Following the success of the Southbank Centre’s online autumn multi-arts series, Inside Out, the Southbank Centre has announced a second online season of music, spoken word and literature taking place from 24 January – 28 March 2021.
As the UK goes back into yet another lockdown, the Southbank Centre is set to host a series of live streamed performances and discussions, which you can experience right from the comfort of their own living rooms.
Seven virtual literature and spoken word events will feature alongside a whole host of music performances by a diverse range of local and international artists. Check out some of the top Inside Out events set to take place during lockdown.
T.S. Eliot Prize: Live Stream
Sunday 24 January 2021, 7.30pm, pre-recorded online event, available On Demand for 7 days, £7.50
In a virtual event, hear the ten poets shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize read from their work. Hosted by poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan, this is the first major highlight of the 2021 literary calendar. The shortlisted poets are Sasha Dugdale, Natalie Diaz, Ella Frears, Will Harris, Bhanu Kapil, Wayne Holloway-Smith, Daisy Lafarge, Glyn Maxwell, Shane McCrae, and JO Morgan. After the readings, the chair of the judges announces the winner, who is presented with their cheque at the end of the evening.
The Cinematic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall
Friday 29 January 2021, 7.30pm, broadcast online (pre-record) from the Royal Festival Hall, £13, Dice
The enigmatic electronic jazz group makes its Southbank Centre debut with a global event streamed from the Royal Festival Hall to play tracks from To Believe as well as their hits. Called ‘heartbreakingly brilliant’ by The Guardian, To Believe explores the question of truth a timeless question of vital importance in today’s world: What is truth? The album features contributions from collaborators old and new, including Moses Sumney, Roots Manuva, Dorian Concept, Grey Reverend and Heidi Vogel. Drawing deep from jazz combined with modern electronic production techniques, the influential artists cemented their status as pioneers with 1999 debut Motion.
Fearne Cotton: Speak Your Truth
Thursday 4 February 2021, 7.30pm, broadcast online (pre-record), and available On Demand for 7 days, £7.50, captioned.
In a broadcast event, Fearne Cotton talks about her new book Speak Your Truth, a story about connecting with your inner truth and learning to find your voice. At the start of 2020, Cotton discovered she was at risk of needing a throat operation, followed by weeks of recovering in silence. Cotton explains how to find your own authentic words, assert yourself and speak out with confidence. Cotton’s hugely popular podcast, Happy Place, was launched in 2018. She has been a TV and radio presenter for almost 25 years. As a writer, she has published several cookbooks, two children’s books and journals including Happy and Calm.
A Night in with Ethan Hawke
Monday 8 February 2021, 7.30pm, broadcast online (pre-record), and, available On Demand for 7 days, £7.50, captioned; BSL interpreted version of the broadcast available after the event.
In a broadcast talk, the actor and writer shares his latest novel, A Bright Ray of Darkness: a meditation on fame and celebrity, and the healing power of art. Four-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke discusses and reads from his latest work as an author, and the first for almost 20 years.
The novel’s narrator is a young man making his Broadway debut just as his marriage implodes. Through the wreckage, torment and whisky that follows, it’s the theatre that saves him, in particular, the challenges of performing Shakespeare and the leadership of a brilliant director. Hawke shares his insights into this world, not only as a novelist but as an actor, writer and director for stage and screen.
Raven Leilani: Luster
Thursday 25 February 2021, 7.30pm, broadcast online (pre-record) and available On Demand for 7 days, £7.50, captioned
The debut novel from Raven Leilani has won plaudits across the board; hear from the author in a broadcast conversation with novelist Diana Evans. This streamed event marks the UK publication of Luster from Leilani, one of the most exciting literary talents to emerge from the US in recent years.
Skin: It Takes Blood & Guts
Thursday 4 March 2021, 7.30pm, broadcast online (pre-record) and available On Demand for 7 days, £7.50, captioned; BSL interpreted version of the broadcast available after the event
The lead singer of rock band Skunk Anansie, solo artist, LGBTQI+ activist and all-around trailblazer launches her memoir in a broadcast event. Told with honesty and passion, It Takes Blood and Guts is the story of how a gay, Black, working-class girl with a vision fought poverty and prejudice to write songs, produce and front her own band, and become one of the most influential women in British rock.
Black Country, New Road
Saturday 6 March 2021, 7.30pm, livestream event, £10
Merging post-rock soundscapes with jazz-inflected post-punk, the hotly tipped seven-piece is streamed live from the stage of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Debut album For The First Time, set for release in February 2021, captures the band’s fresh and inventive energy, ferocity and explosive charge. For The First Time is a sonic time capsule that somehow manages to bottle the past, the present and the future.
London Contemporary Orchestra
Friday 19 March 2021, 7.30pm, broadcast online (pre-record) from the Royal Festival Hall, £10
The LCO interprets two critically acclaimed 2020 releases and presents the UK premiere of a gigantic new work. The musicians perform two world premieres: specially commissioned versions of Kelly Lee Owens’ ‘Arpeggi’ and Duval Timothy’s ‘Look’. These accompany the first UK performance of a magnum opus by Sigur Rós guitarist Kjartan Sveinsson.
Hanif Abdurraqib: A Little Devil in America
Thursday 25 March 2021, 7.30pm, broadcast online (pre-record) and available On Demand for 7 days, £7.50, captioned
Poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib introduces his new book of essays on Black performance in this broadcast event. The kaleidoscopic A Little Devil in America explores a field that ranges from tap dancing to punk, backing singers to TV hopefuls, through sport, sitcoms, fashion and space travel.
Filled with sharp insight, humour and heart, the book is infused with the lyricism and rhythm of the musicians Abdurraqib loves. It weaves a unique and intimate history of Black performance in which culture, politics and lived experience collide. This collection of original essays takes readers from mid-century Paris to the moon, via dive bars, Broadway, and a cramped basement bar in Columbus, Ohio.
Out-Spoken
Sunday 28 March 2021, 7.30pm, broadcast event and available On Demand for 7 days, £7.50, captioned broadcast available after the event
Southbank Centre’s resident poetry and music nightBringing the cream of UK writing talent to you, the Southbank Centre’s resident poetry and music night goes online for the very first time. The evening features sets from world-class poets and musicians, with the full line-up to be announced. Out-Spoken is hosted by Joelle Taylor, with Sam ‘Junior’ Bromfield spinning the best in reggae, soul and R&B throughout the evening.
