While Arts Fest is mainly a time of celebration for the work that the school’s students have put into their distinct crafts throughout the semester, it also provides each year’s seniors with a chance to end their careers, personal and artistic, in an encouraging and loving setting. There is a sense of finality to each event over the course of three days, and that feeling certainly did not escape any performers at the Arts Fest Spoken Word program last Friday.
As the Juice performance came to a close at 7:30 p.m. Friday night, Arts Fest workers began to set up O’Neill Plaza for a night of spoken word performance. Like many open mics on campus, the evening was a catchall for any and all forms of spoken word, meaning a wide variety of poems were read: improv poetry, rap, slam poetry, and even simple ramblings of the mind were all welcome. As one performer after another stepped up to the stage, one fact became increasingly clear: there’s no better place than BC to find immensely talented speakers.
Arts Fest Spoken Word was run in the most traditional sense of an “open mic”—first, the sacrificial poet reads a poem to kick off the event, and the stage becomes free to anyone willing to brave the eyes of the audience. Any person could stand any number of times to read, and many chose to do just that. And despite the fact that the event came to a relatively early close, the works of many artists found their way into the limelight.
The stage lights were bright, but not so bright as to outshine the poets standing under them. High points of the evening (and there were many to be had) included the work of both the experienced and the beginners. “Tales From the Friendzone,” written by Rusty Cosino (BC SLAM! member and MCAS ’19), had audience members rolling with laughter and then, heartbreak, as the last lines were delivered. On the other end of the spectrum, his “5 Responses to People Who Call Me a Hipster,” done entirely off the cuff, dropped jaws.
Though the event was not BC SLAM! sponsored, many of its poets performed. Of note was Alex Hadley, MCAS ’16, performing “I Am a Machine.” Relating the reality of only being understood through numbers, be it height, weight, GPA, or otherwise, she reminds those who listened that they themselves are not just a number, but rather the sum of the memories they’ve made, forgotten, or almost had. As this was Hadley’s last BC open mic, it was clear that this last reading was an emotional event for all.
In fact, for more than one spoken-word artist, Arts Fest 2016 was the last BC open mic ever. There’s a sense of electricity in the air on occasions such as this—onlookers and performers alike can feel it. Each word crackles with a little more energy, holds a little more weight, calls the end of a BC career one step closer. If nothing else, those who engage in spoken word are clearly quite in touch with their emotions—every person in the room felt the sense of simultaneous dread and freedom knowing that the next step of life was, for many, close at hand.
Events such as these make it abundantly clear that there is an untapped market of talent for performers on BC’s campus. It became more and more common as the night pressed on to hear the words “this is my first time,” but with every statement of these words came a poem or thought that was as polished as anyone’s. One fact has begun to stand out above the rest: the low level of BC student support and involvement in the art of spoken word is a true tragedy, because, if last Friday was any evidence, talent seems to be behind every corner.
Featured Image by Julia Hopkins / Heights Editor
