Published 28 January 2010
by JOSH LOEB

THE Students’ Union bar in the Central School of Speech and Drama, Swiss Cottage, is a prime candidate for journalistic sneering. 
As is to be expected in an institution for prospective members of the entertainment industry, there is a large contingent of air kissers and Nathan Barleys. 
But those whose spirits are not indelibly broken by their first impressions of the place will find some genuinely talented performers here too. 
The Writers’ Rave, an event held earlier this week at the venue, showcased up-and-coming playwrights, poets and performers.  
In the first half, Holli Wood’s tense feminist monologue and Margaret Bakosi’s singing were particularly impressive, but rapper James Massiah, whose intelligent mix of comedy and neurotic desperation had some catching their breath, was in a league of his own.  
Actor and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah, whose latest drama Seize the Day was well received when it played at the Tricycle last year, stopped by to chat with the performers (see Theatre column, left).
One-off event