Martin Figura's one man show 'Whistle' will be a highlight of this years festival.
Whistle was shortlisted for this year’s Ted Hughes Award for new work in poetry,and ‘Victor’one of the poems from it won the 2010 Hamish Canham prize.it is the deeply personal story of his mother's death at the hands of his father when he was nine years old.
Driven by Figura's warm stage presence and gentle humour, this show is a profound and uplifting experience.
This show presents his story with a mixture of poetry and story-telling alongside the skillful use of family photograph, archive and original materials in beautiful and imaginative visuals created by Visual Creator Andre Barreau and Animator and Technical Designer Karen Hall.
“Martin Figura has a strong stage presence. His subject matter is so challenging it makes the audience gasp. In spite of this, he engages the listener with warmth and humour. Pitch perfect, he knows his lines and knows how to deliver them. You will be entertained and moved in equal measure.” Patience Agbabi
“His subject matter is dark and dramatic, a personal journey into family tragedy, against a backdrop of history and politics. But Martin’s stage-presence, his humour and his warmth makes this a shockingly enjoyable journey. His skilful blend of anecdotal story-telling and poetry help to build up powerful emotion without ever becoming manipulative and his use of still image (he’s a photographer as well as a poet) give the show a visual poetry.” Francesca Beard
Martin Figura was born in Liverpool in 1956. He is married to the poet Helen Ivory and works part-time at the Writers’ Centre, Norwich and as a photographer. He is a member of the poetry ensemble The Joy of 6. A spoken word version of this collection produced by Apples and Snakes begins touring in 2010. Nasty Little Press is publishing a pamphlet of his amusing poems in November 2010. He is Chair of the Café Writers Live Literature organisation in Norwich.
