Sex on Stage Weekend II: WPM, The Arches, 13/11/11

Zoe Strachan

Words Per Minute hold a “Sex Special”, later than usual and closeted in a red-lit dungeon way, way at the back of The Arches.  It’s the usual blend of able readings, but it doesn’t quite live up to the billing for me.

I can’t help remembering  the Paisley Writers’ Group as a result of seeing Derek McLuckie last night.  We had a full on attitude to sex as one of the drivers of human behaviour and, therefore, as fertile ground for the most challenging writing we could push.  Suhayl Saadi’s lyrical aesthetic saw him write the wild, Baroque S&M fantasy “The Snake” under the pseudonym of Melanie Desmoulins.  Graham Fulton – whose latest book launch I hope to attend next week – wrote about adolescents wanking off at the back of classrooms during biology lessons (“Sex Education”) or desperate casual sex and flushed johnnies on a Friday night (“Love Finds a Way at the Liberal Club”).  Derek was… well, just Derek.  As for me, I wrote stories like “Twitchy” and “The Bus Fare Down the Tubes” because sex and danger were inextricably linked.  By my mid-twenties, in a catastrophically dysfunctional relationship, I had learned that dark things can happen between two people.

This evening’s readers are all perfectly fine writers.  Lynsay May is charming and  Alan Gillespie is as engaging and witty as ever.  Derek Taylor and Kei Miller are fantastic voices, full of verve and wit and humour.  Taylor’s “Ode to Penis”, with the knowingly delivered line “I’m a lot to take in” is a hoot, as is Miller’s beautifully read, enigmatic opening to his novel in progress about the life and death of an 80-something Jamaican immigrant.  Caroline Bowditch introduces a film of Scottish Dance Theatre’s rather lovely “The Long and Short of It”, and Tragic O’Hara ends proceedings with some pretty nifty songs (his CD is unfeasibly good value).  It’s all solid, mildly sexy stuff.

However, only Zoe Strachan fulfills the remit for me.  Sharing a scene from her new novel “Ever Fallen in Love” in which a young gay man DPs a suspiciously compliant girl with the object of his desire, it is, I think, the only truly erotic reading.  Full of the unsaid motivations that underpin what people do in bed, it’s absolutely emotionally – and sexually – honest. The smell and the sweat and the ambivalence and the pain tingle the senses:  this is sex.

Of course, this is a pre-watershed show, and so the organisers have perhaps wisely gone for material that is charmingly rude but hardly challenging.  It’s another good event – just, I feel, more akin to a Safe Sex Special.

David Manderson, “Lost Bodies” book launch, The Arches, 21/7/11

I’m enjoying David Manderson’s “Lost Bodies” just now.  It’s a crime novel with a difference, written in fractured sentences and relentlessly and seductively observed detail from the point of view of a character who may or may not be about to do awful things.  It’s looking really good so far.

“Lost Bodies” will be officially launched at the Arches, Thursday 21st July at 7pm.  David’s a really nice guy and a very talented writer who has also given up lots of his time to support writing in the west of Scotland.  He deserves a huge turnout.

WPM8, The Arches, 9/1/11

Words Per Minute

First WPM of 2011, and the first I’ve been to in The Arches.  The venue is cool and suits the event well, so thumbs up for the new home.

The performances are good too, with a couple of real stand outs.  Claire Askew’s poetry is exceptional in its ability to take every day stuff – snow, her partner’s atheism – and spin something rather special out of them.  Best is her final piece, a gently witty warning to anyone in her eyeline that they may well find themselves the subject of a poem.  She has a fantastic voice, and her performance is slick and persuasive, with hardly a glance at her text.  Lovely talent.

Another great voice is Allan Radcliffe.  His story of a chance meeting of a young waiter and a louche gay revisiting his past is poignant and lyrical.  He has a beautiful turn of phrase that is elegant and he isn’t afraid to take the time to paint a scene.  Gently told and very convincing.

Allan Wilson’s story proves a little difficult to get to the heart of, largely down to it being a dialogue piece, always difficult to do live because of the need to differentiate many voices, and Sara Thomas’ performance piece – the musings of a live statue done in full costume – is a little distant too, written as it is in the second person.  Sian Bevan’s opener is really well written and performed but, perhaps because she is first up, some of her Brigitte Jones-style humour falls flat with the audience, who perhaps need a few more drinks down their necks.  However, all three have evident talent.

Singer songwriter Michael Cassidy finishes off the afternoon.  His songs are well written, well sung and delivered in a cracking Paisley accent.

All in all, a pretty good afternoon.