Skye Candy

How do I even start? Last night’s show was radical, engrossing, captivating and a bag of fun. I had two performance artists, Skye Loneragan and Candy Royalle doing some performance poetry for Something Else 89.7FM. Honestly, the only form of poetry was from school (which mind you, was a while back now) and even then I didn’t think too much of it. But this was other-worldly. Candy Royalle and Skye Loneragan are two really interesting performance artist in the way they both write, style and perform their poems.

Candy Royalle is a multi-disciplinary artist who combines powerfully crafted stories with theatrics, vocal harmonies and a ‘can’t-look-away’ charisma. Talking on topics anywhere from sexual obsession to social injustice, often using seductive force to take her audiences into the darker areas of the human psyche.

Candy Royalle

And my other guest,Skye Loneragan is an award-winning playwright/performer and recent winner of the Sydney Poetry Prize. She has toured her poetry and solo shows internationally, her first winning an Edinburgh Fringe First and adapted for ABC Radio National. She’s been based in Scotland for the last ten years, and her most recent production, Mish Gorecki Goes Missing was shortlisted for the John Whiting, Brian Way and Kings Cross Awards, UK. She has performed her poetry at festivals here and in the UK, (Aye Write, Glasgow, Edinburgh Int Book Festival) and most recently at the Sydney Writers Festival. She has been filming her poetry with the Sydney Morning Herald (iPad app) and publications include The Grist Anthology,(ed Simon Armitage), Abridged Magazine (UK) and I Confess(Capercaille Books).

Skye Loneragan

Their layering of words, tonality, melody and rhythm it all blends into this inner and outer body encouter, it’s all pretty unreal. The way Skye and Candy both “perform” are two very different experiences. Skye has this style that is just oh-so familiar; it’s as if she’s an old mate retelling a great memory shared that happened only a few years ago. Contrast that was heard on last nights show being a great example. It becomes this experience layered with humour and sentiment.

And on the other hand Candy is this outer body explosion. Her rhythm becomes your heartbeat, and her words build to these peaks that fill every space in your body. Candy performed Brain Beast; a poem that draws you in for an intimate and personal experience. At times I was short of breath, just purely on the way she delivers and intensifies her words.

I mean trying to write about it is hard. I just want to do some interpretive, expressive dance to celebrate performance poetry.
And you know what? I just might.

Performoetics – A World Away From Here­ starts 7:30PM at the Red Ratttler Theatre in Marrickville. All costs and details can be found athttps://www.facebook.com/events/173404469452104/
If you want to find more information on Candy Royalle check her website out at www.candyroyalle.com and Skye Loneragan at www.skyeloneragan.com

To hear this podcast talking from Skye’s alter ego Clumsy Biscuit to poetry from Candy’s dreadlocks go to  iTunes, open up the ‘Advanced’ menu bar, select ‘Subscribe to Podcast’ and paste this URL into the dialogue boxhttps://www.cpod.org.au/feed.php?id=308