Welcome back to another installment of FRIGID New York Festival 2011 Q&A! We’ll be running these throughout February, so be sure to check back to read all about the great shows that will be taking part in the festival. Also – don’t miss the winner-take-all game of Rock Paper Scissors! Today’s Q&A is with The Bitter Poet himself who is the poet and performer of The Bitter Poet: Looking For Love In All The Wrong Black Box Performance Spaces
New York City’s comic performance artist, The Bitter Poet, performs his guitar-driven poems in this darkly humorous and satirical one-man show about searching for True Love and the contortionists you meet along the way… A high-energy, irreverent celebration of the crazy things we do for love.
answers by The Bitter Poet, poet and performer
Antonio Asks: What makes FRIGID such a warm and welcoming experience for your production?
UNDER St. Marks is the quintessential black box theater. There’s a bar, a cramped dressing room, a street person wandering in, a lonely staircase, a place to hit your head, a place for cool kids to smoke, and best of all: it’s in a basement.
Diánna Asks: What about this play do you feel most drawn to personally, and because of that, what message do you hope the audience walks away with?
It’s a poetry reading concerning the pursuit of True Love and the contortionists you meet along the way. It’s not a play, but a poetry reading mixing red shoes, black leather pants, a gold tux jacket, angst and a electric guitar. I have an intimate relationship with each and every poem presented, but there is no narrative from which to glean a message or moral. For the audience that comes and stays, I hope they recognize some of the words and sing along, walking away humming a favorite line or two.
Karen Asks: That’s some title. How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?
Poetry has never been this hot, angry, desperate, loud, sweet or true. I needed a title that covered it all. It doesn’t have a meaning, so much as it describes the subject matter of the poems. It may help to know that this title has been shortened. The original title is: “Looking For Love In All The Wrong Cafes, Strip Clubs and Black Box Performance Spaces.”
Stephen Asks: You must have a favorite part of your show. What makes it your favorite?
The beginning. Walking out and saying hello. Anything can happen.
Lina Asks: How much of your show was inspired by true events?
All of it.
THM Bonus Question: If you could play a virtual game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with another FRIGID Show which show would you take on? And what would you throw?
The Bitter Poet, in a gesture of supreme Bitterness – Poetry – or both didn’t just abstain but SKIPPED THIS QUESTION entirely. Ahhh, I see what you did there, Bitter Poet.
Well, you were challenged by I’m Not Sure I Like the Way You Licked Me! who threw good ole Paper. Upon which I’ve decided to write a poem for you:
Bitter Poet – Touche
Decided not to play
Got beaten by a lick
Though her win is pyrrhic
Since you didn’t throw.
See – I can write staggeringly good poetry too!
This is how it works in the crazy world of the VIRTUAL ROCK PAPER SCISSORS TOURNAMENT!
Meanwhile, for the rest of you – don’t forget to check out The Bitter Poet: Looking For Love In All The Wrong Black Box Performance Spaces
The Bitter Poet: Looking for Love in All the Wrong Black Box Performance Spaces Presented by The Bitter Poet New York, NY UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place) $10 Fri 2/25 @ 10:30pm, Sat 2/26 @ 8:30pm, Thu 3/3 @ 9pm, Sat 3/5 @ 4pm, & Sun 3/6 @ 5:30pm
FRIGID New York Festival 2011 will run February 23-March 6 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1sr Ave and Ave A). Tickets ($10-$16) may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444. All shows will run 60 minutes long or less.
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