The River Was a God

The River Was a God is a trilogy of poetry shows from the Edinburgh Fringe. They were developed through performance on the London spoken word scene over the years immediately following the Arab Spring. London is full of revolutionary minded artists from all over the world - I learned so much from sharing the stage with them. The first, SCIENCE, LOVE AND REVOLUTION features spoken word pieces developed through performance on the London spoken word scene over the years immediately following the Arab Spring. London attracts people from all over the UK and from all over the world, different poetic traditions, musical traditions, different philosophies, religions and politics. The spoken word scene became a forum, kind of an international university and a wake up call for me. I felt challenged to think about my deepest beliefs. SCIENCE, LOVE AND REVOLUTION was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013 and then featured at StAnza, Scotland?s International Poetry Festival, and has since toured the UK and US. But the success of this show only made me realize that I had left important questions unanswered. I tried to address them in the two following shows. The second show, BUILDING GOD, was a consideration of three revolutions, the Paris Commune, the Russian revolution and the Cultural Revolution in China. It was written with the attitude, ?This is what I think. If you don?t like it, fuck off.? To my surprise, many people found the show both beautiful and challenging. A typical response was that although they did not necessarily agree with all the ideas, it made them think they should take a closer look, not just accept the establishment verdict on these revolutions. BUT, they often added, it could never happen again. Things had changed too much. That was my challenge for the third show, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FLOOD. I wanted to imagine that it was possible. What would that be like.. especially, what would it feel like? The answer took the form of spoken word musical theatre: