Fancy seeing Sylvia Plath take on Ted Hughes? How about Rabbie Burns up against Byron? In the Dead Poets’ Death Match, you’ll choose the competitors and you’ll be the ones who’ll crown the winner. This celebration of our literary heritage is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Cheryl Livingstone speaks to MC Mixy prior to his battle with Mark Grist
HI MC MIXY. CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT IS A DEAD POET’S DEATH MATCH?
It’s almost a blend of poetry, comedy, rap battle and computer games. This show lets the audience select match-ups between eight potential poets who will be put head to head in a battle of words. Mark and I each have a team of four, and although there will only be time to explore six per show, all selected come with a recap of their life and piece of work from Mark or myself to show how we relate to said poet and explain why we wanted them on our team. There will be a total of three rap battles in each show: the poets involved in these battles will be chosen by the audience, who will also decide the winners.
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA?
As we’re both creative in fairly similar yet distinct ways, we’re always bouncing ideas around. I couldn’t pinpoint when exactly this particular idea started to become reality . . . maybe somewhere between sharing new work and discussions about competing with each other for glory or forfeit (electric shock, some sort of gunge, incredibly hot chilli, raw egg in a pint). Which reminds me, we are fairly competitive and have included a forfeit in this show for the person who loses the most battles.
WHAT FAMOUS POETS CAN WE EXPECT TO HEAR FROM?
After careful consideration and much debate, the eight poets we have involved in the show are, on Mark’s team – Lord Byron, Sir Walter Raleigh, Ted Hughes and Christina Rossetti. On my team – John Clare, Gill Scott Heron, Sylvia Plath and, of course, Rabbie Burns.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE?
There are some I like more than others for a range of reasons, but I handpicked my team and am very happy with my selection. Clare is a local poet to me, so I enjoy representing my home, and Gill played a huge part in the art form of rap that moulded me. Although his selection in the show is one of the hardest parts for me to perform. I won’t say why, but feel free to choose him. I love Burns for so many reasons, but as I’m near certain he’ll come up in Aberdeen, I won’t say too much now. I was unaware of Plath for many years, but, when I finally checked her work, I instantly found a connection to it.
I don’t mind the four on Mark’s team either, but . . . well, anything nice I say now will only look like a lie when the battles start.
ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO COMING TO ABERDEEN?
Yes, massively. I’ve not seen all that much of Scotland, only Edinburgh and Dumfries, but I’m a big fan of the people I’ve met and places I have seen. It’s a huge shame we only managed to add one Scotland date to the tour, with so little time around it, as I would have really liked to stay for at least a few days and explore, maybe check out some of the other great places I’ve not yet visited. But at least we get to visit, I suppose. I’m looking forward to it.
Mark Grist and MC Mixy: Dead Poets’ Death Match will perform
at The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen on May 19. Tickets cost £13.75
and are available from www.aberdeenperformingarts.com