Spoken word, a marriage of poetry and theater

People often view poets as hermits who stay away from the spotlight. But spoken word artists are different. They are also poets, but their works were written not just to be read, but also to be performed.

Spoken word artists Abby Orbeta and Juan Miguel Severo from Words Anonymous—a team of Filipino performance poets—dropped by GMA News TV's "News To Go" on Tuesday to discuss the art form, which is growing in popularity in the Philippines.  

According to Severo, spoken word is a marriage of poetry and theater. In fact, both Orbeta and Severo are theater actors who also keep a diary and a personal blog.

Orbeta was introduced to this form of performance art after meeting fellow thespians who were spoken word artists in a play. Severo, on the other hand, got into spoken word poetry after failing to get callbacks during theater auditions. The performance art became his creative outlet.

"Noong na-encounter ko po ang spoken word poetry, naisip ko po na this medium is perfect kasi ako iyong magsusulat ng sarili kong materyal. Hindi ko kailangan mag-audition, basta makapag-perform lang ako," Severo said.

Spoken word is liberating

Both artists agree that spoken word is a liberating kind of art. It is like free verse, but more conversational. It does not have to rhyme, and using Taglish is okay, too!

Although the pieces are memorized, artists are free to ad-lib. They can even sing some parts or perform with accompanying music.

Despite its freedom, Orbeta and Severo stressed that spoken word poetry still has its own discipline.

"Kahit papaano, elevated pa rin ang usage ng language kumpara sa normal conversation," Orbeta said.

She added that artists should still use imagery, metaphors—in other words, their pieces should still be lyrical. They should follow a narrative.

"Mas lyrical. May narrative din po siya, May beginning, middle, and end din siya. Meron pa rin siyang pinupuntahan. May storya pa rin siya na dini-deliver," she said.

"It's just poetry written to be performed. Hindi lang po para basahin. Hindi po siya impromptu kasi pini-prepare din po namin siya. Pareho rin po siya sa proseso ng pagsulat ng tula na i-go go through mo tapos may editing processes pa rin," Orbeta added.

Audience in the Philippines

Word Anonymous just turned one last April, Severo noted. In just a year, the group has seen their audience grow from their own circle of friends to fans.

"May [2014] po ako sumali, tapos kung sino po iyong magpe-perform, sila rin iyong audience. Kumbaga, nagpapalit-palitan lang po kami. Pero eventually, lagi na pong napupuno [ang venues]," Severo said.

The group has also received invitations to perform in different cities.

"Ngayon po nakikita namin ang paglago niya as an artform na ang ganda rin po ng reception lalo na ngayon kasi easily accessible kami dahil nasa YouTube siya," Orbeta noted.

Based on their YouTube channel, the group indeed has quite a following, with their videos getting thousands to hundreds of thousands of views.



The group don't just keep it to themselves. These poets also open the floor to those who want to share their work. Aside from the members' performances, their events often include an open mic. — Trisha Macas/BM/KG, GMA News