Passionate poets pack powerful punch in wham-bam jam

Terry Byrne - The Boston Herald

Fierce and fantastic, passionate and profound. The eight poets in the touring version of ``Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam,'' now at the Colonial Theatre, grab the audience and shake them in a truly exhilarating 90 minutes of poetry in motion.

Much more than talking heads, the poets on stage represent a wide swath of ideas, cultures, resentments, preoccupations and hang-ups, and they deliver them with such attitude and atmosphere they create a compelling trance. Although their words are street-smart, and the rhythms are supple and swift outgrowths of the hip-hop groove, director Stan Lathan has crafted a theatrical evening that introduces the individual poets, explores some themes and then builds to an impressive crescendo.

The poets enter together to introduce their feelings about the images their poems create before breaking off to come out one by one and deliver their individual poems. This section most resembles a traditional poetry slam, except that these poets nearly knock you out of your chair as they spit, shout and seduce you with their fascinating rhythms.

Whether it's Georgia Me tossing off sharply controlled rhymes in ``Fat Girl Blues'' while delivering a message about loving yourself, or Poetri with his biting humor (about loving Krispy Kremes, pretending to be Michael Jackson, or about money, ``If you see her, tell her I miss her and I want her back''), each one comes onstage with a distinct personality, approach to poetry and way of moving.

Beau Sia would easily be the poet you'd hate to follow on stage, so intense is his energy (and so pink are his shoelaces and T-shirt). Although he describes himself as a ``mentally buff Chinese Hulk Hogan,'' his emotional commitment to his words is breathtaking. Mayda Del Valle also has a wild spirit, defiant and determined and thrilling with her ode to Tito Puente and her ``Mami's Making Mambo.''

Lemon plays off a combination of shy tough guy and intellectual, and his ``Ode to the County of Kings'' was lyrically gorgeous. Black Ice and Suheir Hammad are more straightforward in their approach to serious issues, but no less in-your-face or inspiring. Hammad's poem about Sept. 11 managed to see beyond the tragedy to what comes next, and Black Ice's tale of a broken home is heartbreaking.

Bassey Ikpi, who is the only new poet in the group (all the others appeared in the Broadway version), holds her own among this dramatic crowd, winning the audience over easily with her tale of memories and her struggle to live in two cultures.

Director Lathan then combines the poets for interesting collaborations. First Beau Sia, Georgia Me and Hamman team up to talk about their inspirations for writing poetry, and the lines bounce over and around each other. Later, the women team up to talk about love and respect. There's also an opportunity for each one to write a love poem, and again the unique collection of poets means the reactions are bitter, sentimental, sweet and sad.

Occasionally the poems drift into cliche, but the emotional honesty behind the words makes even these compelling.

Russell Simmons, entrepreneur par excellence, does not miss an opportunity to plug some of his other work, including DJ Jedi's mention of Def Jam records' current music star Ludacris and a poet or two wearing Phat Farm fashions, Simmons' line of clothing. But like everything about this production, it's never heavy-handed, and these poets deliver with such passion, the evening leaves you with a renewed belief in the power of the word.