Arts & Culture

Mention the name ‘Fish Pie and Peas’ and one could be forgiven for thinking that it’s a greasy chip shop rather than an arts group in the East Riding.

The Fish Pie and Peas formed in 2007 at a café in Bridlington by like-minded creative individuals who were looking for an outlet to create and share poetry and prose.

The group extended their network to include artists from all disciplines with ‘Peas’ being an acronym for poets, entertainers, artists and songsters.

Members meet on a regular basis at the Five and Two café, which they also use as a venue to showcase their own work from live performance poetry, theatrical dramas to exhibitions.

Deirdre McGarry: poet and artist

Group leader, Deirdre McGarry, who works at the café, said: “I think we saw ourselves as an assortment of different fishes who’d come together in one pie.

“We decided that we’ve all got the same outlook on life: that we wanted to see art develop spontaneously and untraditionally and away from the organised art scene, which we felt could be exclusive and didn’t encourage ordinary working people on the streets of Bridlington to get involved.

“Art enriches everybody’s life that’s why we meet in a café that’s in the middle of town. It’s not in a traditional arts venue.

“We’ve now got regular Friday nights going at the Five and Two café where we have poetry events. We’ve had art events where we’ve invited people to come in off the street and draw in the café. We’ve had dramas that have been written locally that we’ve performed. We also did a drama that was written by a prisoner in Hull prison, who’d won an award for his work.

Art work by member Nick Folds

“We try as much as possible to not charge [an entrance fee]. We see it as being anarchic and democratic. We’re just trying to do things that are different on the arts scene not traditional.”

One of the activities the group are currently running is a poetry competition which will be judged by Carol Ann Duffy, the first female poet to be recently appointed a laureateship.

The group had approached Ms Duffy when she was giving a poetry reading in Bridlington some months back.

“I just asked her whether she would judge our competition and she said yes.” said Deirdre. “She was very interested and willing to help us.”

Vincent Peter Jones is an amateur writer and performer in Bridlington. Being a regular of the same café, he soon became familiar with the Fish Pie & Peas and eventually joined. He says the group has provided a channel for him to develop his art form in an area where there are few opportunities for progression.

Vincent Peter Jones

“To go along to a professional theatre company and ask them to put something on is very daunting. But to be able to come to a group like this and say ‘I have written a piece which I would like to see performed, would there be volunteers willing to do this’ gives me an outlet for the work that I’ve done, which probably would be turned down elsewhere.

“I had never written for public performance before. I was writing for myself or monologues to be read out in small groups, but now I write with a broader spectrum of people in mind.

“Now that I have access to a greater number of performers, I’ve found that I can write more and larger pieces. Last year I completed my first major piece, which is a contemporary play that’s three and half hours long with a cast of a dozen. I’m hoping eventually to get that out into a public performance.”

For more information about the Fish Pie and Peas poetry competition, contact the group via email.