Bill Ectric

Al Letson: Def Poet by Bill Ectric



Posted: Friday, June 24, 2005

by
Billectric

Al Letson: Penumbra
A One Man Performance featuring Poetry, Theater, and Film

Henrietta's @ 9th & Main, Jacksonville, FL

For dedication to his craft, innate talent, and hard work, Al Letson deserves the title of "consummate professional." I don't use those words lightly. His delivery is precise the emotion is fresh - Letson never seems to be on autopilot.

photos by Bill Ectric

Penumbra, Letson explained to a full house, means basically "in between." This night consisted of a mixture of poems and performance pieces that he has done in the past from different shows, as a kind of pause before he begins to put out new work, and to introduce himself to those who have not yet seen him.

My favorite piece of the evening was called "Eunice". It's about a young black girl, a child in 1943, playing her first piano recital after much practice. During the recital she is distracted by a disturbance in the audience. Her parents are being told to move to the back of the room to make room for a white couple. Through this debacle she must keep playing, as her father mouths the words to her, "you know what you suppose to do." Near the end of the poem we find out that this is a true story and the young girl, Eunice Kathleen Waymon, later changed her name to become famous as the great Nina Simone.

Al Letson's live performance, which began at 9:00 PM, was a diverse and exhilarating selection of poetry, acting, and monologue, sometimes accompanied by three percussionists near the stage. Interspersed among the live performances were two of Letson's videos on a large screen backdrop. I believe we will see more poetry & spoken word videos and Al Letson is already helping to set the standard. Followed by an intermission, we all reconvened in the theater for a big screen viewing of Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam - the 2nd episode of the season, featuring our man Al Letson as the first guest! He had recently taped the episode and this night was the first time he, or anyone had seen it.

When he wasn't on stage, Letson was in great demand from fans, friends, reporters, and members of his crew, so I mostly had to ask him questions on the fly.

"Who did your videos?" I asked him.

"I do most of my own video work," he said. "The two you saw tonight were filmed by Don Solomon from Jacksonville Beach, but I do all my own editing and effects. I know quite a lot about video production and I enjoy doing it."

I said that I could easily see him acting in films. Someone spoke up and said, "He writes plays. One of his plays will be on Broadway someday!"


I asked him, "If you could travel into the past, what historical figure would you like to meet?"

As he was thinking of an answer, a young woman approached us, saying, "Al, we need you backstage for a minute."

Turning to me, Letson said, "Excuse, I need to see what they need," but as he walked away with the lady, he looked back at me thoughtfully and said, "Kennedy."

We got a special treat before watching Russell Simmons Def Poetry. Because of last minute complications, the local cable company refused to hook up HBO directly to the club (typical), so someone had to record the show and bring it to Henrietta's for viewing. To fill in the time delay, Letson performed an electrifying, beat-filled theater piece with his Griot* partners, Larry Knight and David Girard Pugh. It was our gain and cable TV's loss, because Lord knows it couldn't have hurt their ratings to give people a sneak preview which might prompt someone to subscribe.



*Griot, meaning "he who speaks the sweet word", is a three-man work commissioned by an organization called Theatre Project in Baltimore, Maryland. Here is a quote from the Theatre Project web site:
"This work weaves the story of the Griot from Western Africa to the urban streets of America. During his 2-week residency, Letson also worked with students from the Baltimore School for the Arts workshopping his new play Chalk, written especially for the student theater ensemble. The students performed the play at the school in spring of 2004 under the direction of Donald Hicken."

I asked Al, when he came off stage, "Do you ever run out of good material?"
Slightly out of breath still full of energy, he smiled and said, "Yes."
"Well, you haven't so far," I told him.

Letson was first up on Def Poetry. You can read more about this performance on LitKicks. I stayed long enough to watch a very funny rant by two short poets against tall people and then, because the TV show started later than expected, I decided to cut out due to an early appointment the next morning.

Al and me

My friend Levi Asher has been touting the Def Poetry Jam on LitKicks for some time now. I don't have HBO yet, but having watched the 2nd episode at Henriatta's that night, I am now making arrangements for someone to record it for me each week.


 Al Letson's web site









Bill Ectric likes to erase the line between science and mysticism. He is the author of Tamper, a coming-of-age novel about a young man obsessed by unexplained mysteries.

On the web, Bill’s work has appeared on SearchWarp, Literary Kicks, Dogmatika, Mystery Island, The Beat, Syntax of Things, Empty Mirror Books, and Lit Up Magazine.

He lives with his wife in Jacksonville, Florida. By day, when not writing, Bill mows the lawn and complains about the heat. By night, he sneaks around in the back yard, convinced that the garden gnomes are “up to something.”

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