Genevieve Carver and The Unsung present an engaging and unique mix of poetry, music and monologue in this tale of a woman’s journey into the music industry.
A Beautiful Way to Be Crazy offers some truly unparalleled insight. Carver tells the story of her journey through adolescence and how she followed her dream of becoming a musician. Many parts of the show shine through as truly excellent pieces of theatre – a parody of the sexual nature of modern music sticks out in my mind as being as poignant as it is clever and witty.
Interspersed throughout the show are interviews from real women and their experiences in the music industry. These paint an excellent, diverse and brutally honest picture of what life is like for women working in a male dominated profession (Carver tells us that this is a 70/30 split) and are woven into the show’s narrative well and compliment the poetry Carver uses to tell the bulk of her story excellently.
There is a lot going on at any one moment on stage. Carver spends most of the show stood at the front of the stage – which is crammed full of musical instruments and between one and three other members of The Unsung. This is both part of the show’s joy and part of it’s downfall for me. The best moments for me were the most pared back, when the music and poetry was left to be the centre of our attention. These moments were incredibly special, but a little few and far between and some of the more theatrical moments in the show felt a little distracting.
The show tells a fantastic story and has a strong sense of wit. The Unsung provide great music to accompany Carver’s incredible and moving poetry, and the show’s lofty peaks more than make up for occasional lulls.