To many people, the word ‘poetry’ conjures up thoughts of stultifying teaching exercises in GCSE classrooms and the anachronistic words of poets long-gone. Not so the audience of Sarah James’ The Magnetic Diaries, a genre-bending combination of theatre and poetry which is completing a highly successful tour of the UK. James’ work engages with the ever-challenging issue of mental health and its effect on family life and echoes the work of Gustave Flaubert’s iconic Madame Bovary. At a time of increasingly open conversation surrounding mental health, The Magnetic Diaries promises to add a lyrical and sympathetic voice to the discussion while also providing a new route into poetry for those who wish to see it as a living form of expression and not as a historical relic consigned to dusty bookshelves.

Sat 22 Oct, mac Birmingham, Cannon Hill Park, B12 9QH. Tel: 0121 446 3232, 8pm, £10/8 www.macbirmingham.co.uk