Soul Shed returns with another showcase of a variety of talent, both homegrown and nationally known. From poetry to music to comedy, there's something for everyone.
Hosted by Faye Marshall (Cloth and Coal, Morley) and Tim Brookes (Under the Lobby Lights, Wakefield) this night will have you nodding, swaying, laughing and wondering when you can do it all again.
Doors Open: 7pm
Performance Starts: 7.30pm
Maria Fergus
Maria Ferguson is a writer and performer.
Her poetry has been widely anthologised and published in literary magazines such as Magma, The Rialto, The North and The Poetry Review. She was a finalist of the Montreal International Poetry Prize 2024 and her debut collection, Alright, Girl? (Burning Eye, 2020), was Highly Commended in the Forward Prizes.
On the stage, her one-woman show Fat Girls Don’t Dance (Oberon, 2017) won the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show; Essex Girl (Oberon, 2019) was shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award and won Show of the Week at VAULT Festival. She has been commissioned by the Royal Academy of Arts, Stylist magazine, The Bronte Parsonage and BBC Radio.
Her work has been featured in The Guardianand on Radio 4’s The Verb and Woman’s Hour. She is the Associate Producer of LIVEwire Poetry and teaches creative writing in a variety of settings. Her second poetry collection, Swell was published in 2025 by Penguin Random House.
Testament
Testament is a British poet, rapper, playwright, educator and Guinness World Record holding human beatboxer. Born in North London, he grew up in Manchester and later moved to West Yorkshire to study, where he still lives.
His work weaves together rap, song and spoken word. An early landmark was Blake Remixed, a theatre piece that translated William Blake's poems into hip-hop and fused them with stories from his own life. His play Black Men Walking was nominated for Best Play at the UK Theatre Awards and Best New Play by the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, and his spoken-word show Orpheus in the Record Shop was broadcast on BBC Four. He has written for the Royal Court, Leeds Playhouse and the Globe, and in 2019 was Channel 4 Writer in Residence at Manchester's Royal Exchange.
As a poet, he was Black Nature Writer-in-Residence for the Yorkshire Dales in 2024 and belongs to the award-winning Hot Poets eco-poetry collective. His radio drama Daughter won a Special Commendation at the 2022 BBC Audio Drama Awards. He runs the Hip-Hop Clinic, which delivers rap, poetry and beatbox workshops worldwide, presents Radio 4’s live poetry show The Adverb, and writes for Netflix's animated series Castlevania: Nocturne.
Arancini Productions
Arancini Productions are writer-performers Helen Rice and Sarah Carratt, bringing their offbeat lens to the everyday.
They have been performing together since 2023. Helen, who lives in Sheffield, writes quirky songs and poems exploring life's essentials like grief and sex and bread, drawing from her experiences as a middle-aged disabled woman. She has supported acts such as Tom Wrigglesworth, Justin Moorhouse, and Nathan Caton, and co-wrote, co-produced and starred in Sheffield's legendary Fish Pie Cabaret.
As a writer, Sarah has had her work performed at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield; Chesterfield’s Pomegranate Theatre; the Studio at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre; the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough and on BBC Radio Sheffield.
“A sketch comedy duo who have a wonderful chemistry together. Their connection is not unlike that of French and Saunders... All of these sketches and more are presented with sharp, well-observed writing and a clear joy in both Rice and Carratt’s performances.” - The Reviews Hub
…’wonderfully silly sketches…’ - The Comedy Writers' Club
…’wit, imagination and determination in equal measure’ - Buxton Fringe 2024 (Balls of Fun by Arancini Productions was nominated for 'Best Comedy Show' at Buxton Fringe, 2024).
Sam Prowse
Sam is an alternative singer & guitarist based in Huddersfield, UK. He specialises in acoustic covers of rock & metal songs mixed with country and pop classics to create a highly diverse and entertaining atmosphere at every single one of his gigs.
He plays over 100 shows a year at both public venues across Yorkshire and private events such as weddings and birthdays both nationwide and internationally with a particularly keen following in the Netherlands.
Sam is also currently recording some of his own original material for release in 2027, which he hopes to be well received by his constantly expanding audience.
Feeling Peckish? Our food & drink vendors have something for everyone!
Soul Shed: Music, Poetry, Comedy
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