Are your students finding poetry boring? Unexciting? An archaic form practiced by old people obsessed with nature imagery? Try the All-Star Slam. It brings the poignancy, hilarity, and immediacy of slam poetry competitions to the stage. The All-Star Slam pits three poetic champions head to head to head in an all-out battle of poetic verve and wit. 2016’s All Stars will be Hullabaloo Poet of Honour Janet Rogers, Toronto’s Lishai Peel, and Kingston’s Winona Linn.  Hosted by 2010 Vancouver Poetry Slam Champion and Hullabaloo co-director, Johnny MacRae.

How does it work? Simple. The poets perform one poem each in three rounds, all of which are judged on a scale of zero to ten by the audience — in this case, the students! In the end, the winner is announced, though in effect, everyone has won. Students have been moved, inspired, and engaged by poetry, often for the first time in their lives.

The topics are engaging, the presentation is amazing, and the competition is riveting. Guaranteed to jumpstart students into writing careers of their own.

To bring a school group to this show, contact Johnny MacRae through wordplaypoets@gmail.com.

Doors at noon.
Show starts at 12:30pm.
Show ends at 2pm.

Want to see it in action? Voila:

Accessibility:

Read the updated overview of The Rio Theatre (completed in February 2015) or the complete updated audit for detailed accessibility information. These documents are available thanks to the important work of the Radical Access Mapping Project​.