Sunday 18 March 2012

Scriptophilia in the Heart Centre

Steve Ball writes:
What a marvellously entertaining evening Scriptophilia was at the Heart Centre, Headingley, last night! Wordsmith Peter Spafford made sure that there was a comforting and supportive atmosphere throughout the evening that complemented the intimacy of the Shire Oak Room; a lovely venue for such a showcase of talent.

Peter’s love of words was evident but the music was not left out due to the prodigious talent of multi-instrumentalist Richard Ormrod – is there any instrument he cannot play?

Helen Burke is the female equivalent of Ian McMillan, who had appeared at the LitFest on the previous evening, and her take on French cats was hilarious. There is always poignancy to her work and it was never more appropriately and eloquently displayed on St Patrick’s Night when she paid tribute to her mother and father, both born in Ireland. Helen is an inspiring poet.

Peter’s guest artistes, Seas-of-Green, raised their game and charmed the appreciative audience, most of whom had never heard of the young Leeds band. A very tight acoustic set was inventive and engaging and there is a special gift of being able to get an audience to sing along to an original song that the vast majority had not heard before. This was a performance that showed what promise they have.

Richard Ormrod is a virtuoso performer and his breadth of expertise provided an extra depth to Peter’s choice of song and poetry. It was obvious that there was a warmth and affection between Peter and Richard and this captured the audience from the off. There was humour, originality and poignancy that kept everyone enraptured through to the finale of their suite of poems set to music.

A very enjoyable evening: thank you one and all.

Helen Burke; http://www.poetrypf.co.uk/helenburkepage.html

Seas-of- Green; http://seas-of-green.com/s/Seas-Of-Green_-_Official_Website.html

Peter Spafford; http://www.peterspafford.co.uk/


Below, Helen Burke, Peter Spafford, Richard Ormrod and Seas of Green. Photos by Richard Wilcocks.








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