*ADVANCED RESERVATIONS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE, HOWEVER, a limited number of standby tickets will be released on a first-come, first-served basis.

POETRY ON STAGE:

THE BOHO DANCE

The Boho Dance imagines a conversation between Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg. With poet John Starrs as Whitman and playwright Beau O’Reilly as Ginsberg, comedy and entertainment ensue.

“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, and I contain multitudes,” bellows Whitman, ingniting a humorous exchange in which the actors call-and-respond, sometimes surprising one another with their poetic replies. A particularly funny section of Leaves of Grass leads to “A Supermarket in California”; and a deeply anti-war passage from Leaves leads to the angry “Hum Bom!” The performance takes place with minimal props, and Troy Martin provides musical accompaniment.

Beau O’Reilly is a founding member of the Curious Theater Branch, co-curator of the Rhinoceros Theater Festival, and a frequent contributor to This American Life. A professor of playwriting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he is the author of over 80 original plays.

John Starrs is a poet, actor, spoken-word performer and teacher. He has appeared in numerous Curious productions, including Still in Play, The Madelyn Trilogy, The Turtle at Play, Hit Me Like a Flower, and Discovery Tales.