Poetic Theater Productions is an NYC theater company working with poets & playwrights to create a visceral, poetic theater

Goliath at LaGuardia Community College

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Sun, 05/12/2013 - 23:48

Our sincere thanks to Vicki Bello, Emily Cohen, Keisha, David and everyone with the LaGuardia Veteran Services Office for the incredible opportunity to perform Goliath as the finale of their Week to Honor Veterans this past Thursday. We were so grateful to have the opportunity to open the conversation with these wonderful veterans and very moved by the post-show conversation. Thanks to everyone who came out! 

Photos by Dino Garcia. 

Goliath News in 2013!

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Sun, 04/21/2013 - 22:00

Goliath director Alex Mallory will be on a panel discussing arts in the military presented by Arts in the Armed Forces as part of the New Museum's IDEAS CITY! The panel will also feature AITAF's Adam Driver (marine, HBO's "Girls"), Theater of War founder and director Bryan Doerries, and dancer/choreographer Roman Baca (marine, artistic director of Exit 12 Dance Company). RSVP and join the conversation!

And on May 9th, Goliath will be performed at La Guardia Community College! More details forthcoming! 

Black 'n Brew

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Wed, 02/20/2013 - 21:57

Poetic Theater Productions is also proud to co-present



Showcase & Welcome Home Show for Aja Monet

featuring  Aja-Monet, Falu, Chinaka Hodge, Jennah Bell & Mahogany L. Browne
Music by Jive Poetic aka DJ Droopist DaRiddlah

Tuesday, Feb 26 @8PM
Wild Project - 195 E 3rd St
$10 - RSVP Required

Love, Redefined 2013

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Wed, 02/20/2013 - 21:26

 

Remixes, Re-imaginings and Riffs on Non-Commercial, Non-Traditional Love
Join us for a thrilling evening of familiar sonnets turned into original spoken word poetry, theater, dance and music!

Wednesday, February 27 at 8PM
The Wild Project – 195 East 3rd Street
Suggested Donation - Reserve Tickets Now!
(all are welcome!)

featuring new work by
Mia Anderson, Scotty Arnold, Mickey Bolmer, Darian Dauchan, Maurice DeCaul, Sarah Duncan, Safia Elhillo, Dominique Fishback, Madeline Fendrick & Brian Peck, Kate Foster & Anna Gothard, Nicole Goodwin, Ish Islam, Joell Jackson, Ryan F Johnson, Kashi Johnson, Teniece Divya Johnson, David Trevor Lawson, Mary McCarthy, Margaret McCarthy, Christine J. Schmidt, Vassilea Terzaki, Tanaya Winder, Catherine Weingarten, and Donte Wright da Storyteller

based on traditional sonnets and love poems by
William Shakespeare, Pablo Neruda, John Donne, George Herbert, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and e. e. cummings. 

also featuring
Jenny Aaron, Amanda Berry, Samantha Cooper, Dontonio Demarco, Karen Eilbacher, Kristen Islas, Wade Ray, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld, Temesgen Tocruray, Nabil Viñas and more! 

with Josh Henderson on Hip Hop Violin and beats by Leal Vona

We'll be posting videos from last year throughout the week on our facebook page - RSVP now! 

Sneak preview from Death Boogie and Obamatry writer/performer Darian Dauchan from Love, Redefined 2012 (see him again this year with a never before-heard poem!)

Seeking Submissions for Love, Redefined!

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Wed, 01/30/2013 - 12:04

Announcing the next edition of Love, Redefined!
Now seeking submissions! 

 
Poetic Theater Productions presents
Remixes, Re-imaginings and Riffs 
on traditional sonnets & love poems
through poetry, theater, dance, music and multimedia

Wednesday, February 27 at 8PM
The Wild Project – 195 East 3rd Street

Calling all poets, playwrights, directors, choreographers, composers, actors and dancers:
Participate in one of the most magical events of the year! 

The spirit of Love, Redefined is non-commercial, non-traditional love. After a smashing success with this event last year, we are once again inviting you to reinterpret, remix or re-imagine a traditional sonnet in another art form - monologues, spoken word, playlets, dance, music, etc! (see list of our ideas below, others are welcome!) in whatever form you would like (spoken word, theater, dance, music, etc).

The only requirements are that the piece is two minutes or less and that it is memorized for the performance. You or another actor will read the sonnet that inspires your piece before it (not included in the two minute limit). Send pieces to [email protected] by Sunday, February 10th along with the sonnet the piece is based on and please let us know whether you would be performing your own work or whether you would like us to enlist some great actors for it. 

Sonnet & poem inspirations from last year:
Shakespeare
John Donne
Pablo Neruda
Frank O'Hara
Sappho
Rumi
Lord Byron
Audre Lorde
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Plato

We look forward to seeing your work!

Thanks for an incredible festival!

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Mon, 01/28/2013 - 17:46

We can't believe the week passed us by so quickly. Thank you to all of the artists, audience & donors who made this incredible week possible. 

Special thanks to our incredible 116 Kickstarter donors - we couldn't have done it without you!! 

FRIENDS
Alex Matsuo ● Allison Portnoy ● Amanda Winters ● Amin El-Gamal ● Amy Surratt ● Andrew M. Reid ● Ashley Chang ● Ashley Lovell ● Ava and Charlie Hoover ● Brandon Silberstein ● Brian Bauman ● Brian Howald ● Brian Weinstein ● Carol Carpenter ● Caroline Rothstein ● Cate Yu ● Cecilia Copeland ● Christina Moore ● Christina Roman ● Colin Reeves-Fortney ● Daniel Bentley ● Daniel Stalter ● Darian Dauchan ● David Lai ● David Lawson ● David Scott ● Di Johnson ● Edgar Eguia ● Eli Isaacs ● Elise Stone ● Elliot Goodzeit ● Emily Gerth ● Emma Larkins ● Eric Schmalenberger ● Everett Cox ● Georgia A ● Hiyadeh Boloorchi ● Ilana Becker ● In honor of Girl Be Heard ● In honor of Zoë and Ezra Ellenbogen ● Jacqueline Pham ● James (Jay) A. Moad II ● James Turnbull ● Jay Stull ● Jeanette Woodburn ● Jenna Bonenfant ● Jennifer McGrath ● Jessica Hartung ● Jessica L. Pierce ● Jeunee ● Jim Cairl ● Joan Storey ● Joseph Reese ● Judith Kalaora Mészáros ● Julia Rose Brown ● Justin Oliphant ● Justin Woo ● Justine Lambert ● K. Thomas ● Karen Elizabeth Eilbacher ● Katherine Briant ● Katie Issel Pitre ● Kayla R. Thomas ● Kelly Zen-Yi Tsai ● Laura Fong ● Laurie Shaefer Fenton ● Leah Sullivan ● Liesl ● Marcus Yi ● Marilee Talkington ● Martins Jukna ● Mary Jordan ● Matthew Kitchen ● Matthew Maguire ● Melinda Buckley ● Meagan Miller-McKeever ● Meri Karafin ● Michael Ian Cedar ● Michael Rhaney ● Monique Paige Hall ● Nabil Viñas ● Nancy Kenney ● Olivia Haas ● Ori Bensimhon ● Qing Zhe Ni ● Rachel, Bob and Aiden ● Rachel Klein ● Rachel Stern ● Radha Kramer ● Raine Hoover ● Robert Smith ● Roz Spafford ● Sean Gill ● Sita Sarkar ● Sheiva Rezvani ● Sherrice Kelly ● Talia Imbrescia ● Tom Juarez ● Victoria Andújar ● Will ● Will Laves

INNOVATORS
Akin Salawu ● Alex Bullitt ● Alma Martinez ● Anonymous ● Carolyn and Steven Spitz ● Chad Anderson ● Connan Bradley ● Ellen Rusconi ● Jolie Curtsinger ● Kathy and Tracy Mallory ● Kenneth Heaton ● Lori Karns & Matt Spitz ● M. Scott Frank ● Storm Staley

INITIATOR
Mickey Bolmer

 

Generation Now at Poetic License 1/22. Photo by Calli Higgins.

Press for POETIC LICENSE!

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Thu, 01/24/2013 - 10:51

Theatermania interviews poet/playwrights Tanaya Winder, Caroline Rothstein, Eboni Hogan & LaTonia Phipps!
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/01-2013/new-poetic-theater-meet-four-artists-you-can-still_64190.html

Guest blog on One Producer in the City: 
http://oneproducerinthecity.typepad.com/one_producer_in_the_city/2013/01/guest-blog-78-.html

nytheatre.com interviews Co-Artistic Directors Jeremy Karafin and Alex Mallory!
http://www.nytheatre.com/Preview/alex-mallory-poetic-license
http://www.nytheatre.com/Preview/jeremy-karafin-poetic-license

On the Radio: Joell Jackson and Eboni Hogan talk Foreign Bodies on WBAI "No Questions Asked" - listen to the whole interview! Special performance at 14:10! 
https://soundcloud.com/poetic-theater

Byrne Harrison previews the festival on Stage Buzz - watch for reviews of "faith" and "Foreign Bodies" next week!

And here are a couple of pictures from the first few nights of the festival! 


Kate Foster and Anna Gotthard in How To Stay


Katherine George & David Fasanya from Urban Word NYC in Generation Now

Photos by Calli Higgins.

6@6 Reading Series

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Sun, 01/06/2013 - 12:42

Six readings of brand new poetic theater pieces at 6PM during Poetic License! All Tickets Just $5!
Tickets on sale now!

For complete festival schedule & show descriptions, click here. 

Tuesday, January 22nd 
Shatter the Sky by Sean Lewis
Slam poet Gods and Punk Rock furies. Take three plays from the Oresteia and throw them into a modern blender: Orestes is on the run after his incestuous affair with Electra is discovered, their Uncle Menelaeus is seen as weak after the Trojans stole his Helen. He's not going to make the upstart make him look bad... and on the country side A CHEAP GREEK CHORUS is turning peasants into Gods and friends into enemies... A verse play about violence, its cycles and what it means to challenge fate.

Wednesday, January 23rd 
The Will to Knowledge by Takeo Rivera (playwright of Poetic Theater Productions' award-winning spoken-word choreopoem, Goliath) 
An exploration of race, desire, trauma and queerness, The Will To Knowledge is the story of a ghost writer caught in a love triangle, discovering what it means to steal a narrative and how trauma is inherited.

Thursday, January 24th 
Love in a Time of Blood Quantum by Tanaya Winder
An investigation of the relationship between a man and a woman in light of historical trauma and contemporary issues that affect Native American communities such as blood quantum, alcoholism, suicide, and reservation rape.

Friday, January 25th 
Braided Sorrow by Marisela Treviño Orta
The story of a young girl who comes to Juarez, Mexico to find work, but becomes enmeshed in the series of lethal traps awaiting young female workers for which that city is now infamous.

Saturday, January 26th 
She Who Struggles by LaTonia Phipps
Gentrification. Rejection. Forgiveness (Choreo-Poetry infused)
A one act that follows two women Rita (white) and JoAnne (black) in gentrified Harlem. JoAnne's entire world changes when Rita moves onto her block. JoAnne being one of the only two black families left states, "We have a right to keep our block looking like us." With all their differences we come to realize that these two woman have something gripping in common.

 

Sunday, January 27th @ 6pm
Untitled new poetic movement piece conceived and choreographed by Natalia Duong 
Developed around the excavation of memories of war, family, grief, anger, and love long interred by women of the Vietnamese diaspora
Co-Produced with Project Agent Orange

 

 

Poetic License Shows & Schedule

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Sun, 01/06/2013 - 12:33

THE FESTIVAL SCHEDULE - Tickets On Sale Now!

For 6@6 Reading Series Information, click here.

Monday January 21st - Inauguration Day & Martin Luther King Jr Day
7PM  Obamatry written & performed by Darian Dauchan
a spoken word remix on the 44th president of the United States of America
Directed by Jennifer McGrath
Produced in association with Bowery Arts + Science, Ltd.
A multimedia solo show consisting of live looped songs, beat-boxing and a collage of satirical poems and presidential soundbites chronicling from candidacy, to presidency, to present day. A virtual rhetorical conversation on the subject of America between a Poet and a President. 
YouTube: http://youtu.be/J-3uNUZuI6E
followed by our festival kick-off party featuring live DJ and excerpts from festival shows

Tuesday January 22nd
6PM   6@6 reading of Shatter the Sky written by Sean Lewis
8PM   Generation Now written & performed by viBe Theater Experience, Girl Be Heard, Earsay Youth Voices & Urban Word NYC
Four talented youth performance ensembles perform a collection of coming-of-age stories & perspectives on the world as 2020 approaches.
Student Tickets $5
10PM How To Stay: a cabaret in development performed by Kate Foster, Dalton Ridenhour, Anna Gothard and Brooklyn duo Into Doubt
A coming of age, coming out, coming home story with vocals, piano, ukulele, and classic musical theater from the 1940s.

Wednesday January 23rd
6PM   6@6 reading of The Will To Knowledge written by Takeo Rivera 
8PM   Breaking Our Silence featuring by Joanna Hoffman, Charan P Morris, Storm Thomas & Elliott D. Smith
Vibrant LGBTQ poets share their experiences of coming out, finding love and crashing through the barriers of shame and silence to emerge into a new world.

Thursday January 24th
6PM   6@6 reading of Love in a Time of Blood Quantum written by Tanaya Winder 
8PM   Black Girls Don’t Smile Mosaic in Front of Strangers written by Mahogany L. Browne
Directed by Kamilah Forbes, Featuring choreography and dance by Keomi Tarver, Co-Presented with Hip Hop Theater Festival
Come witness the transformative journey of a woman in the heart/cracked globe of a city where apples, lights and love seek refuge. Where the stereotypes are challenged and blackness finds safety in a woman's smile.

Friday January 25th
6PM   6@6 reading of Braided Sorrow written by Marisela Treviño Orta 
8PM   Foreign Bodies written by Eboni Hogan
Directed by Nicole A. Watson, Featuring Eboni Hogan, Samantha Cooper, Ayo Oneké Cummings, Joell Jackson & Teniece Divya Johnson
On a mania-driven trek from NYC to Ghana, poet Eboni Hogan delivers an unflinchingly true testament to the complexities of the fragile mind, the breakable body and the resilient heart. 

Saturday January 26th
6PM   6@6 reading of She Who Struggles by LaTonia Phipps
8PM   faith written & performed by Caroline Rothstein
Directed by Alex Mallory, Winner: Oustanding Production of A Solo Show, 2012 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity 
One woman's gut-wrenching struggle to cope with the expectations and turmoil of coming of age.

Sunday January 27th
2PM   Foreign Bodies written by Eboni Hogan
6PM   6@6 reading of Untitled conceived by Natalia Duong
8PM   From Table to Stage written & performed by Warrior Writers NYC
Original Veteran writing in a staged, multimedia performance that explores a range of experiences from recruitment to homecoming, from surviving war to the quest for life.
Tickets are free for veterans or active U.S. military with I.D.

For last year's festival line-up, reviews, interviews and more, click here. 

 

Poetic License Kickstarter Campaign is Live!

Submitted by Alex Mallory
on Tue, 12/18/2012 - 15:12

The Poetic License Kickstarter Campaign is now live! Help us raise $3750 by midnight on January 8th to make the magic happen again this year! Watch the video (featuring some of your favorite Poetic Theater Productions artists and moments) and check out a sneak preview of the 2013 Festival line-up! And please help us by sharing the page on facebook or twitter or sending it to a friend!

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Poetic Theater Productions is fiscally sponsored by The Field, meaning that all donations are tax-deductible. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!