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VOX: A spoken-word chorus celebrates American poetry November 13 - 15, 20 - 22 in Portland
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When professional actors perform poetry, it brings an exciting element to the words that can make us see the poems in a whole new light. Add choral and dramatic staging, and the audience could fall in love with works that had seemed tired or even dreary on the page. Enter Eric Hull, who has conceived of a project that could usher in a true poetic renaissance.
Hull, Director of VOX, a spoken-word chorus in Portland, Oregon, is producing an ambitious dramatic performance that will feature some of the city's finest actors performing a broad assortment of mainly American poetry for six nights in mid-November at The Waterbrook Studio.
"We take poetry from the page and speak it in interpretive chorus," states Hull. "It's an experiment in form and expression. Some of the words are spoken in unison, some are solo, and some are spoken in combinations or counterpoint."
Hull is an actor and director who arranged the poems for the chorus with the guidance of poet and PSU professor Michele Glazer. He's just finished scoring Dylan Thomas's famous poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." The chorus will also perform Dorothy Parker's "Bohemia" and a brand new arrangement of Gertrude Stein's cubist portrait of Picasso, "If I Told Him."
Other poets who will be presented include Allen Ginsberg, William Stafford, Li-Young Lee, Jorie Graham, Donald Hall, Jane Kenyon, and quite a few others. For a complete list and more information, visit the VOX website: http://www.voxpdx.com.
These performances promise a fresh view of some great poetic masterpieces as well as the introduction of some poets you may not have heard of before. For instance, Hull has taken Allen Ginsberg's "Footnote to Howl" and given it the kind of ecstatic beat-energy that it requires. There will also be a medley of poems by husband and wife poets Donald Hall and the late Jane Kenyon, who are considered some of our finest contemporary poets.
In "Liberator of the Spirit" by Kamau Daaood, the poet deals with the jazz music of the great saxophonist John Coltrane, and VOX uses the words of the poem to explore the choral possibilities of reading words as if Coltrane were performing them.
VOX will perform at The Waterbrook Studio, 2127 N. Albina, #108, Portland, OR 97227. All six performances are at 7:30 PM, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, November 13 - 15 and November 20 - 22. Tickets are available at the door on a sliding scale of $10 to $15. For further information and directions, visit the VOX website at http://www.voxpdx.com.
These performances are recommended for high school age and up. Everyone who loves poetry, drama, literature, and music will find this to be a wonderful opportunity.
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