Liverpool-Live

Alex Wheatle is now an accomplished writer and has published works in book stores and newspapers, but it wasn’t always this way. Alex was invited to Liverpool’s Bluecoat centre which is a creative hub and showcases talent including visual art, music, literature, dance and live art.

The talk that Alex gave was part of WOW, Writing On the Wall and the event that they were hosting, Chapter & Verse Literature Festival 2011.

'Uprising', is the story of small boy Alex though to how he has become the man he is today. It is a very personal story with many characters along the way. Alex decided to tell it in the form of a partly musical, one man play. For different people that were talking he would use a different prop and change his voice.

The stage set was minimal. There was just a table and a chair and the props that were needed. The lighting would change subtlety depending on the topic being covered and the nature of the song being sung. It was very simple but very effective.

There were many great things, but one that really stood out to me were the songs that Alex sung between parts of the story. To me they seemed to act as the start and the end of a chapter. I also thought that the songs were totally relevant to what he had been talking about in the each chapter.

Alex’s story is a very inspiring one. For this reason (and the fact that he is a sensational writer ), he is often asked to attend schools and other establishments to share his words and wisdom with people and remind them that there may be obstacles in your life but you can still make something of yourself and be happy.