Behavin?

Welcome to Behavin'?, a brand-spanking new variety night set to rattle the walls of Dumfries High Street. A daydream of degentertainment wrapped up in a cosy, punk package. A cornucopia of open mic, spoken word, and more, celebrating the eclectic and electric talent from Dumfries and beyond.

Bring your beleaguered, your broken, your blinding, your beautiful! Brought to you by Brave New Words and open to all words whether spoken, sung, shot, signed or silent. Sign up when booking your ticket. Entries may be taken on the night subject to timings so you’d better get your name down to guarantee your spot.

Set-times: 5 – 7 Minutes (so nae novellas or radical re-interpretations of Tam O Shanter please) Keep it neat. Keep it powerful.

Each Behavin'?, two candidates stand for your approval (or disapproval), hoping to win you over with their unique ideas on how to re-gouge (yes, that’s a word…) Dumfries. Putting the party in PARTY POLITICIAL (sorry), with promises ranging Tango Tuesdays to free daffodils for every Dave, and sometimes (not often) some genuinely sort-of-pretty-much-kind-of-decent-ideas.

Join us for a night of election revelry, where your vote shape the destiny of the town one bats**t proposal at a time.

“The work of a lyrical genius. There’s no one like Imogen.”

Imogen Stirling is a Scottish artist. She is a playwright, performance poet and producer. Imogen creates startling and expressive hybrid work straddling the worlds of poetry, theatre and electronic music.

Imogen has performed her work extensively around the UK and Europe, with partners including Glastonbury, Latitude Festival, Anniki Runofestivaali, Secret Garden Party and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. She features as a writer and performer on Sky Arts’ BAFTA-winning show Life & Rhymes where she performed alongside Benjamin Zephaniah and Hollie McNish.

Imogen was the inaugural Writer-in-Residence for Paisley Book Festival, led Wigtown Book Festival’s youth development programme and was shortlisted for the Out-Spoken Prize for Poetry. She is an alumna of the BBC Words First talent development scheme and Short Circuit’s Convergence programme. She was a performer in Tim Crouch’s An Oak Tree during the Edinburgh Fringe (2023).

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Stove Network & Café, 100 High Street, Dumfries, United Kingdom