Al Letson

Al Letson
Born	(1972-08-08)August 8, 1972 Plainsfield, New Jersey
Website	Official Website

Al Letson is a poet, playwright, performer and is now host and executive producer of his own national radio show, State of the Re:Union. Letson avoided college in large part due to his dyslexia and the myriad challenges that the learning disorder presents in the academic world and instead became a student of his favorite poets and playwrights.

Early career

Spoken word was Al's initial foray into performance art. While he was influenced by literature and hip-hop, Al found a great deal of inspiration in watching the PBS documentary on poetry by Bill Moyers called The Language of Life. In particular, he was moved to embrace poetry as an outlet by Seku Sundiata's poem, Dijerrido, which was featured in the documentary. Other important spoken word influences for Letson include:

• Sekou Sundiata
• Patricia Smith
• Marc Smith
• Bob Holman

Slam Poetry

Al wrote, practiced and refined until he felt he was ready to perform in public. He discovered the National Poetry Slam competition and in 1998, utilized his position as a flight attendant to go to Austin, Texas, where he participated in his first Slam competition. After his performance, he was embraced by the professional performance poetry circuit. He quickly built a following and was often asked by audiences to perform certain poems.

In 2000, Letson won the Atlanta Grand Slam and in the same year ranked 3rd at the National Poetry Slam. Although Al began to make playwriting his focus, he still performed his poetry and has since innovatively weaved spoken word into his many projects and through various mediums. He performed in a promotional spot for CBS that aired before the 2004 NCAA Final Four that was seen by more than 45 million viewers.

Playwriting

Although Al loved poetry, he wanted to utilize the full breadth of his story telling talents that a three-minute poem couldn't accommodate. Letson didn't leave the poetry completely behind, but rather found ways to entwine his spoken word into the core of his plays. He even coined the term "Poetical," which is a play that blends poetry into a story the same way a musical incorporates music. His first work to do this was Chalk.

Without formal training, Letson looked to his favorite playwrights for inspiration in writing his plays. Some of his playwright influences include:

• Spalding Gray
• Eric Begosian
• Danny Hoch
• Lisa Kron
• August Wilson
• Amiri Baraka
• Arthur Miller

Al's plays have been performed across the country and enjoyed critical success. His play Chalk was commissioned by the Baltimore School of the Arts.

Essential Personnel

Essential Personnel was written and directed by Al Letson. The one-man play was first performed in 2001 and combines poetry, theater and music in weaving together eight distinct characters. Through the greatly varying voices, the piece explores the common humanity in all of us. The earliest incarnation of Essential Personnel was directed by Dan Solomon, who had previously adapted Letson's poem "Stoplights and Other Colors" into a short film. It was later directed by Barbara Colaciello, who went on to direct Letson's Griot. Letson was particularly inspired by the work of Danny Hoch and Eric Begosian in writing Essential Personnel.

Griot: He Who Speaks the Sweet Word

Griot: He Who Speaks the Sweet Word was written by Al Letson and follows the tradition of storytelling from the ancient Mali empire to hip-hop America. Letson combines poetry, drama and movement to create a theatrical experience that mines the pathos and brilliance of black artistic creativity. The play starts in pre-colonial West Africa and follows the word, Griot, in its many manifestations, compressing three centuries of culture into 90 minutes. Griot was directed and developed by Barbara Colaciello. The work of Ntozake Shange was a huge inspiration for Letson in writing Griot.

Read a review of Griot from nytheatre.com, as well as a review by New York Amsterdam News.

Chalk

Chalk marks a big shift in Letson's career for a couple of reasons. In the 2003/04 school year, the Baltimore School for the Arts, a celebrated institution that graduated Tupac Shakur and Jada Pinkett Smith, commissioned Al to write a play for their Senior Acting Ensemble. It was the first of what he termed to be a Poetical, a play that weaves poetry into a story the same way musicals incorporate music. The story centers around a group of girls making the transition from elementary to middle school as relational aggression manifests and begins to change the lives of the students of the school. Chalk illustrates the cycle of aggression; how it trickles down from the world at large, to a small community and its children.

Chalk has been performed across the country by youth theatre groups, high schools and community theaters.

Julius X

Julius X was an ambitious step for Letson. He took the concept of the poetical further with this mash-up of Shakespeare, African mythology, Civil Rights history, his own spoken word sensibilities and hip-hop beats to create something novel. The play is a political thriller that portrays a life and death struggle for power in 1960s Harlem. Inspired by Shakespeare's Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Julius X is set in Harlem in 1965 and amalgamates the lives of Julius Caesar and slain civil rights leader Malcolm X. The poetry in the play ranges from Shakespearian soliloquies to slam poems that utilize the entire cast. Hip-hop dance and performance poetry are also a part of Julius X. Al attributes Eric Begosian as a major influence in writing the play.

Summer in Sanctuary

A Summer in Sanctuary is an autobiographical piece that takes place in the summer of 2006. Letson chronicles his journey working at a summer camp at the Sanctuary on 8th Street, a community center in an economically challenged Jacksonville, FL neighborhood called Springfield. Told through monologue, song, poetry and multimedia, Letson's work confronts perceptions about race and class through his struggle to connect with the disadvantaged children of the Sanctuary. Letson wrote and performed A Summer in Sanctuary with a style that was largely fueled by his admiration for the work of Spalding Gray.

Crumbs

Crumbs was written and performed by Al Letson as a one man comedy, "with a cast of eight." The play mixes real life scenarios experienced by Letson himself and fictional characters modeled on people he has encountered in life's travels. Lisa Kron served as inspiration to Al in writing this piece.

Crumbs was directed by frequent Letson collaborator Barbara Colaciello Williams.

Public Radio Talent Quest

In 2007, the Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced the Public Radio Talent Quest. The competition provided an open search for new public radio talent. The five round competition started with more than 1,400 applicants and was voted on by fans, professionals and celebrity judges. It was at this time that Letson submitted his State of the Re:Union pilot, Welcome to D.C. and was chosen as one of three winners. From there, Al Letson's State of the Re:Union and Glynn Washington's Snap Judgement Radio were awarded funding by the CPB.

CPB Funding

With the funding awarded by the CPB, Al and his team, were able to produce three episodes in what was dubbed a research and development year. After the 2009 research and development season, the CPB awarded Letson and team a grant to produce a full season of episodes and launch a multimedia presence that includes an interactive website, video and audio podcasts and video documentaries for 2010.

State of the Re:Union

The stated goal of State of the Re:Union is to explore how a particular American city or town creates community, the ways people transcend challenging circumstances and the vital cultural narratives that give an area its uniqueness. Show host Al Letson and a lead producer travel to the area being highlighted and interview subjects about topics picked beforehand that span area news, cultural happenings and grassroots movements. The radio show is one-hour long and is released in blocks of five episodes available to PRX and NPR member stations across the country. The radio episodes will be presented with full multimedia packages that include a video documentary, supplemental podcasts and blog posts by Letson and the show's producers.

Letson is the show's creator, host and executive producer. State of the Re:Union finished its first full season and is now in production on Season Two.

Additional Links

PRX Executive Director Discusses Al Letson and State of the Re:Union