Still Itchin'

Every month, somewhere in the set, creator Stephen Redman sets the agenda with his reworking of the cry of dismay and the call to arms that is Ginsberg's Howl. It sets hearts and minds ablaze while keeping the whole thing pretty relaxed as he invariably forgets most of the words. The responses that follow vary in quality but altogether make an inspiring spectacle. Some of Monday's best work was political, avoiding the usual pitfalls of clichéd anti-Americanism or recycled 60s activism, offering instead Dennis Oliver's mild and melancholy tribute to Black History Month and a piece by Phillipa Mannion in which she wrestles with a possible betrayal of the sisterhood by calling for a forward looking Humanifesto rather than a score settling Herstory. As a response to post-feminism, it was made all the more interesting by what seemed like a verse adaptation of Sex-and-the-City by Maryanne Hartness. The prevalence of film, music and comedy helped to keep the tempo up, and the line-up included some acoustic rap from James Cathcart (apparently "so far in the closet he's in gay Narnia"), the return of character comic Joe Waterfield, two films from Oak Tree Productions, one shamelessly promoting the Itch itself, the other a sinister black comedy about a voyeuristic old guy, and a fashion fixated trendy photo montage from Indra Mangule. The high octane open-mic set of 'Madcap Half-Hour Madness' also made a welcome return, this month mainly consisting of spontaneous anecdotes, some spectacular, some atrocious, but all brief.