"Intense, gripping . . . a one-two punch . . . written in fire and delivered with thunder," writes reviewer Kelly Luck.
Dates of Show: Online:2022 Orlando Fringe Winter Mini-Digi-Fest
Online: Purchasing link coming soon
Genre: Poetry, Music, Drama
Ratings: Parental Guidance (PG)
Warnings: Adult Language, Other - Drug Use
Run Time: 51 minutes
A New Digital Pathways Production
kNew is a powerful storytelling performance that will leave you astounded by Poet's unparalleled talent as a writer and performer. The caliber of his creativity, stage presence, and delivery deserve to be elevated to a broader stage and audience-Look out Broadway. This is one for you! I'm reminded of the phenomenal 1975 theater performance of Tony Perkins in "Equus." An absolutely masterful show that most certainly IS the BEST of the BEST!
~Teresa Bronston Mckinley, about the 2019 kNew Performance at Fringe KC
The kNew-Born—a Kansas City, Original Film by actor Poet t.l. sanders is an outgrowth from pure poetry, Fringe Fest KC, KC Stages, The KC Jazz Museum, Local art galleries, and more.
Author Poet t.l. sanders, who legally changed his name to “Poet,” is the language artist who created kNew, a unique one-person poetrical show over the course of the 2019 Fringe Fest. Out of 75 performances, the one-man show won the Producer's Pick Award. Thanks to Fringe Fest and KC Stages, kNew was then chosen to be one of two live performances at City Stage at Union Station in March 2020. After months of rehearsal, the show was canceled four days before curtain call. Undaunted, Poet spent the shutdown taking private acting instruction, then began working with a camera crew and producer Denny Eugene Dey, Digital Pathways Production. This time, the original film, a prequel to his book, will air for a limited time only, July 18 to August 1. Fringe Festival KC is the biggest celebration of arts and culture in the Kansas City metropolitan region.
As the prequel to the solo show and published work, kNew: The Poetic Screenplay, this new film uses poetic elements as precedence for plot and character development. One actor, six characters. The 2019 performance was hailed as "Equally as riveting as For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange," by Victor En Yu Tan, UMKC professor of lighting. Another reviewer declared, "Go see it! Poet t.l. sanders' kNew program is masterful! This is probably the highest quality performance I've seen in my 9 years of Fringe attendance-- don't miss it! Powerful, beautifully acted, and a testament to perseverance and determination for a chance at a genuine life," writes Laura Marcus Mountjoy.
The kNew-Born—equal to its stage-ready play—invites you to experience conscientious compassion for a convict slash drug addict who craves a connection with his children. While this year's film takes place in the state pen, the original story takes place at the heart of Kansas City: The Blue Room.
During this 2019 poetrical performance, the audience becomes a part of a meta-open mic like they've never experienced before. Dr. James Dean, a quiet family man, goes to Kansas City to mourn the death of a prodigal father and to finds his answers when he happens upon The Vine during open mic night. Poet said the storyline came from parts of his own life. In fact, going to the site of his own father's death by heroin and writing the poem that became the book's climax and first stage performance.
Again in this year's film, Terry Dean's character is explored this time more in-depth. Poet says he'd "like to make the work as a series, each film examining one character more fully." This is profound when one considers how each character started as a single poem on the table in the art studio at DesignWerx in North Kansas City, where the poetry mentorship began. Editor Polly Alice McCann remembers that in 2018 Poet had all the poems memorized and had even performed some of them. However, the characters had no names, and the story between the poems was empty. After she asked for character names, "Poet brought in a full screenplay in a matter of weeks then spent the rest of the year refocusing it." Poet noted that being a part of "The Pearl Fishers," a production by Lyric Opera of Kansas City, made him reconsider how sound as an instrument in performance could enhance the experience of poetry. In turn, Poet’s' work suggests that poetry (something Shakespeare and many current musical artists know too well) will heighten the experience of a play.
In The kNew-Born film, you will begin with the character Terry. Known as "The Dean" of the state penitentiary, a prodigious felon, and a prodigal father seeking parole. Over the years, his violent crimes against prison staff and fellow inmates, his drugs and contraband, his blatant disregard for prison rules have prevented this. Now, as he seeks freedom, Terry hopes; he strives; reaches out from within to become a better man than he has ever been. With coercive coaching from a crazy counselor named Dr. Dennis and the unique tool of poetry, Terry battles against himself and the power of addiction?
How did kNew begin? The journey started as a poet's residency at an art gallery in Midtown Kansas City. kNew: The Poetic Screenplay is a published book, sparked by Flying Ketchup Press, a press that continues to promote new and diverse authors in poetry and short story. In only three years, a small poetry project book with one poet and one editor has become a multi-character, solo show, and a press to promote other poets and mentor them in both poetics and editing. Poet has appeared in many local performances, including the Celebrating Black Culture sponsored by the Kansas City Streetcar Authority and KC Ballet. In turn, Flying Ketchup Press has launched Ketchupedia, a podcast and live poetry Radio show with OneKC 100.1 FM and producer Richard Parilla, to promote poetry in the region. Each outgrowth of the project inspiring the next. While much of the literary world shut down, McCann and an increasing number of poets and writers are reaching out to create more connections in the literary and poetic scene in Kansas City. She says, "Poetry and short narrative are the playground of writers and the kNew project by Poet t.l. sanders proves without a doubt that poetry exists as a foundational building block in any creative community.
When asked what he will do in the future, Poet t.l. sanders, a former English Teacher and a currently curriculum director who is currently in his second post-graduate degree, said he hopes to one day take his performance and poetry mentorships and workshops into prisons to enact the story of his film in real-time. "Poetry is Life," he says. And that is the heart of this word power in action. Find the original screenplay as a book for sale online and in Kindle or order locally through AfterWord Tavern & Shelves. Coming soon to bookstores and libraries, watch out for more poetry from Flying Ketchup Press in Kansas City, MO.
Poet is an educator, a consultant, a speaker, and an artist. Find him at www.PoetTLSanders.com, on YouTube under Bethephenom and on Twitter @PoetTLSanders or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethephenoms/. Whether he is public speaking, teaching, writing or breathing, he has a passion for empowering people. Poet’s goal is to inspire, evolve, and expand one’s mind one word at a time.
Come see The kNew-Born online at Fringe Festival 2020. Tickets are only $10 for single admission! July 18 to August 1.