Poetry on Stage: The Boho Dance
Saturday, Mar 10, 7:00PM
Sunday, Mar 11, 3:00PM
Poetry Foundation
61 West Superior Street
Advanced ticketing is no longer available, but walk-up tickets will be made available on a first come, first served basis. Box office opens one hour prior to the show.
The Boho Dance imagines a conversation between Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg. With poet John Starrs as Whitman and playwright Beau O’Reilly as Ginsberg, comedy and entertainment ensue.
“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, and I contain multitudes,” bellows Whitman, ingniting a humorous exchange in which the actors call-and-respond, sometimes surprising one another with their poetic replies. A particularly funny section of Leaves of Grass leads to “A Supermarket in California”; and a deeply anti-war passage from Leaves leads to the angry “Hum Bom!” The performance takes place with minimal props, and Troy Martin provides musical accompaniment.
Beau O’Reilly is a founding member of the Curious Theater Branch, co-curator of the Rhinoceros Theater Festival, and a frequent contributor to This American Life. A professor of playwriting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he is the author of over 80 original plays.
John Starrs is a poet, actor, spoken-word performer and teacher. He has appeared in numerous Curious productions, including Still in Play, The Madelyn Trilogy, The Turtle at Play, Hit Me Like a Flower, and Discovery Tales.
