It’s almost a year since Adrian Mitchell, poet, playwright, author and pacifist left this world. Friends and family gathered at the Tricycle Theatre in North London on Sunday 18th October to celebrate his life and work in a packed programme that reflected the man, his work and his passions. Sian Rowland attended for Write Away and sent this report.

Perhaps best known for his poetry, Mitchell produced verse for adults and children that was funny, poignant and political by turn. His daughter Sasha led the songs and explained that her late father was a frustrated rock musician, hence much of his verse is set to music. After the ‘Snuff Around’ from his last anthology for children, ‘Umpteen Pockets’, in which the audience were encouraged to act like Labradors came John Hegley’s rendition of ‘On The Road To Blackburn’ where the audience were expected to stand up and stomp along in accompaniment. Mitchell’s great friend Sylvester McCoy swung dangerously onto stage in a mobility scooter brandishing a pair of spoons which he played with aplomb. Who’d have thought that Dr Who was such an accomplished spoon player?

Brian Hibbard, the former Flying Picket, stunned the audience into silence with a heart-rending rendition of ‘Victor Jara’, Adrian’s poem set to music about the Chilean folk singer tortured and executed under Pinochet’s regime. The most moving part of the night came, however, when Mitchell’s teenage granddaughter Caitlin stepped up to perform a song from the RSC favourite, ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.’ Clearly moved, she sang with sensitivity for someone so young and left the audience sniffing openly and dabbing their eyes.

Another high point for me was when Sylvester McCoy sang a piece from his title role as ‘The Pied Piper’, an adaptation that Mitchell wrote for the National Theatre. I acted in this version of the ‘Pied Piper’ at university and we learnt our parts by listening to the Sylvester McCoy recording as we were the first non-professional group to perform it. The words to ‘Secret Country’ reflect Adrian’s passion for peace and the former Dr Who struggled with his emotions as he gave a performance straight from the heart.

Mitchell’s widow Celia closed the evening by inviting the audience to stay for a curry and some socialising in the bar. As we ate, the musicians started jamming with accordion, guitar and violin. Someone found a recorder and joined in, a few people sang, whooped or danced and Sylvester McCoy whizzed around waving his spoons. I didn’t know Adrian but I have the feeling this would have been just the send off he would have wanted and as the man himself might have said, peace.