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“The peculiar parameters of this work and the spontaneity it engenders demand an idiosyncratic directorial style, and of course Toscano’s a fine ringleader. It’s one thing to read ‘Clock, Deck, and Movement’ for his delightfully minute intimations of voices (instruction for reading a line: ‘[in a medium pitch, as if in the middle of a spirited discussion among political policy wonks on TV]’; or guidelines for movement: ‘tongue and arch of foot agitated over lower groin’s sudden contraction’) and an entirely different sort of pleasure to actually witness the proceedings, which call for a multi-tasking/intuitive sort of participation from both the actors and audience (though somewhat less for the latter).” —J. Gordon Faylor, www.sustainableaircraft.com
“Rodgrigo Toscano's Collapsible Poetics Theater is a genre-expanding force to be reckoned with. From polyvocalic pieces for multiple readers to ‘body-movement poems’ to ‘simultaneous activities pieces’ to anti-masques and plays, these fourteen texts & scores constitute one of the most sustained studies of poetic thinking and action to come in a long time. The question Toscano poses is ‘can the poem be tested any further?’
“With a cape, confetti and placard, two players and Master of Ceremonies conduct their feints and dodges about concepts of engagement and faith. Has this author been reading the critical social spatiality of Michel de Certeau? The author has certainly been reading poetics, from Mikhail Bahktin's radical linguistics to the controlled clamor of Carla Harryman's dramatic praxis. The art of play has found a talented proponent.”
—Marjorie Welish, 2008 National Poetry Series Judge
From the Book:
Excerpt from: ECO-STRATO-STATIC, A Radio Poetics Play in One Act for Three Voices
Tell them that if they help to get the big blue ball over the flaming wall, there’ll be a prize in it for them.
Alright.
What do they say?
They want to know what the prize is.
Tell them LIFE.
Okay.
What do they say?
They say they want it upfront.
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RODRIGO TOSCANO is the author of To Leveling Swerve (2005), Platform (2004), The Disparities (2002) and Partisans (1999). His poetry has appeared in Best American Poetry 2004, War and Peace (2004 & 2007), In the Criminal’s Cabinet: An anthology of poetry and fiction (2004), and in McSweeney’s “Poets Picking Poets.” His polyvocalic pieces, poetics plays, and body-movement poems, and radio pieces have been performed and broadcast widely. His work has been translated into French, German, Italian, and Catalonian. Toscano is originally from Southern California. He works in Manhattan at the Labor Institute, and lives in Brooklyn.
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