On Thurs., Oct. 21, Plymouth experienced a rather invigorating Open Mic. Poets and Writers, an on-campus writing club, regularly hosts Open Mic nights at Mandarin Taste on Main Street. Open Mic allows students to hear the poetic, lyrical, and fictitious works of their peers.
Last Thursday’s Open Mic got off to a rather quiet start. A low attendance and the absence of its regular MC, Mike Ditommaso, may have been cause for the night’s unusually low-energy atmosphere.
The featured act, 21-year-old Andy Locke, is an esteemed poet from Meredith, N.H., with a penchant for Star Wars and soliloquies. With a mere 30-minute slot allotted to him, Locke dove cranium first into a slam poetry bit.
Locke’s first piece, titled “Homesick Winter Blues,” embellished his guitar and music as his own home and touched on his tendency to skip church when he first arrived at college. Another rewarding piece of his, titled “North Country Square Dance,” was an emotional ode to life in the heart of the White Mountains. Locke’s performance was eloquent and comforting, crisp and refreshing.
Following Locke was sophomore Connor Macdonald, poet, comic, and partial hypnotist rolled into one. Upon ascending the stage, he told the audience that they’d have to follow his instructions.
“Have you seen the Old Spice commercial with Isaiah Mustafa?” he asked the audience, who responded in unison with a nod. Macdonald was quick to turn the audience of his peers into a posse of subservient nodders. “Look to the left, now look to the right, now up, now down,” and back to Macdonald on the stage, who was holding assorted props to accompany his poem.
Macdonald’s poem was a self-proclaimed guide on how to write like a “Jesus-tiger hybrid.” Ample laughter ensued, transforming the previously quiet room into a quaint and vibrant space. Macdonald finished with a few poems that were simultaneously funny and touching before leaving the stage, and the room, in a brighter disposition.
Thursday’s Open Mic session ended with two other sophomores, Mollie Menees and Renee Johnson, who both shared powerful pieces which focused on relationships. The crowd filed slowly out, some stopping to buy Andy Locke’s chap book, feeling more enriched by the art which they’d just been a part of.
The next Open Mic will take place on Thurs., Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m., also at Mandarin Taste.