I was reminded by Simon Barraclough (and Facebook…) that we performed Psycho Poetica at the BFI eleven years ago today. I so loved researching for this project (basically watching Psycho several times over and reading loads around it), writing the two poems that came out of it (‘Trappings’ and ‘California Gothic’), performing it with a brilliant cast of poets and musicians at the BFI, and at several venues afterwards — including a three-poet version at the StAnza Poetry Festival in St Andrews, with Simon and Joe Dunthorne. There's even a Psycho Poetica volume, beautifully produced by Sidekick Books, but now a rare find.
The sixteen poets involved across several performances were: Simon Barraclough, Dzifa Benson, Emily Berry, Isobel Dixon, Jane Draycott, Joe Dunthorne, Annie Freud, Luke Heeley, Chris McCabe, Heather Phillipson, Richard Price, Catherine Smith, John Stammers, Liane Strauss, Matthew Welton, and Roddy Lumsden (so sadly no longer with us). The musicians were Oli Barrett (who composed the brilliant Bernard Herrmann-inspired music), Claryssa Carlyon, Philip Noyce and Simon Trevethick.
Reviewing the Whitechapel Gallery performance, Julia Bird wrote this in Londonist: ‘The twelve new poems of Psycho Poetica provided a Chinese Whispers Bluffers’ Guide to the film, from its taxidermy stuffed set (‘Lean in and you can hear innards’ wrote Heather Philipson) to the ‘butchered violins’ of its soundtrack (Joe Dunthorne); from its props (‘the coolest of coffins ... with tail fins’, John Stammers) to the way it grips hold of us when we watch, ‘It is only a film I have watched too many times’ (Annie Freud). Long shot or close up, these poems didn’t merely recount the film’s plot, they provided a poetic interpretation of it — a translation of the film’s concerns from a visual to a verbal medium. … In the intermission the impossibly urbane Bleeding Heart Narrative string quartet played Cop Shy, a new piece composed by Oliver Barrett in complementary tribute to the eek eek eek strings of Bernard Herrmann’s killer score.’
In the StAnza round-up in The List, Charlotte Runcie wrote that ‘the effect was a parallel universe version of Psycho, with poetry that read like woozy psychological reports and fragmented witness statements, the film’s subconscious articulated through a score of deeper, crazier strings than the original.’
On the StAnza blog, James Harding described the show’s ‘brilliant recipe’, adding that ‘the result of applying this recipe to Hitchcock’s Psycho was a thirty-five minute poem cycle inspired by the film, but in sometimes unexpected ways. It was a moving experience, and the poetry was read in suitably dramatic tones by Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Joe Dunthorne. The score by Oliver Barrett from Bleeding Heart Narrative really helped contributed to the meditative yet frantic mood.’ And poet David Morley put it most succinctly, describing Psycho Poetica as ‘finely carved’.
You can read in a bit more detail about the origins and versions of Psycho Poetica here. I had to write the second poem ‘California Gothic’ when I was asked to introduce the film at the BFI with a poem. At which point I realised that my original poem, ‘Trappings’, was a terrible spoiler, linked as it is to a crucial late reveal…
Our obsession with the genius of Psycho spilled over into a further Hitchcock project Much Ado About Marnie, which Simon and I wrote and performed together for the 3:AM Magazine/Maintenant’s Camarade III event run by Steven Fowler. Katy Evans-Bush described the London performance as ‘a film riff (with the odd Shakespeare ruff) on red, black-&-white, Hitchcock, the fear of the camera, Hitchcock’s wife Alma Reville, Thelma Schoonmaker (Martin Scorsese’s collaborator/long term editor, also married to Michael Powell of Powell & Pressburger), and modern anxiety – I think – by Simon Barraclough in black and Isobel Dixon in glorious red.’ We also performed the piece at a completely waterlogged Nova Festival — not the most comfortable reading I’ve ever done, but certainly a memorable one.
And in further Hitchcockian escapades, in 2018 Simon Barraclough brought six poets together (some from the Psycho Poetica team) to celebrate the 60th anniversary year of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Like Psycho Poetica, Vertiginous premiered at the BFI. Vertiginous was written and performed by Mona Arshi, Simon Barraclough, Dzifa Benson, Isobel Dixon, Chris McCabe and Chrissy Williams, with original music by Oliver Barrett and Simon Barraclough, written in response to Bernard Herrmann’s score. John Canfield was the technical assistant and the performance was generously supported by the BFI and The Poetry Society. You can see more on Vertiginous here.
A short extract from my section of Vertiginous, ‘It Can’t Matter To You’, was published in the New Statesman last year.
What fun these Hitchcockian poetic escapades were — and here’s to more!
Vertiginous dress rehearsal, 13 July 2018 - Photograph by John Canfield.