One of those shows that I wound up mentioning to everyone I talked to throughout their season… because, let’s face it, there can never be too much progressive poetry in your life.