Spotlight On Scene of the Rhyme: The Middle of Everywhere

In the summer of 2018 the founders of Scene of the Rhyme spoke to BND about the idea behind their unique event and why it is an important fixture of the creative scene in the midlands.

Five years ago, the midlands were missing something; a place for spoken word poetry to be heard. Poets themselves, Cormac Lally, David Hynes, Richard Brennan and David Mallaghan had a big incentive to change that, and so Scene of the Rhyme was established between the four in Tullamore, Offaly in 2013.

“We started really because we were traveling up and down to Dublin”, says Brennan, “we kind of got fed up of the hike. We thought, why don’t we bring all that talent to Tullamore? There’s a great scene in Dublin, there always has been, but we wanted to bring a bit of that down to the midlands where there isn’t really anything like it for a hundred kilometres in any direction”.

We’re lucky, we’re kind of like an oasis.

Both Brennan and Mallaghan see Tullamore as a great location for an event like Scene of the Rhyme, a unique belnd of live spoken word, music and comedy. “There’s nothing really in the midlands like this. You have to go to Kilkenny, or Dublin or Galway or Dublin to get a night like this. So, we’ve got quite a few people we can draw from to get a crowd. We’re lucky, we’re kind of like an oasis.”

Lally has since moved to Cork but Brennan and Mallaghan have kept it going, expanding the Scene of the Rhyme from a spoken word only event to include music and comedy. “After a couple of years, we need a bit to variety to keep people interested and to keep ourselves interested as well”, says Brennan. “Once we started broadening the palette a little bit, we really started to kick off then”.

The Scene of The Rhyme has attracted talent from all over the country. Mallaghan’s favourite night ever was when comedian Ger Staunton came down to perform there. “[We’ve] had great talent like John Cummins coming down and performing but then we had singer-songwriters and we had a couple of comedians from all around the country from Galway, Dublin, we’ve had people from Belfast, from Cork,” says Brennan. “Tullamore is great that way, it’s easy to get at”.

We thought, why don’t we bring all that talent to Tullamore?

Set around the stone walls of Joe Lees, Brennan and Mallaghan are particularly proud of their venue. “The venue is atmospheric, it’s very special”, Brennan says. As Scene of The Rhyme has kicked off, it has occasionally had cause to leave Tullamore. “We bring it on tour to the big festivals and we do well on that”, Mallaghan says. Scene of The Rhyme has been to Electric Picnic, Body and Soul and Bare in the Woods, among others.

Mallaghan’s plans for the future? “More festivals!”

Going to festivals has helped Scene of The Rhyme get noticed around the country. However, they also note that it is hard work to build a reputation and brand recognition outside of a major population area. “But we’ve built up a good reputation now, there’s a good brand there and people know pretty much when they come in the door, they know what they’re going to get most of the time.”

Check out Scene of the Rhyme at Joe Lees, Church Street, Tullamore.

Written by Eithne Dodd.

Originally published in BND Magazine Vol. 1 Issue 1.
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