The Saltire Speakeasy comes to the Fringe

As the Saltire Society enters the Fringe with its Saltire Speakeasy series of events from 4-7 Aug, The Skinny takes a look at a diverse and international lineup of poetry, music and spoken word

Preview by Alan Bett | 04 Aug 2014

Edinburgh’s vibrant cabaret scene broadens itself this August with the Saltire Society hosting its first ever Speakeasy nights as part of the 2014 Fringe. It’s a varied programme run in an intimate setting, allowing the audience to get up close and personal with exceptional poets, writers and musicians from Scotland and around the globe.

There are the well known and home grown, including the likes of Jenny Lindsay of cabaret duo Rally & Broad, Dave Hook from Scottish hip-hoppers Stanley Odd, and author, playwright and performer Alan Bissett. The walls between theatre, poetry and music can be thin as these events will prove, featuring performers from diverse disciplines. They most usually play to very different crowds, and their audiences will overlap here in what Saltire director Jim Tough describes to us as their "delightful, intimate oasis of cultural quality down the close off the High Street. Seating about 35 folks cabaret style.”

Sharing this same space but from further afield we have British Bajan Dorothea Smartt – literary activist, live artist, and established and respected poet with an international reputation, whose recent work has been described as 'subversive, radical, and surprisingly panoramic. Ultimately… about Black diasporic love at its most radical and life-affirming.' Also Sasenarine Persaud, author of fiction and poetry, noted as 'one of those rare poets who gets the recipe of humanness exactly right.' Gaelic punk sci-fi author Tim Armstrong and poet Malika Booker provide further examples of the diversity of work on show.

The full programme boasts different artists each day and consists of:

  • Monday 4 Aug – Malika Booker & Dorothea Smartt
  • Tuesday 5 Aug – Dorothea Smartt & Alan Bissett (Monday & Tuesday's music will be provided by Innes White)
  • Wednesday 6 Aug – Dave Hook (Stanley Odd) & Sasenarine Persaud
  • Thursday 7 Aug – Tim Armstrong (in conversation with Mark Wringe) & Jenny Lindsay (Wednesday & Thursday's music will be provided by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Adam Hunter & Kara Swinney)

Tough proudly terms this first year of the Saltire Speakeasy as a series of events that "promise an up-close and personal experience with some of our best Scottish writers, poets, performance artists and musicians alongside their international peers.”

“The Saltire Society is open to anyone who shares our passion for Scottish culture in all its diverse forms, and we want to make our wee contribution to giving a platform to that during the world’s biggest artistic rammy.”

What's not to be forgotten is the true deal-maker – that apart from the opportunity to broaden cultural horizons, all audience members are offered a glass of wine as part of their £8 ticket.

Performances are at Saltire Society HQ at 9 Fountain Close, just off 22 High St, Edinburgh. Each event is £8 (including a drink). http://www.saltiresociety.org.uk