Overheard at a (University!) bar. What’s the reply to this?:
Spoken word artists are very good actors. They inject lots of their personality into their performances, and now video, soundtracks, and props...so much that the poems themselves are trivial compared with their repartee, banter and other clutter!
There is too much fun and not enough solemnity. And now it has reached its nadir. The fun they impose on us now includes videos, soundtracks, digital interactions, props and participation. There needs to be a return to contemplation, to soul and introspection. There needs to be less happy sharing and more deep interiority and reflection.
Dramatising the poem so it comes alive means creating a poem devoid of any deep thought, complex cross currents, or slow-fused insight.
Most performance poets don’t love poetry, they love themselves. They don’t read other poets, they are too busy scribbling their own poems and imagining their applause.