‘Fever’ Pitch

Eric Johnson, Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s imaginative artistic director, has launched yet another performance that defies description.

It’s easier to say what it’s not. “Poetry Fever” is not exactly a scripted play, nor is it improv or a slam poetry session.

“It’s not the easiest thing to explain,” Johnson agreed. “We have taken 60 short student-written poems written by students (in) grades 3 through 12 over the last 10 years … and put them into a show that is a bit (like a) poetry reading, but we’re also doing some different kinds of things with it. We cobbled together some of the poems together in a section that feels very much like a play.”

Following the controversial reworking of “Momotaro the Peach Boy” as an anti-bullying anime tale, “Poetry Fever” began its Tenney Theatre run last weekend.

The original production also has a segment in which the audience participates in writing a poem.

Another section of the show is about cultural origins, Johnson said. “In a little under an hour you get a snapshot of what it is to be a young person in Hawaii growing up here, in the authentic voice of young people.”

“The hope is that we’re celebrating student writing (and) also encouraging the next generation of young people to think about language and the power of words in interesting ways.”

In another break with traditional HTY productions, the 7:30 p.m. show on Nov. 5 will include a second act with an open mic segment where audience members of all ages are invited to share their poems.