42 Worcester

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42 Worcester Strange and Spooky Spoken Word from Worcester. Live or on Zoom on the last Tuesday of the month! These are the property of the individual artist.

42Worcester is a hybrid event on the last Tuesday of every month—we open at 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start. The live section takes place at Script Haven, 104 High Street, Worcester. The Zoom link for online performers and audience will be posted on the night, on the evening's Event Page. Book a 5 minute spot by contacting Suz at: [email protected]

42Worcester is Worcester’s first and only Gothic, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy spoken word night. This is a unique opportunity for budding and established scribes and writers with a passion for these genres, to make their voices heard! History of 42Worcester

Founded by Glenn & Angela James in March 2011, this event is as popular now as it was when it was first set up. "42Worcester" originated in Worcester, and the co-founders will one day take steps to expand to other regions. This spoken-word event takes its name from Douglas Adams’ great answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. We thought that was pretty all encompassing and a really snappy name that people would embrace. This is THE genre fans open mic night, and we want them to get in touch and make their voice heard! The original work of anyone contributing to "42Worcester" is the copyright of the individual author presenting their own work, and "42Worcester" advise contributors to copyright their material in the usual way. "42Worcester" wishes to protect the copyright of contributors, and has no claim on works performed at the event.

29/09/2026

Tonight's 42 went really well, although the number of performers was rather diminished - there seem to be a lot of colds and sore throats going around, possibly due to the change in the seasons. Anyway, the theme was 'You've Only Got Yourself to Blame', and was had some amazing stories and poems, and some bravura performances! . . . In the first half we heard of a post-apocalyptic rebellion which led to mysterious consequences, surrealist poetry involving a Cro-Magnon piranha and a very strange tortoise, the rebounding of toxicity in both family and society, and then a fantastical tale of a Duke and a Golem that might have been a fable and a warning for us in the everyday world . . . Then in the second half, a familiar amoral anti-hero devised an unexpected way of dealing with some mutineers, there were time-travelling warnings of a Worcester catastrophe, and finally there was an escape from controlling captivity into something far, far worse . . . If you want to hear tales like that, or share your own work, the next 42 is on October 27th, and the theme is 'The Devil is in the Details' . . . The Halloween 42 is always one of our biggest (and weirdest) nights, so book your slot early!

10/09/2026

Slots are still available for September 29th! The theme is 'You've Only Got Yourself to Blame' . . .

Photos from tonight!
25/08/2026

Photos from tonight!

25/08/2026

42 this evening was another epic event! With the theme of 'Don't Forget the Sunscreen', and with the last of the current slew of heatwaves behind us, we had a number of tales involving dystopian summer weather, and some interesting interpretations of the theme . . . We heard of a Vampire caught under an anomalous Midnight Sun, a washed-out comedian in a shabby end-of-the-pier show who receives an interesting proposition, an elaborate plan to sedate and dispose of a wealthy husband, the essential preparations for a holiday on a planet with harsh UV conditions, Frankenstein's patchwork monster, the plight of a late-night widdler, and a post-apocalyptic survivor's green oasis and his letter to Father Christmas. After the interval, we heard of the chaos of a badly-planned space mission to the Sun, the psychological traumas of a poet trying to assemble and edit his book, a new adventure for an amoral occultist anti-hero, well-meaning safety advice in a chaotic world, the brain-churning complexities of faster-than-light travel, and finally we were back to the dystopian summer weather and the products of a dodgy multinational pharmaceutical company . . . Thank you to all our performers and to Leena at Script Haven for hosting us! . . . And if that sounds like your sort of an evening - the next 42 will be on September 29th - maybe we'll see you there?

21/08/2026

Slots are still available for next Tuesday!

Photos from tonight!
28/07/2026

Photos from tonight!

28/07/2026

Well the July 42 was memorable and rather brilliant . . . There's something about this time of year, when it's so hot and the holidays are beginning, and it all gets a bit unreal - we didn't have as many performers as usual, and the Gods of Zoom seemed to think that connectivity was optional, so the link got a bit bouncy at times . . . The theme was 'The Notorious Art' . . . We had a tale of a mysterious portrait found in the attic of an empty house, painted by a notorious artist, with an unsettling vitality about it; then horrific vampiric ink was drinking the poet's life to create exquisite poetry, followed by a poem with real-life consequences, and another about what if poets were like rappers (with an epic performance!) This was followed by a delectable tale of a comedian whose performances result in miracle-cures (for all the wrong reasons . . .) After a brief interval, we heard a strange detective tale incorporating 50 references to Simon and Garfunkel songs (and you'd only hear THAT at 42!) followed by the origin-story of a familiar anti-hero and other mythical and folkloric beings - and finally, a Science Fiction/Arthurian crossover incorporating enough bad puns to send us all home cringing . . . We're back next month . . .

The photos from tonight - thank you Leena Batchelor!!
30/06/2026

The photos from tonight - thank you Leena Batchelor!!

30/06/2026

Well what a night we had at 42! The theme was 'Be a Good Sport', which was an interesting challenge - writers of uncanny tales aren't necessarily passionate sports fans, so there were some fascinating work-arounds and some brilliant stories . . . Several of the stories and poems involved children's games and childhood memories, which became a bit of a theme-within-a-theme . . . Tonight was also the final performance in Worcester of Melissa M Poulton, who has long been a powerhouse of the local spoken word scene, but is now leaving the city - by the time you read this, she will be far away . . . Among tonight's tales and poetry, we heard of Alice in Wonderland and stories escaping from books, of famous monsters living in suburbia, a secret children's game with dark potential, the wisdom of an Italian grandmother's words, astrology for sports performers, some bizarre online gaming, the game of life, the perpetual suffering of war throughout the generations, an obedient torturee, a grotesque school sports day and grammar school hierarchies, an adventure for an occult adept anti-hero involving a giant squid, a deeply mysterious bookshop, and finally the miseries of being hunted by small humanoids on a frozen planet - a tale with a twist! . . . Yes, all this happened at 42 tonight! . . . And if you want to experience it for real, our next 42 is on July 28th, and the theme is 'The Notorious Art'

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Hybrid Event/Live Performances At Script Haven, 5 Crown Passageshire, UK/or On Zoom
Worcester

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