Down to the River

£5.50

The premier of a Multi-Media performance featuring the work of poet Tom Kelly and photographer Kev Howard set to soundscapes by composer Steve Thompson, the first performance of its kind at The Word.

The catalyst for creating ‘Down to the River’ was Tom Kelly’s poem, ‘Geordie’ which appeared in his collection ‘Dreamers in a Cold Climate’ published by Red Squirrel Press in 2008.

The central character, in the poem, Geordie, is an Everyman who has witnessed the decline of the monolithic industries in the North-East: We see the impact upon him and his family.

Steve Thompson felt this long poem would make a powerful multi-media project and he subsequently composed a soundscape capturing the various moods. Steve then recorded Tom reading the poem. At this point they brought in Teesside photographer, Kev Howard who produced powerful photographs of the North.

On Saturday 28 January at 2pm Tom Kelly will read the poem accompanied by Steve Thompson’s soundscape and Kev Howard’s images onto the screen in the Word’s Catherine Cookson room.
They feel the working class have been silenced. ‘Down to the River’ gives a voice to those made mute by history.

Major industries in the north have disappeared and little has been said of their loss and the impact upon communities. The work focusses on the monolithic industries and shipbuilding in particular which have disappeared in our life–time.

Steve Thompson is a talented musician and song writer who has written for everyone from Celine Dion, Elkie Brooks and Sarah Brightman to the Tygers of Pan tang.

See more information on Steve Thompson.

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