When a poem is written for the stage, how the hell do you confine that sh*t to the page?
The poems I perform at ProvSlam (Providence Poetry Slam) are written for that audience in that space. Some in that time as well.
I don’t really have any memorized anymore. I used to, back before I realized they weren’t really slam material. But when I read them, I’m still very physical and expressive and … well … a performer.
I take dramatic pauses, make weird noises that can’t be spelled, and make faces at the audience to build on certain points.
I want to make them available for a wider audience. I’m just trying to figure out how.
How to spell the sounds that have no spelling. How to edit some of these things just enough that they work as pure audio recordings. How to do a video recording that doesn’t lessen the edge of being on stage while still allowing for the digital viewer not to miss a word or sound or face.
With my most recent piece (a ten-parter tentatively titled “The Rosie Rizzo Project”) I’ve been thinking about the hows a lot more.
It’s gonna happen. I just need to figure out how.
Also published on Medium.