Working on Interaction

Simone Kaho writes about her week working on audience interaction with The Literatti for reTHiNK Possible Worlds.

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Sunday noon for rehearsal isn't so bad. It could have been Sunday at 11am, or Sunday at 10am... I had a quiet night the night before and a good sleep, but still find myself in a sickly clutch with my bed. I don't know who is clutching who – but I'm gonna get there today come hell or high water or clingy beds. So I drive my guitarist boyfriend's car, the one which keeps mysteriously developing new dents, to Mind and Body where we rehearse. Its a lovely big space with plenty of rooms to be loud and poetic in or wander between working on poems. Even though the plants are mysteriously dying.

Most people are already there; Shane, Miriam, Dan, Christian and the dancers whose names I will have to surreptitiously relearn. John the music guy is coming a bit later. I have a nice cuppa to start with – of course. Then the poets line up for a group exercise, delivering a poem from the show to the other four with a focus on audience interaction. I'm nervous, always nervous, although I've learned not to see nerves as a draw-back. Four years ago in 2007 when I just started coming to Poetry Live, reading poetry was far more nerve-wracking. Now the nerves are like 'what if I'm not completely happy with my performance' – you know the kind of nerves you get before baking cookies. And it's a supportive group of poets, even though it involves Shane Hollands, who is a monster performer and about to be a poet rock star.

I deliver the poem Afakasi. It's going to open the show and it's important it comes out right. Everyone claps when I finish, which feels good – then a bit of feedback. Miriam reckons I could have more eye contact with the audience. I reckon she's not wrong, I do remember seeing quite a lot of the rafters during the poem. It gets a bit intense at times though, staring into the crowd. If you end up looking at someone who has a bored expression it can be off-putting. Intense when you're reading your own poetry...but sure, I can look more. Strike a pose says Shane.

We break into twos to go through the poems more closely. I end up with Shane, happily, he has a load of good thoughts; I just must remember not to loose the notes and to practice in front of the mirror. I've never actually done that, on the basis that I would feel like a dick, but hey it's only me, and from what I can see of the results, it definitely helps move the body through logical shapes.

With someone like Shane its all pretty effortless. He performs one of his poems to me, a sparkly one with circusy bits in it. I can come up one suggestion where he might accentuate movement. He's nailed 'the precipice of happiness', and 'the flowers of your mind'. But there's something somehow that could 'pop' more for the hunched figure...There's something somehow could pop more with the hunched figure I say. Yes says Shane, I've been thinking that. Around this stage I see we've not looking so much at audience interaction anymore, as looking at movement in general. I'm not sure we did that consciously. Oh well, these things should stay fluid, I'm sure the two are related.

It's an hour and a half into rehearsal and sax is busting out of one of the rooms. It's John Mcnab our guitarist and musical director working with Miriam. I didn't realise he could play sax. Impressive. Later when I tell my guitarist boyfriend he's impressed too. He reckons he could pretty much give any stringed instrument a tilt but nothing wind. It's such a sexy sounding instrument he says and we both reflect for a bit.

After finishing up with Shane it's time to do my musical number with John. He's playing guitar for my poem, a kind of rocky, out-there number which gets my blood up. He has some cryptic notes from the last time we rehearsed and seems to understand what they mean so we launch into it. John finishes right on cue and says 'That was good – maybe it was too good, maybe it was the kind-of good we'll never be able to do again'. So we have another go and it turns out just as good. Not wanting to jinx it, I head out to get John's next poet; Christian. Time is flying, especially for John I suspect, who is in constant and high demand. Nice for some.

I finish by running through the two-voice-poem with Christian, it's coming along well. Just like something which could be exchanged over teacupssays John, when we read it to him. I get a wash of creative juices – it looks like there will be some new bits added to that poem next rehearsal. Because I'm going to write some. Over the teacups...huh...

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Simone Kaho has been performing with The Literatti since early 2011 when she returned from Wellington's Institute of Modern Letters with her MA in creative writing and a distinction under her belt. She was one of the Side Stream poetry 'prostitutes' at New Zealand's first Poetry Brothel and performs her poetry widely - seeing the performance of poetry as just as important as its publication on the page. Her poetry has been published in Live Lines, Turbine and The Dominion Post.  

www.theliteratti.com