MBJ at Berkeley Rep

I was so glad to get to see Marc Bamuthi Joseph perform in this setting (at Berkeley Rep), especially after seeing him perform excerpts of the same show for Works in Progress. Amazingly, both performances felt like an intimate experience--even though one was in the company of two or three dozen people (most of whom I knew) in a well-lit room in which Marc could easily move through the audience, and the other was in the company of hundreds (most of whom I didn't know) sitting in tiered darkness while Marc performed on a distant, lit stage. Comparing these two experiences made it clear that Marc is the kind of performer who can make his audience feel comfortable, and draw them in, despite the size of the venue.

Of course, the audience also plays a big part in making the performer feel comfortable. As Youth Speaks brings conscious performers to many different parts of the country, the performers don't always know what kind of reception they're going to get from their audience. Marc repeatedly announced, in intervals, how enlivening it was to perform before an engaged, familiar Berkeley audience--something that probably added to his comfort, and, added to my experience of feeling personally engaged in his performance.

It was also very powerful to see his pieces enhanced by lighting and amplified sound, and to experience the accompaniment by the MC. I was amazed by Marc's performance at Mills, fulling using his body and his own vocal capacity, but I hadn't experienced the poems/narratives fully until I was able to see and hear the full affect onstage.

Marc's work demonstrated how poetry and performance can work hand-in-hand with memoir and journalism. We had characters, we had stories from youth (interviewing Jay-Z was a personal favorite), we had travelogue. I loved the pieces because they were so intensely personal, but always with a political message or consideration behind the sizzling lyrical language and movement.

Poet of Color Reading -- Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Poetry on stage in a form other than spoken word or slam -- that's Marc Bamuthi Joseph.
Poetry written and performed with the body -- that's Marc Bamuthi Joseph.
Hip Hop as a form -- that's Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

Watching, in person, MBJ perform excerpts from his poetry-play, the/breaks, was one of those moments that a poet never forgets. From his first sound -- my ancestors HACKED -- I am engaged. Taken by the neck and forced to listen. Sounds violent right? Well, that's the point. The hacking of sugar cane was a violent act. The beating of slaves who didn't work fast enough or hard enough, that's was a violent act. So MBJ's words must pack enough punch to get you to that end.

As he looped small truths from his life together with the macro truths of capitalism, identity and artistic sustainability, I sat amazed at how conversational his poetry felt and how the confessional moments didn't feel overwhelming confessional, but more universal and momentous.

The brillance, I think, came from his fluid chronology -- the way he moved through time/history was powerful. It allowed me to sit with hard realities -- slavery, but then be moved to more warm moments -- the first time he sees the sonogram picture of his son or the conversations he has with his grandmother. Those were a few of the brilliant moments in this poetry-play.

The body as poetry combined with hip hop as a form to engage the audience -- powerful. The sampling of music from various points in his history -- powerful. The inclusion of all the places he has been as an artist and how his identity was constantly in question -- powerful.

I think the thing I appreciated most about MBJ's performance was that he presented a great deal of truth -- hard truths -- about his life and his mind-set at various times in his life. I appreciated that the most. I appreciated his ability to take a culture -- hip hop -- present it in a play using poetry and dance as the medium and have it crossover and touch so many lives. That is powerful. That is poetry.