SLAM Bingo

The class schedule was reorganized today because we had a guest.  Mormon raised Deborah Stevenson, a performance poet came to “perform” for us.  I was picturing a 60-year-old frumpy women but my imagination deceived me.  She was young (though I didn’t know how young until later) spunky, and quite fashionable.  At the age of 21(!!!!) she has toured around America, China, Germany, and Poland; began writing a play; been published by Louis Vuitton (didn’t know that was possible); performed for Jude Law, Sienna Miller, and the Prime Ministers wife; teaches at one of the Top 10 schools in the UK and one of the top 75 in the world, the University of Nottingham; judged prestigious poetry competitions; organizes multiple poetry festivals; been followed around by Channel 4 for two years as part of a documentary; and is founder and director of The Mouthy Poets (some kind of poetry organization that is well known here apparently).  She has done all this and more by the age of 21!  It was really interesting to hear her poetry, which was almost like rapping but with no music.  For her age she is quite an accomplished women.

In the time between the slam poet and dinner I finished Tale of Two Cities and Imperial Island.  I didn’t want to stress all day about staying up late to finish so I faced the inevitable and hunkered down and read.

After dinner we tubed (yes, I am using that as a verb) down to Waterloo to see Bingo at the Young Vic theatre.  The only thing I knew about it was that Patrick Stewart played the main character.  He’s in Star Trek and X-Men, though I’ve never seen either one.  I was on the first row, so I could say I was front and (off)center.  It didn’t take long to get confused though, and I wasn’t about to figure it out in my head.  Something about Shakespeare and enclosures...I think.  Since I didn’t understand the play I had to keep myself busy somehow.  So every time Patrick Stewart came to my side of the stage I would think, “gee, I’m so close I could stick my hand out and trip a famous person on stage.”  Now that would be a performance worth seeing.