Speech Bubble has long been a Loughborough Union cultural staple, and one that seems to grow more and more each year. Taking place twice a year in the Union it is showcase for the Universities best in spoken word, poetry and stand-up comedy as well as inviting some of the world’s best spoken word poets to perform.
If you only know Cogs as the place that plays hip-hop on a Friday night prepared to be impressed. On a night like speech bubble (and other Happy Mondays events) the room becomes an intimate gig venue, in which a performer can fill the room wonderfully. With seating at the back and comfy sofas at the front it has a casual feel that is relaxing for audiences and performers alike. As organiser Lizzie calls it, it’s a ‘safe space’ free of judgement.
The evening offers an open mike as well as the two headliners in which can perform a poem or two that they have written. There are some real highlights, a lot of them both personal and entertaining. And the fact that a few people wrote their poems in the interval, inspired by those in the first half, just goes to show how strong the experience is for some people.
The headliners are of course the real highlights of the evening and fist up was Ash Dickinson, whose poems combined humour with a political edge to delight the crowd, a great example being his poem about swapping lives with the ocean and a brilliant feminist poem about modern mainstream rap music. Other highlights were his 3-minute tribute to Star Wars and a brilliant series of Haikus.
Final headliner, Jess Green gave a passionate and political performance. Her poems dealt with the education system and the current political climate, her final poem being perhaps the most powerful. Written as a response to the Paris Attacks in November of last year, it was both a mourning and a celebration of creativity and individuality. And with its increasing relativity it was a poignant tone to end the night.
The next Speech Bubble will take place in March 2017.
– Jamie Hutton, Culture Editor
