The Best Of John Betjeman

Across the time span of two hour-long performances, Lance Pierson performs a selection of Betjeman’s poetry. The first programme, in the earlier time slot, covers Betjeman’s output from the early years to WWII and includes Slough, the well-known poem which starts ‘Come friendly bombs …’ and a poem called ‘A Subaltern’s Love Song’, better known for the refrain within it which plays on the name of ‘Miss J Hunter Dunn’. The second programme, in the later time slot, covers the remaining part of his life, up to his death in 1984.Lance Pierson is surprisingly good at what he does, which is bringing Betjeman’s poetry to life. He does it in his own individual, personal style. It is individual, idiosyncratic and it works. What he doesn’t do, and all credit to him, is try to be John Betjeman. He doesn’t need to. He has the measure of the man and brings Betjeman to life through his poetry, his words and some well-chosen comments which are concise, apposite and relevant. Lance uses the space well, and characterises with versatility. He has a wonderfully rich voice which fills the room effortlessly, and which he colours with a full palette of qualities and sounds. It works beautifully. His articulation is excellent. He infuses Betjeman’s poetry with vivacity and energy which is a joy to hear. The choice of music and style of performance is terrible in this context, but thankfully it is only played at the beginning and end. For people who have seen one programme, and wish to book for the other, Lance is offering a festival deal allowing people to book half price tickets for whichever show they haven’t seen, honouring whatever discount they may have had. You can’t go wrong.