Kate Tempest was born in London in 1985. Her work includes the plays Wasted, Glasshouse, and Hopelessly Devoted; the poetry collections Everything Speaks in its Own Way and Hold Your Own; the albums Everybody Down, Balance, and Let Them Eat Chaos; the long poems Brand New Ancients and Let Them Eat Chaos; and her debut novel, The Bricks that Built the Houses. Katie Beswick is a writer and academic working at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is interested in arts and culture and their intersections with issues of class.
An ingenious whole that's funny and true about growing up, getting wasted and – as they gather round a tree planted to remember their friend – wasting life. Tempest's writing oscillates between dynamic poetry that's full of vividly phrased acute observation and dialogue that's plainer but just as spot-on ... [a] very exciting new play. * Guardian * Tempest is a distinct emerging voice on the poetry and rapping scene in London ... it’s an often electrifying script filled with sharp observations on life ... there’s also hope and, without sentimentality, the play becomes a lesson in when to seize the day. * Telegraph * Kate Tempest is a poet and rapper, jobs whose cadences shine enticingly through in the punchy rhythms of her writing. Theatre has borrowed her for her debut play and I heartily suggest we try to make the arrangement permanent, as Tempest provides a welcome shot in drama’s arm ... Tempest’s is a talent to be harnessed, not wasted. * Evening Standard *