New York Poet Markus Makavellian

Markus Makavellian’s International Order at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Find the big stone archway under a bridge and you’ve found the Underbelly. With high ceilings, purple glossy wall paint, and walls smothered by festival flyers, it is the perfect venue for proud Exposure to present Markus Makavellian, a New York performance-poet I went to review for the ThreeWeeks Festival Guide; yes this is a piece of ‘Poetic Performance Art’. Totally pretentious sounding, I had my pre-conceived judgments of performance poetry and went in thinking I was about to sit through an hour of Wordsworthian self-indulgence read by a man in a morph suit sitting on a space hopper; but Makavellian is not your average poet. I loved his take on life and his voice had a mid-range, slightly camp American twang that lilts you through the piece. Markus is not your average man, artist or drag-artist; he is controversial, equivocal, and mesmerizing.This is my review:
Exuberance and extravagance abound in this poetic masterpiece, whose lyrics cleverly draw upon social issues that are often not spoken of in such frank terms. The opening scatological topic is broached using a toilet-seat-mime that is at first rather disgusting, but then marvelously comic. Once encouraged to abandon all inhibition and embrace the lyrical magic of Makavellian, it becomes impossible to look away. The fluidity of his poetry is punctuated by subtle lighting changes, and introductions help to make sense of his racy speeches whose subject matter varies from Lady Gaga to a touching dedication to his son. Utterly flamboyant, brutally honest and totally endearing, this racy poetic performance is not for the prude, but is wonderfully captivating.

Underbelly, 7- 29 Aug (not 16), 6.00pm, £6.50- £10.50, fpp 270.
Rating 5/5
www.threeweeks.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/orderofmarkusmakavellian