Welcome from Amy D. Unsworth

Language, Literature, Learning & Life.




Black Box Theatre, Oh My!

Whew. Unexpectedly, I was invited to an open mike event tonight. I've not really read my work in public before, but I did start out my early college career in theatre. It's been years though since I was up in front of a crowd in a black box theatre. The dynamics of the room were fantastic, the crowd involved, and the poetry diverse & entertaining. I read three poems: "By His Hand Lightning," "With Sunflowers for Shade," and "Dancer at the Thoroughbred Lounge." The old instinct for the stage, the give and take between a live audience and the performer, making eye-contact with complete strangers, it is addictive. The theatre was full. It gives me hope that the naysayers are wrong, that poetry still is and can be a vibrant art. It was tonight, here on the plains of Kansas, an unexpected gift in an otherwise emotional & exhausting week.

2 comments:

David Vincenti said...

Congrats on getting some air under your words. It astounds me that some can think poetry is not vibrant today. There may be different schools, and there are certainly some branches on the tree of poetry that don't interest me as much as others, but it would be misleading and mistaken to say all those branches weren't teeming with energetic life. I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to host a monthly reading series, and to absorb some of that energy on a regular basis. I wish you similarly frequent infusions.

Unknown said...

Congrats! That's wonderful.