Poetry in Performance @ National Youth Drama School 2016
In April 2016, Sara Hirsch, Jess Holly Bates and I kicked off the National Youth Drama School's inaugural 'Poetry in Performance' class in Hawkes Bay, NZ.
The school is a 9-day intensive, where 265 students from around the country converge to study a huge number of creative practises. From Circus Skills to Screenwriting, Shakespeare to Stage Combat, and now writing and performing poetry. Our class was made up of fifteen 16-19 year olds who astounded us with their passion, courage and hard work.
In April 2016, Sara Hirsch, Jess Holly Bates and I kicked off the National Youth Drama School's inaugural 'Poetry in Performance' class in Hawkes Bay, NZ.
The school is a 9-day intensive, where 265 students from around the country converge to study a huge number of creative practises. From Circus Skills to Screenwriting, Shakespeare to Stage Combat, and now writing and performing poetry. Our class was made up of fifteen 16-19 year olds who astounded us with their passion, courage and hard work.
The Slam
We began the school with a slam. I invited a bunch of New Zealand's best spoken word poets to come and perform. Sara and Jess shared their work, as well as former NZ National Slam Champion Te Kahu Rolleston, Rising Voices Slam Champion Sophie Rea, National Slam Finalist Phoebe Wright, and multiple Slam Champion's Michael Howard and Toby Newberry. Scoring and timekeeping was deftly controlled by Poetry in Motion Wellington's Travis Cottreau.
The event was high energy, hugely popular and outrageously fun. Students were heard grumbling beforehand that they had to come to a poetry event, but then spent the rest of the school week talking about setting up their own slams and wanting to check out more spoken word. An all round success.
We began the school with a slam. I invited a bunch of New Zealand's best spoken word poets to come and perform. Sara and Jess shared their work, as well as former NZ National Slam Champion Te Kahu Rolleston, Rising Voices Slam Champion Sophie Rea, National Slam Finalist Phoebe Wright, and multiple Slam Champion's Michael Howard and Toby Newberry. Scoring and timekeeping was deftly controlled by Poetry in Motion Wellington's Travis Cottreau.
The event was high energy, hugely popular and outrageously fun. Students were heard grumbling beforehand that they had to come to a poetry event, but then spent the rest of the school week talking about setting up their own slams and wanting to check out more spoken word. An all round success.