Release date 25-1-2011

WARNING - THIS IS NOT A POETRY READING!!

Do not expect earnest poet hogging the stage with microphone. Do not expect anyone to stare at you if you make a noise. Expect poets to shout, laugh and dance – and expect to shout, laugh and dance with them.

“Why Don’t We...?” is not poetry as you might know and fear (inaccessible, dry and wordy! ). “Why Don’t We...?” is poetic theatre – inspired by the searing real-life-story Def Jam poets, and taking performance poetry into a whole dramatic production.

It’s set in a bar around town, your town, in the town of Anywhere. It’s a show about your
life, this life, night life, in a place near you, in a soon-to-come future, full of characters you already seem to know. And if you’re in the audience, you’re in the show, asking the Big Questions:

We hurt, hate, love, escape, fail, flounder, seek, seduce, lead and blindly follow. In this world of so many answers, one question weighs us down: “Why do we..?” But a weight can be changed into a stepping stone, a foundation to build from, a firm standing point on a stone in space, just by a slight change in the way we question life; a more urgent: “Why Don’t We...?”

“The show makes life out of poetry and poetry out of modern life,” says director Christian Jensen. “We’re inspired by live music, bands, theatre, Def Jam, rap, the Beat poets, poetry slam, and we’re fusing them into something new. So the poets interact with the musicians, the musicians respond to the poetic voice and come up with blues, jazz or rock, depending on the atmosphere of the scene and the voice.

“It’s poetry in motion, in that the show doesn’t only use music and voice, but fully explores the effect of movement, props and costumes in developing the art of poetic theatre and how words perform.”

At Auckland Fringe 2011, Printable Reality presents The Literatti in “Why Don’t We...?”
- a theatrical spoken-word event.

The Literatti are seasoned performers with five years of poetic innovation alongside some strong new voices in the Auckland poetry scene. The poets are : Miriam Barr, Daniel Larsen, Shane Hollands, Jai MacDonald, Zanni Anderson, Christian Jensen and Gus Simonovic. Pre-show performers are : Greg Kan, Jerry Beale, Michael Botur, Kirsten Warner and Randall Stephens(Aus). Musicians: Lawrence Brock, Paul Williams and Kara Gordon. Choreography: Sarah Albisser. Dance/movement: AUT Dance Company and "The White Wall". Moving images by Christoph Kirchner and Deborah Lawler-Dormer from MIC.

Under the creative direction of poet-performer Christian Jensen and supported by spoken
word producers Printable Reality, the collective of poets brings their own voices and writing, with music and dance specially devised for the dramatic story, “Why Don’t We...?”

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Basement Theatre,
Friday, 25th February, 10pm and
Sunday, 27th February, 8.30pm.

Tickets $10 from iticketexpress.co.nz

ENDS

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