Wasted

Description

I'm making a decision. I'm changing things. This is it. Three old friends in their mid-twenties. One remarkable day. For Ted, Danny and Charlotte, it's time to seize control. Make a difference. Change things. This is it. A day trip through the parks and raves and cafes of South London, where life is what you make it. The rapid fire words of Kate Tempest paint a picture of lives less ordinary in an unforgiving world, sound-tracked by an exhilarating score. The drama mixes rap-style poetry delivered with microphones and self-reflexive addresses to the audience. A play about love, life and losing your mind, and the first play from one of the UK's most exciting performance poets, Kate Tempest.

Kate Tempest is a poet and rapper from south-east London. Her book, Everything Speaks In Its Own Way, is nominated for The Guardian First Book Award. She has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company, BBC, Amnesty International and Chris Ofili. "One of the most exciting young writers working in Britain today." Huffington Post

An ingenious whole that's funny and true about growing up, getting wasted and - as they gather round a tree planted to remember their friend - wasting life. Tempest's writing oscillates between dynamic poetry that's full of vividly phrased acute observation and dialogue that's plainer but just as spot-on ... [a] very exciting new play. -- Elisabeth Mahoney * Guardian * Tempest is a distinct emerging voice on the poetry and rapping scene in London ... it's an often electrifying script filled with sharp observations on life ... there's also hope and, without sentimentality, the play becomes a lesson in when to seize the day. -- Daisy Bowie-Sell * Telegraph * Kate Tempest is a poet and rapper, jobs whose cadences shine enticingly through in the punchy rhythms of her writing. Theatre has borrowed her for her debut play and I heartily suggest we try to make the arrangement permanent, as Tempest provides a welcome shot in drama's arm ... Tempest's is a talent to be harnessed, not wasted. -- Fiona Mountford * Evening Standard * Kate Tempest's debut Wasted is a punchy, poignant and perceptive play about life ... The three protagonists may be in their mid-20s but their sagas and struggles, aspirations and hesitations will resonate with audiences in generations above and below ... the characters are so close to home that it regularly strikes a nerve - and many a funnybone ... Tempest's writing is smart and electric, all pith and wit, marking her out as one to watch. This may be her first play, but her poetry and rap experience shines through in the accomplished, confident script. -- Evelyn Curlet * Stage * As Ms. Tempest's gorgeous streams of words flow out, they conjure a story so vivid it's as if you had a state-of-the-art Blu-ray player stuffed into your brain, projecting image after image that sears itself into your consciousness. Both as writer and performer, Ms. Tempest stitches together words with such animate grace that language acquires an almost tactile quality * New York Times on 'Brand New Ancients' *