April 2024
Special “guests” will be visiting Fort Bend County Libraries’ George Memorial Library (Richmond) in April for National Poetry Month! Library visitors will have an opportunity to interact with some of their favorite poets – both past and present – in a theatrical experience that is sure to delight poetry lovers of all ages!
“Walking in Verse: An Interactive Poetry Experience” is an immersive live-performance event that will take place on Saturday, April 13, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon, at George Memorial Library.
Actors from The Live Oak Playhouse will portray iconic poets, such as Maya Angelou, Shel Silverstein, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edgar Allan Poe, and more. Children will even have an opportunity to meet Mother Goose and be treated to some rhyming fun!
Ongoing performances will rotate and take place simultaneously in the lobby, the Youth department, and the second-floor landing of the library. While alternating turns in the spotlight, the actors will bring the poets to life, recite their poetry, and interact with visitors who will be able to converse with them as if they were speaking to the poets themselves.
Poetry enthusiasts can collect stamps on a scorecard after meeting each poet for a chance to receive a prize at the end of the event.
The performers include Vince Tortorice as Edgar Allan Poe, Mari Tortorice as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Luke Hales as Shel Silverstein, Roxy Hales as Sylvia Plath, Jonathan Moonen as Roald Dahl, Caprice Carter as Maya Angelou, Joseph “Chepe” Lockett as William Shakespeare, Eric Jones as Langston Hughes, Jonathan Minchew-Gonzalez as Octavio Paz, Adrian Wyatt as Christina Rosetti, Dano Colón as Khalil Gibran, and Alice Rhoades as Mother Goose. Stacy Bakri serves as Artistic Director.
The Live Oak Playhouse is a Houston-area nonprofit theater company that is dedicated to enriching the lives of their audiences by presenting entertaining, thought-provoking experiences, first-hand involvement, and Arts education.
Directed by Karla Brandau, the strolling players bring a variety of acting experiences to the theater group, forming a kaleidoscope of passions and visions that evolve and transform the group into a living, ever-changing masterpiece.
The event is free and open to the public.