Wordfringe 2008

Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, Fraserburgh

Saturday 24 May 2008

As a venue, the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in Fraserburgh has an air of cool confidence within its stout walls and soaring roof, whilst the room itself with its huge vertical surfaces and excellent acoustics, proved to be an imposing stage for the Blue Salt Collective to perform upon. Supported by a canvas of projected images, the members of the group each used their diverse talents and styles to paint a richly layered piece of poetic theatre with a strong natural presence. Whilst in some respects the lighting could have better served the performers, its subdued level and the shadows produced by Mhairi Allan the dancer, in particular, enhanced the mood created by the poets.

Haworth Hodgkinson's A Dozen Words for Fog and Stone to Ice were supported by impressive use of his unusual and hypnotic music, whilst Damages came to life when performed using the voices of all three poets.

Knotbrook Taylor's entertaining poems of naked swimmers, genetically confused dugongs and lighthouses were neatly intertwined with the menacing Bar Shark and the stormy White Horses in my Washing Machine; all delivered with an easy charm and pin point clarity.

Catriona Yule's gentle personality and soulful voice fitted perfectly and amongst other highlights, captivated us with the very moving Void; an image of Ground Zero, the haunting Ivory and Baghdad Blog.

An engaging and memorable evening of poetry; performed by all three poets with passion, humour and warmth.

Bernard Briggs

Knotbrook Taylor, Catriona Yule and Haworth Hodgkinson, the founding members of the Blue Salt Collective, together with dancer Mhairi Allan presented a full evening's performance as part of the Wordfringe 2008 festival.

The programme featured poetry readings accompanied by projected visual images, dance, and live music from Haworth Hodgkinson, with technical support by David Liddell.