Def Poetry Jam; Edinburgh Fringe

Def Poetry Jam; Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) till 25th August. 17.45
Tickets 0131 226 0000 www.edfringe.com

Poetry from the streets busts into the theatre with a roar8 poets and a DJ present this quick fire show. Mostly the format is poem-music-poem; the music is in tiny snatches, and seems like an afterthought. Presumably this keeps the show short, a requirement for Edinbugh's fringe, but it makes the music virtually pointless.

The poetry sings of the contemporary American urban experience; it is almost all loud, much of it angry and driven by the rythmns of rap and salsa. The company sometimes come together in effective numbers using groups of voices to drive the poetry on.

Much of the work is fascinating, creating a telling, energy fuelled vision covering both that sense of difference and belonging that is about being a "hyphenated American". There is a long section that covers love, and a surprising but effective amount of almost nostalgic stuff about families, too.

The work challenges racial and gender stereotypes, although it still felt uncomfortable that the women's poems are "composed of touches and glances" while the men (even ironically) tend to the "sensitivity sucks" school.

This is driving, lively, exciting visit to a different world; loud, confident and shaking the chandelier decorated Assembly rooms to the core. Unlike much self-consciously "popular" poetry this is more than just trite doggerel; here there is roaring pain, anger and joy.

With:
Black Ice
Staceyann Chin
Mayda Del Valle
Suheir Hammad
Tamika Harper
Beau Sia

2003-08-13 14:37:33