Writing for Performance Response: 2/17

The difference I heard between reading the plays this week, and hearing them performed by my peers was astonishing. Especially the second group. Even as they were standing behind the screen, and you couldn't see their faces, they made the piece come to life. I could even argue that their performance was MORE effective because we couldn't see their faces. It was like listening to this weird conversation happening just outside a closed door. Because you didn't see their faces, you concentrated more on what they were saying, instead of how they looked, or how their body was positioned or the blocking. With the way they performed this piece, and the way the whole poem is written, it's more about the sound of the words, rather than the words themselves.

The group overlapped vocals to emphasize certain words which really made the language a priority. Which you can understand while reading these works, mostly because they don't make any linear sense, but you really understand after hearing them performed. So even though they are poets theatre, they are truly meant to be heard, and not read. I've always liked sound poetry for what it is. I think its so interesting, playing with the noise of language, rather than the meaning. Of course, I like playing with meaning as well, but I'm not a person who can't listen to sound poetry, like Gertrude Stein and not be moved. These poems have a meaning, but they refuse to spell it out. And figuring out the meaning for something, instead of having it spoon fed to you, is much more gratifying.