PLAYWRIGHT, performance poet and satirical singer Anthony Fairweather will be at the Art House gallery cafe tonight ( Saturday May 7) at 7.30pm.

Apart from music, comedy and poetry, the evening will include a screening of his film Frosted Glass which highlights the difficulties of living with mental conditions.

Anthony is an important part of the Art House community; he stood up and performed there for the first time in 2008 at their open mic night ‘Moving Voices’, and went on to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe, Ejectorseat Slam in Southampton, win a residency at The Bus Driver’s Prayer in London, win the ‘Talking to Strangers’ poetry slam in 2014 and win the Hammer and Tongue slam in Bristol more than once - to name but a few of his achievements!

Anthony’s poetry is exceptional in it’s own right, but what makes his performances extraordinary is he has a speech impediment, has lived through mental illness and - more recently - was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.

A speech impediment may seem incompatible with performance poetry, and yet he makes it work, creating rhythmic verses which are at once profound and very, very silly.

He has created beautiful poems, following a long tradition of creating art from personal struggle.

Anthony moved away from Southampton some years ago, but has never forgotten The Art House and returned to host fundraisers for them, made regular donations and always comes to visit when he is in Southampton. So when he got in touch about making a film they were only too pleased to help.

The film Frosted Glass is about the unseen everyday world. A dramatic film, it looks at the stigma and misunderstanding that can wreck the lives of people with mental conditions. The film takes true events as it's source material and is designed to tell a story of that which is all around us, but seldom discussed.

A quarter of us will have to live with a mental condition at some point in our lives. The condition Anthony lives with is Asperger's Syndrome - a form of Autism that has been described as 'looking at the world through a frosted glass window'.

Art House Director Jani Frank said:

"Asperger's Syndrome and mental illness, combined or separately can have a negative affect on many lives, especially when they are undiagnosed.

I have felt compelled to create this film to show how it can feel. One of the inherent problems with conditions like this is that there can be few discernible physical signs."

Anthony has raised £1800 so far towards the film on his ‘Gofundme’ page

https://www.gofundme.com/frostedglassfilm

The fundraising event at The Art House aims not only to raise money, but awareness about Asperger's Syndrome.

Jani added:‘It’s great to be able to support Anthony’s latest project in return for all he has done for our venue, as well as spread understanding of Asperger’s syndrome through the medium of Art’.

Anthony’s contact: anthony.fairweather2@btinternet.com

Art House contacts:

Email: jani@thearthousesouthampton.co.uk

Web: www.thearthousesouthampton.co.uk

Tel: 023 80238582