V

V,  Tony Harrison’s epic poem, is directed and performed by Jonny Magnanti

Jonny Magnanti, a Leeds born actor, interprets Tony Harrison’s still controversial poem, V, drawing us into the municipal graveyard, daubed with swastikas and profanity and littered with discarded cans of Harp lager.

Supported by soundscapes from the period, with echoes of the miners’ strike, the IRA, conflict on our streets and a lack of hope, both Tony and Jonny, confront the issue of displacement and alienation from one’s class and family roots.

This is a powerful and moving performance, which brings us down to a simple story of who we are and what our individual legacies will be.

V has been performed by Jonny in Hastings and St Leonards and as the headline event at the inaugural Leeds Lit festival 2019.

V is being performed as part of North meets South. An ongoing exploration of Northern writers’ novels, plays and films, past, present and future, which is created by Bang Theatre, whose production A Kind of Loving runs at the same time.