Off The Chest’s Brighton Bards make their return to Komedia on 19th May, with headline set from “spectacular” Naomi Wood.
After their hit Brighton premiere last year, the sell-out poetry night Off The Chest make their anticipated return to Komedia – Brighton’s award-winning live performance venue.
Hosted in collaboration with Brighton poetry night Words by the Water, this exciting evening of words will include headline set from Brighton’s own Naomi Wood (writer of 5-star, sell-out show ‘Gobbess’)
… and guest appearance from multi-award-winning writer Elle Dillon-Reams (writer of 5-star, sell-out Edinburgh shows ‘MEAT’ and ‘HoneyBee’).
The night will also feature their signature open mic, which offers poets of all stages and backgrounds three minutes to share their work live on stage. You can sign up on the night to perform your poetry, and share the same stage as award-winning artists.
And if that wasn’t enough, Off The Chest will be running a competition on their Instagram this week to feature as a special guest poet on the night. Go to @offthe_chest to find out more and apply.
Poets and performers Ella Dorman-Gajic and Iftikhar Latif will be hosting alongside Brighton poet Ella Sadie Guthrie (writer of Scorpio Szn, published with Write Bloody UK). Book now to join them on 19th May, with doors opening at 7:30pm.
‘Absolutely amazing features and brilliant hosts’ – Arji Manuelpillai on Off The Chest
‘Naomi Wood is a huge talent and a force of nature.’ – Brighton and Hove News on Naomi Wood
‘A tour-de-force… with playful energy, a witty self-awareness and a great big heart’ – Three Weeks on Elle Dillon-Reams
Off The Chest have been creating spaces for poetry since 2019. Their mission is to give a platform to poets of diverse backgrounds and celebrate original voices in the UK poetry scene. They’ve sold-out venues like Rich Mix, and brought their event to locations across the UK. More announcements coming soon, keep an eye on Off The Chest’s Instagram for updates – @offthe_chest.
Naomi Wood is a spoken word performer and theatre maker. Her solo spoken word show ‘Gobbess’ which is still touring the UK, with previous shows at Edinburgh Fringe and Glastonbury, has been described as ‘Laugh-out-loud humour’, ‘delightful’, ‘raw, powerful and incisive’, ‘pure magic…unmissable’. Naomi also teaches creative writing workshops across the UK that encourage writers to be playful and take risks in telling stories. Naomi has been published by Backlash Press and Ink, Sweat and Tears and was recently shortlisted for The Bournemouth Writing Prize. More: www.instagram.com/iamnaomiwood/?hl=en
Ella Dillon-Reams is an award-winning writer and performer. Her two Edinburgh Fringe shows, ‘MEAT’ and ‘HONEYBEE’, received sell-out audiences and 5-star reviews. Her debut poetry collection ‘Maladaptive’ was published by Verve Poetry Press in 2022. Elle has featured at Glastonbury and been selected by Craig Charles and BBC6 Music as part of the Poetry class of 2023. More: www.elledillonreams.com/about
TICKET AND VENUE INFORMATION
Date: 19th May, 7:30pm
Location: Komedia Brighton, Downstairs Studio
Ticket price: £7 – £9
Off The Chest website: https://www.offthechest.co.uk/
