Jade Anouka Poetry
Camden Roundhouse
Reviewed – 19th June 2018
★★★★★
“There is a lovely sense of trust, respect and rapport between the performers”
Jade Anouka is an actor and poet, and our host for the evening. Tonight she is joined by Grace Savage, four time UK beatboxing champion and musician, to perform pieces from Anouka’s recently published book of poems, “Eggs on Toast.” The piece is split into four sections: uncertainties and doubts, early love quickly followed by break ups, and finally identity. The poems themselves veer between witty and clever, and tender and moving. Strength gives way to vulnerability, emotions are laid bare or coated in humour, as Anouka comments on her experiences of living in London, falling in and out of love, feelings of inadequacy and box ticking approaches to identity.
Anouka has a fantastic presence onstage, confident and warm and infectiously likeable, slipping from poet to host with ease. She is natural and easy to watch and immediately engaging. She has a wonderful understanding of pace and rhythm, balancing fast paced moments with slower confessions and never missing a word.
Her partner in performance, Savage, laces her undeniable skill with playfulness and creativity. She uses a loop station to construct beats with samples, at moments creating soundscapes, a kettle boiling in a breakfast setting, for example, transporting us to the scene of the poem.
There is a lovely sense of trust, respect and rapport between the performers, and they are visually united by touches of neon orange in clothing, accessories and equipment. Their techniques work fantastically together, combining to blur the line between spoken word and rap.
This is a beautiful performance of spoken word and beatboxing, engaging, impressive, and deeply truthful.
Reviewed by Amelia Brown
Photography by Richard Davenport
Jade Anouka Poetry
I Knew You
Camden Roundhouse
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