Last week I was privileged enough to compere an amazing night of evocative music, stirring spoken word and powerful poetry at the Kneehigh Theatre Company’s beautiful ‘Asylum’ pop-up theatre in a Cornish field outside Truro. ‘Global Cornwall’ was a special one-off evening of inspiration and insight, education and emotion, love and laughter, curated by Paul Crewes of Kneehigh and legendary ‘Surfer Against Sewage’ Chris Hines (who in his own words is like ‘a grain of sand – small, irritating, but out come pearls!’).

Around 200 Cornish folk turned out to enjoy the acts, and it was my job to weave the whole evening into a narrative that made sense. Feisty, fiery and provocative singer Aruba Red, named after an infamous female Caribbean pirate, kicked us off with her own inimitable brand of powerfully socially-conscious lyrics and set the tone for the night. Alongside her we also enjoyed provocative young, local beat poet Seth Hampshire, who in his debut gig gave an assured and assertive performance of his philosophical prose (he’s definitely one to watch!).

Anchoring the centre of the evening was veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell who gave a pointed and focused critique (and solutions!) to the idea of ‘economic democracy’, citing modest but radical interventions such as the ‘Robin Hood Tax’ as incisive ways of transforming the world. This intellectual stimulation was also emulated by Robert Holtum’s challenge on ‘Ecocide’ and the creative use of the legal system to tackle environmental destruction. But for me the highlight had to be the amazing Amira. Described as the Bosnian Billie Holiday her incredibly impassioned and moving renditions of traditional ‘sevdah’ songs were haunting but gorgeous.

By the end of the evening the Asylum was buzzing with a sense of ‘can do’ activism (there are some unedited photos of the night here). Aruba Red got us to our feet for a penultimate foot-stomper and Amira touched us all with a very personal story about living through the four year siege of Sarajevo. There was something about the clever combination of art, culture and campaigning that was greater than the simple sum of it’s parts – something we know a lot about at Futerra. We were informed, but we were also deeply moved. We were inspired, but also incited. We were challenged, but also empowered.

Full credit to Paul and Chris for iniating such a great event. It gave food for thought, sustenance for the soul, serenaded the spirit, touched the heart and perhaps most of all, and as was originally intended, put fire in the belly. More please and let’s go change the world…