Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Whenever I picture performance art, for some reason I always think I won’t like it. I picture some weird person wearing a trash bag, rolling around in paint or something. However, every time I’ve gone, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I end up feeling more knowledgeable, and in some ways, empowered. Marc Bamuthi Joseph was no exception.

One of the things I love about poetry is the way it can be used to express truth. It can be used to express truths that have a political and controversial undertone. Marc’s truths fall in this category. If someone were to just say a hard truth outright, it might not be welcomed are listened to. Oftentimes, people don’t give other opinions a chance, especially when those opinions are said bluntly. But with the addition of movement and poetic language, the truth is oftentimes better received. The audience is engaged and enraptured in a web of rhymes and meter and dance. The truth is hidden within this web and even if they don’t agree, they at least hear it.

One of the things I love about is the fact that it provides and avenue for self-expression. Earlier, I spoke of Marc using poetry to present truth. I don’t mean absolute truth. Marc’s performance provides and outlet to present his truth.

One of the most amazing things about live theatre is the energy that reverberates through the theater. When seeing it live, you feel the time, energy, and emotion that went in to the artist/actor’s performance. You even feel it in the silences. Even if the audience doesn’t agree with the message of the performance, they connect with the performer’s passion. Because of this, Marc was able to present his performance in a way that reached every single audience member, even those who didn’t agree. Those who agreed and connected both with the passion and message were very vocal about their agreement. Those who didn’t agree were not vocal about this disagreement. Marc’s performance was powerful enough to at least earn their respect and attention, if not also their agreement.

I also appreciated that Marc’s pieces varied in content. The whole story wasn’t just the lasting effect of slavery and racism in America. He talked about race, the economy, becoming a father, and discovering his desire to be a professional performer. He talked about life and loss and love. He talked about his personal prejudices and the prejudices put on him. He presented the audience with an array of subjects to connect with.

There is also a complex system of association that happens moreso with poetry than normal speech. In Marc’s piece about the woman spitting out the watermelon seeds and talking about her dead son, he builds this elaborate connection between the watermelon seeds and the disadvantage African American children face when growing up in bad neighborhoods. When he then says “strange fruit”, we don’t just see the watermelon seeds. We see the allusion he was making to lynching. We see injustice, unfair judgment, and lives ending too soon. We follow the connection between hatred, greed, and other negative emotions to see the current societal opinion of America, especially amongst the African American population.