Wasted

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. * 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. * 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. * Evening Standard *

Kate Tempest was born in London in 1985. Her work includes the plays Wasted, Glasshouse, and Hopelessly Devoted; the poetry collections Everything Speaks in its Own Way and Hold Your Own; the albums Everybody Down, Balance, and Let Them Eat Chaos; the long poems Brand New Ancients and Let Them Eat Chaos; and her debut novel, The Bricks that Built the Houses.

Katie Beswick is a writer and academic working at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is interested in arts and culture and their intersections with issues of class.