Brand New Ancients @ The Traverse

Brand New Ancients is one of the truly masterful achievements of this year’s Fringe.

Written by poet and spoken-word artist Kate Tempest and performed in association with Battersea Arts Centre, Brand New Ancients is set to an underscore of terse tuba, mournful strings, and truly sensational drumming. It cannot help imprint upon the consciousness of the viewer – from head to heart.

Kate sets as a background the legends of old: where Gods, Angels and Demons battled against one another for greater glory. The twist of our fate is that for the Heroes and Villains of our own age, even the fight for survival itself – not to speak of the search for meaning behind it – is a noble plight. “People are muck,” says Clive. A childhood of neglect set him up to strike back against the world. His story is but one, the likes of which may belong to someone you passed on the dirty streets earlier today, but it intertwines inextricably with those others, which lead to the ultimate message: that only those Gods who are brave enough to love will ever truly realise their Godliness.

The words explore the full gambit of tones and emotions, as Tempest alternates between poetic prose, spoken word, edgy hip-hop and beat poetry.  The music is used to build suspense and foreboding, or sensitively cast shadows and highlights under the mastery of her refrain. The overall effect is incredibly moving.