Kate Tempest: Brand New Ancients, Lyric Hammersmith

Kate Tempest’s critically-acclaimed smash hit Brand New Ancients comes to Lyric Hammersmith for one night only. The work – which follows two South London families as their respective generations grow and intertwine into a parable of modern life – will open in West London in January as part of a national tour.

The epic spoken word performance by Tempest is accompanied by a live quartet of violin, cello, tuba and percussion, creating an impressive instrumental underscore for Tempest’s vivid tale. Having been developed with audiences through a scratch process, Brand New Ancients – a Battersea Arts Centre co-production and co-commission by the Albany – opened last year where its run was met with standing ovations.

Winner of both the 2013 Ted Hughes Poetry Award and 2013 Herald Angel Award for Brand New Ancients, Kate Tempest is a performance poet and rapper whose collaborations and commissions include work with Cardboard Citizens, Barnardo’s, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Channel 4 and the BBC. Her first play Wasted toured the country in a production by Paines Plough, and her latest play Hopelessly Devoted has just completed a similar journey following its acclaimed premiere at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre last month. Her fans include Roots Manuva, Scroobius Pip and Public Enemy’s Chuck D, and a new collection of her poetry will be released in 2014, published by Picador.

Brand New Ancients, Kate Tempest, 7 January, 2014, Lyric Hammersmith, Lyric Square, King St, London W6 OQL.

Credits
1. Kate Tempest’s Brand New Ancients.