For me whether or not a poem translates from page to stage or vice versa depends completely on the poet who is trying to make the transitions and I think that the work for this week exemplifies that. Each poet has an opportunity to make her work move able and it’s the effort that's important.
For instance Rock Me, Goong Hay! by Alvin Eng didn’t really translate into performance for me. I felt that hearing him sing/speak the poem/song that it lost a lot of the power of the words. He was just sort of yelling and we missed the words, which to me seemed so clever. I didn’t get to hear: “ Yellow fever was our lot in this country/ Now we’re the so-called ‘model minority’/ Which really don’t mean shit if you think about it/ ‘Cause plenty still despise our slanty eyes” (59) which I really wanted to come through in the performance. Maybe it was the quality of the video itself but I felt as though the performance was more about the music than the poem/lyrics and they just sort of threw something on top of the music. What stood out from the performance was that title line of “Rock Me, Goong Hay!” but it missed the verses, which were the more important and thought provoking parts.
On the other hand, Nigger-Reecan Blues by Willie Perdomo had all the elements of a good page to stage poem. The content is interesting and funny while still thought provoking. The voices used are each distinct and speak for themselves:
“—Tu no eres Puerto Riqueno, brother.
--Maybe Indian like Gandhi Indian.
--I thought you was a Black man
--Is one of your parents white?
--You sure you ain’t a mix of something like
--Portuguese and Chinese?
--Naaaaahhhh… You ain’t no Porta Reecan
--I keep telling you: The boy is a Black man with an accent.” (Aloud, 112)
With out hearing it performed I could hear the different tones and inflections of the voices. Then when I watched the YouTube video the poem was completely enhanced by Perdomo’s charming personality and theatrical presentation. The voices that he used enhanced his already captivating language.
There was also the work that seemed like it was purely created for the stage such as with the Aya de Leon piece. It was interesting and innovative but I imagine that if I could see it on the page it wouldn’t have the same bite. A lot of the importance of the piece was based in timing and in being able to see the movement that the performer was making around the stage. I think that there isn’t a way to communicate the movement
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It seems like a very general dichotomy is forming between poetry that is performable and poetry that lives best on the page. Certain pieces take on a new and (dare I say) better form on stage than they have in text, while other poems that have such force on the page fall flat on the stage. Perhaps its due to the speaker, or maybe its a deeper component of the actual poems. hmm...
ReplyDeleteeboni - you make an interesting point about the Rock Me, Goong Hay! piece.. the poem loses its power when you cannot hear the words. This makes me think back to our discussion of music (the element of this piece that was clearly more emphasized). It seems like, even though the performers were having a fabulous time on stage, the music failed in bringing across the message. if i had listened to this and not already known the words, I would have had not idea it was a political piece.
ReplyDeleteI also thought the Rock Me Goong Hay was better on page than stage. I agree with you that it loses its message as a performance. It's interesting how much of a difference poetry on the page and stage can or cannot make a difference in terms of getting a message across.
ReplyDeleteROck Me Goong Hay was rushed and lost me as a viewer but on the page I was engaged. I agree with you about Aya De Leon's piece: that the movement in her body cannot be communicated the same on the page. I love the distinct voices in Perdomo's poem!
ReplyDeleteMelissa
Also, the band needed to background more. there are very specific things you do with music while doing poetry and GSH of course had the perfect formula. the music had too much independence
ReplyDeletee
Yes I agree some things are clearly made for the stage and not for it to just be read off a piece a paper like a docket number in court. That is something I had to reanalyze when this topic came up in class too!
ReplyDelete-Dorothy