Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
Bootleg Theater
Through January 16
RECOMMENDED
An apt description of this show would be extreme poetry and wordsmith calisthenics. It’s also one heck of a lot of fun.
Nayeli Adorador-Knudsen, Bobby Gordon, Ary Katz, Linda Ravenswood and Brian Sonia-Wallace of the Melrose Poetry Bureau Ensemble are the creative minds behind this high-spirited demonstration of masterful word play, ticklish nonsense and bawdy humor, which never seems to run out of pleasant surprises.
On the stage are five tables, chairs and old-school typewriters. The show is framed as a competition of sorts, with the artists dueling it out to see whose lines are the biggest crowd-pleasers while the audience provides cues and material. These poets are good, and they come up with some amazing creations: some funny, some surprisingly emotional and thought provoking. There is also music and a bit of singing.
One segment has Knudsen as an MC presiding over a “sexsemble” (no surprises as to the cueing material here). Ary Katz, who is also quite a guitar player, takes charge in the final duel, where ten random words are laboriously melded into a coherent poem. Erin Bridges does the honors as writer’s muse and titillating burlesque dancer.
Bootleg Theater, 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; Fri.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; through January 16. www.bootlegtheater.org. Running time: 1 hour and 15 minutes with no intermission.
