Poems on Gender
John Wayne in Middlesex
Poems on Gender
by David Lee Morgan
Camden Fringe at The Hen and Chickens Theatre, Highbury until 13th August
Review by Heather Moulson
Prolific American poet David Lee Morgan has an impressive background as a London, UK and BBC Poetry Slam Champion. Morgan made a monumental figure standing on the bare stage and greeted us warmly as we took our seats. He explained that he would give us twelve poems for precisely 38 minutes, then a twenty minute discussion. Would this work? I wondered.
“There are two sexes, male and female
It takes one of each to make a baby
But what this means, what we make of it
Has changed more times than we can imagine…”
I braced myself for an onslaught on gender but there was no tyranny nor lecture. He simply told us intense and uncomfortable truths from every point of view, from our bleak history of devastation, to embracing women’s liberation so he didn’t have to keep acting like John Wayne! (We felt his wave of relief). His Poems on Gender were disturbing and profound, but never tedious. I particularly liked his describing the sweet sound of rules being broken. These issues were uncomfortable but absorbing. In short, Morgan told us how it was, with a deep black wit and flawless presentation.
After these hard brutal pieces Morgan welcomed and encouraged questions from us as the audience. This rounded off the frantic pace and the atmosphere changed gear nicely. A good piece of theatre and a performance full of verve and energy, it was an hour well spent.
Heather Moulson, August 2023
Photography courtesy of DLM
Mark Aspen 
A poet to watch out for.