Friday night, in the middle of a snow storm, Uptown Market hosted a poetry reading titled "They Become the Ocean: Poems & Monologues for the Stage." Around campus it was referred to as "The Poetry Extravaganza."
Student actors from Otterbein College's theatre department read the works of selected poetry students who have taken ENGL 260 and ENGL 360 throughout the past four years.
Poem topics ranged all across the board, from childhood to relationships.
The titles of the poems alone were intriguing. Some of them included, "IM Conversations," "Even Though Summer Nights in California Don't Roll in Hot" and "Reincarnation of Hunter S. Thompson as a Toad Living Near a College of the Future."
Among those in attendance, "The Poet's Excuses" by Nick Defazio, read by Jackson Hille, seemed to be a crowd favorite.
By the end of the evening, around 40 inspiring pieces of poetry were read.
For students who are normally not drawn to poetry readings, this experience was very unique, mainly due to the theatre component.
Having theatre students read the poetry, instead of the poets themselves, allowed more freedom from self-criticism and perhaps different interpretations other than what the poet originally intended.
Jackie Smith, one of the poets who had her work read, said, "It felt unreal having someone else read my poetry. It was really interesting to see how the actor put her spin on it; how her voice interpreted it."
"The overall reading was amazing. I wanted to go home and just write until my fingers fell off," said Smith. "All the actors did beautifully, and I hope we inspired them as much as they inspired us."
The actors mostly took turns reading poetry, but some poems required multiple voices.
During the poem "Questions & Answers" all of the actors participated which gave a conversation-like feel to the reading.
There is also a sense of creating community at an event like this, as there was plenty of time before and after the reading to mingle.
Guests also received free hors d'oeuvres. Terry Hermsen, the English professor who selected the texts for the evening, said at the conclusion he saw this as an opportunity to unite the two departments, and allow for them to use each other's skills to enhance and perfect their personal crafts.
As it said in the evening's program, "For what is a poem without some kind of 'stage' for it to be heard upon? And what is theatre without the words of the poet?" t&c;
