Behind the Scene |5| Pete Mullineaux
Just a Second is a collection of five of mini plays on global issues that has been published by Afri. It will be launched in Dublin Liberty Hall on Thursday August 5th at 6.30pm. Run by Pete Mullineaux, one of the warmest poets rocking about this little island of ours, it promises to be a night with a social conscience that is full of humour and inspiration.
As with all poetry events, we often don’t hear a lot about the poets behind the scene or the people making things happen. Pete Mullineaux spends a lot of his time using poetry and words to help others. He has been involved in a slew of projects and it’s hard to know where to start in terms of listing this man’s accomplishments. Should I mention the fact that he’s about to release his fourth poetry collection, or that he has had no less than three plays produced by RTE Radio, or that he works tirelessly behind the scenes to bring new spoken word talent to the forefront of Ireland’s biggest literary stages. It’s hard to know where to begin or even end when introducing him, so perhaps it is best (as is always the case) to introduce a poet with their poetry.
This poem is just one example of how Pete uses humour to make a firm point about society and the world at large.
How to Bake a Planet
First heat the oven –
(pre-sizzle all ingredients in microwave)
slowly steam spinach, seaweed, kale;
sauté in lava, adding fresh herbs and spices,
pinch of salt; use rainwater to make a stock –
boil repeatedly allowing mixture to cool and set
each time. Meanwhile, gather
Sun ripened fruits, whole grains,
mix with some milk and corn flour;
add half the liquid – simmer,
stirring continuously, place on thin sheets
of overlapping pasta – spoon
some of the thickened sauce on to each layer.
Lacerate and bone the fish,
marinate meat, pound
sesame seeds and garlic –
pour remaining liquid
over entire dish
until it almost drowns;
(rescue garnish with tongs.)
Flambé the mushrooms!
Throw everything into a clay pot.
Add one glass of mulled wine
to generous lashings of crude oil.
For the crust: a sprinkle of bread crumbs.
Set timer –
bake indefinitely…
(watch a movie, disaster ones are best)
remove from oven
– serve chilled.
serves 1
Pete Mullineaux – July 2015
Just a second is a collection of work that features several short plays and is being published by Afri. Pete has worked with Afri for many years, facilitating workshops and looking at issues such as: poverty and hunger, forced migrations, gender inequality, food security and climate change. This often culminates in drama presentations at national Agri events.
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This particular presentation of five short plays on global justice themes, aims to not only entertain and inform, but also to provide its audience with suggestions for follow up activities. So not only will attendees leave inspired, they will leave with advice on how to harness that inspiration and help work towards global justice. Pete suggests the event is particularly relevant to teachers as it’s an excellent introduction to these topics and how to tackle them with students. I would hazard to say, that knowing Pete, this is the kind of event that is open to anyone and will make concepts and ideas fresh and exciting for everyone.
