With the West Coast premiere of Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience at the Fountain Theatre, this uniquely moving and stirring choreopoem honors the work and life of June Jordan, one of America’s most fearless writers and human rights activists.

Amongst the many wonderful things about this play led by such a strong ensemble cast, what makes this special and also true to Jordan’s fearless spirit is that it does not leave out her realization of the interconnected struggles between Black people and Palestinians.

What does resistance sound like? The Fountain Theatre ignites its stage with the West Coast premiere of Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience, a bold, joyous theatrical celebration of one of America’s most fearless writers and human rights activists. Devised by Fountain Theatre artistic director Raymond O. Caldwell and composer Adrienne Torf, who was Jordan’s longtime collaborator and life partner, this award-winning production weaves together Jordan’s electric poetry with movement and music performed live on stage by Torf to illuminate the life and legacy of a woman who believed that poetry is a political act. The production also draws from Jordan’s collaboration with composer John Adams and features soaring renditions by Sweet Honey in the Rock, the iconic a cappella ensemble that set Jordan’s poems to song.

For those who are not familiar with what a choreopoem is, it is a form of dramatic expression that combines poetry, dance, music, and song. The term was first coined in 1975 by American writer Ntozake Shange in a description of her work, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf which coincidentally was the last time I saw a choreopoem with such a production back in my college days.

Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience is very much part of that same world and for such a world to function well, it requires an ensemble cast that not only can stand well on their own but to move cohesively as one. America Covarrubias, Mackenzie Mondag, Savannah Schoenecker, Kita Grayson, Janet Song, and Naseem Etemad work absolutely beautiful together under the graceful direction of Raymond O. Caldwell.

There is an immersive and interactive element to this play as all the audience members are provided a notepad and pen to participate in the poetry devising sessions that occur several times with an optional choice to share their work to either everyone during the show or after in the theatre company’s cafe. One’s reaction to such an element will vary but considering the community building that Jordan was beloved for, it was only fitting that the audience also gets to be involved with the actors and build something together.

For my own personal experience, I haven’t explored that poetry side of me since my rather hungry spoken word days in my college years and early 20s so that experience was most welcome to revisit after all this time. This feeling of home was all amplified with an endearing scenic and light design by Matt McCarren that literally made the stage feel like it was June’s home and you were a most welcome guest to be part of the memory journey.

Because this play takes the audience through an entire rundown of Jordan’s life culminating in poetry, interviews (via video footage or acted out), and songs, it was inevitable that some scenes felt a tad rushed while a few others went on a bit far too long. By the end of the play, it started to lose its momentum and became drawn out with perhaps a few too many songs. For me, the two strongest scenes involved the challenges of creating the anti-KKK documentary opera Bang Bang Über Alles in 1986 and Jordan identifying the struggles of the Palestinian people with the 1982 poem “Moving Towards Home” which resulted in outlandish accusations of antisemitism and cancellations against her.

Considering that the theme of identifying with Palestinian freedom is so present throughout the play since the very beginning, it would make a compelling case that there could be such a narrative play that focused on that specific time period alone with Jordan connecting the struggles of Black people and Palestinians. I would make the case this would be one of the most defining elements of June Jordan’s life, particularly in a not too distant time where anyone remotely sympathizing with Palestinians would end their careers.

I very much appreciate the multicultural cast with every single actor representing June Jordan and other important people throughout her life. I also appreciate that the Fountain Theatre has given the general public to name their price when it comes to how much they want to pay for their ticket for this particular play and I cannot but help wonder if such a model could be incorporated for all the shows and for all theatre companies, pending on the success of such an experiment. But most importantly, I appreciate that though this play wasn’t specifically about Palestine, the Fountain Theatre nevertheless took on a piece that had Palestine as a significant topic matter because it was something integral to June Jordan herself. Though it is true that speaking out for it right now has gained a tremendous moment and support unlike anything we’ve seen before, people are still getting doxxed and harassed with baseless accusations of antisemitism for simply showing humanity or pointing out criticisms. So the Fountain Theatre taking on the piece is a step in the right direction and something I continue to champion for in terms of LA theatre being able to talk about Palestine.

Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience opened on Saturday, January 31 at 8 p.m.,  with performances thereafter on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through March 29 (dark Monday, Feb. 2 and Monday, Feb. 23). Community Conversations, unique post-performance engagement opportunities for audiences including poetry writing workshops, take place every Friday. The performance on Friday, February 13 is Black Out Affinity Night, an opportunity for an audience self-identifying as Black to experience the performance together in a safe and inclusive space.

On Tuesday, February 24, the production will travel to Berkeley for a performance at The Freight in collaboration with UC Berkeley, where Jordan founded her groundbreaking “Poetry for the People” program. The performance will anchor a week of campus programming to celebrate her legacy.

All tickets to Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience are Name Your Price. The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Avenue (at Normandie) in Los Angeles. Patrons are invited upstairs to relax before and after the show at the Fountain’s café. For reservations and information, call (323) 663–1525 or go to FountainTheatre.com.

PARKING:
• Secure, on-site parking: $5
• Street parking available in the neighborhood north of Fountain Ave.
• No parking after 6 p.m. on Mariposa or Alexandria Avenues south of Fountain Ave.
• Allow extra time to find street parking; make sure to read all parking signs