Apples and Snakes Takeover & All Stars Gig

On a sunny Saturday 3 June 2023, we hosted our special Takeover and All Stars gig at the Roundhouse in London. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Apples and Snakes in style, the day featured live performances, creative workshops, podcast recordings and talks. This epic birthday bash was topped off with our All Stars gig which featured some of the finest spoken word artists, beatbox masters and poets that Apples and Snakes have been proud to champion over the years.

The Takeover

The Takeover doors opened at 1.30pm and there was a feast of workshops, live poetry performances and open mic sessions to enjoy. The buzz in the Roundhouse was wonderful, wherever you went there was something happening. In the Studio, Poetic Unity, Barbican Young Poets and a live podcast recording with Yomi Ṣode and Malika Booker entertained the crowds. Heading to the Hub, this chilled out area featured yoga classes, inner-life drawing sessions and a voice bath meditation. The bar also got in on the poetry action hosting several open mic sessions throughout the day. Rounding off the Takeover day was a very special ‘In Conversation’ session with Joelle Taylor and Bella Freud, discussing the importance of poetry and protest.

The Studio line up sizzled as we heard from the freshest new voices including Cecilia Knapp, Polly, Medusa, Joanna Woznicka, Muzkaan Razdan, Ankunda, Kari Pindoria and Shayna Kowalczyk from Roundhouse Collective, Jayda David, Magero, Aicha Therese and Jerome Scott of Poetic Unity and Riwa Saab, Robin Park, Oli Isaac and Kiki Gilbert from Barbican Young Poets.

The Hub was the place for workshops and creativity and our thanks goes to Gemma Barnet and Rose Bird for their fab blended Yoga and Creative Writing workshop. Dom Coyote ran a soothing Voice Bath Workshop which went down a treat with participants and finally Bohdan Piasecki’s Inner Life Drawing session was loved by everyone who took part in this observational workshop that encouraged participants to draw out the internal monologues of it’s subjects to develop character based creative writing.

All Stars Gig

The Takeover day finished with the All Stars gig. Hosted by Jan Blake, the line up featured a mouth-watering array of poets, spoken word artists and beatboxers.

The main space at the Roundhouse burst into life as these talented creatives each took a 10-15 minute set and performed some of their classic material, all peppered with their freshest work. The result was an amazing evening that was a great celebration of the previous 40 years of Apples and Snakes and set the the path for the next 40.

Shout out to our amazing All Stars Gig line up: Joelle Taylor, Roger Robinson, Yomi Ṣode, Belinda Zhawi, Kat François, Hollie McNish, Inua Ellams, Kayo Chingonyi, Sophia Thakur, Malika Booker, Zena Edwards, BREIS, Rakaya Esime Fetuga and the Beatbox Academy.