literary Period. It doesn't leap off the printed page and lodge itself in the deepest recesses of your, brain simply because it's meant to be read aloud. Is anybody listening? Hello? Hello? Perhaps the publishers intend to market this slim volume of inaudible bites to academic institutions (i.e., high schools). Perhaps as a hipster's version of those venerable Coles Notes: an unreasonable facsimile and a piss poor substitute for the real thing. To quote from Ms. Battson's poem "Kathy": "I can't sleep when you watch TV I watch TV to hear God's call." Time to say goodnight. Jill. And before you say your daily prayers, don't forget to pitch the Good Lord about your collection of t-shirts and ball caps, ashtrays and ear-muffs. Don't buy the hype, kids. You've got to hear it to believe it! O S spö/kon würd in print word up Spoken Word Poetry in Print Edited by Jill Bauson and Ken Norris Key Porter Books 109 pp refusal to be co-opted by mainstream media. It is a performance-based medium that delivers because Spoken Word requires a human presence and human interaction. I can't hear anything but the sound of a cash register when I pick up this artfully packaged piece of Mush Music propaganda. It is difficult to discuss the inherent value of word up without mentioning at least some of the 23 men and women whose poetry has provided Battson and company with the means to turn an easy buck: John Giorno, Jean Smith. John B. Lee, Reg E. Gaines. Sheri-D Wilson. Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan. Nancy Dembowski...fhe short list of contributors is impressive enough, and their work is often magnetic, if not fully drawn. The vast majority of poetry contained in word up sits blandly on the page, idly wasting away because the proper context for such valued work is completely amiss. It defies the imagination instead of providing an opportunity to electrify the mind. Spoken Word just doesn't cut the mustard on a piece of parchment. Review by Colin Smith Word up is the original name given to a much publicized series of video installations featuring 30-odd spoken word poets from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom word up was originally broadcast on Much Music in the fall of last year. Jill Battson is the Toronto poet and "activist" responsible for producing this landmark television series and the driving force behind this vague, mostly meaningless exercise in ego absorption. Spoken word in print ? What was she thinking of? Increased exposure for the artist, or just a shameless cash grab? Ka-ching! Battson's logic escapes me. The sole reason Spoken Word has managed to evolve into an art form wholly unto itself lies in its hard-line Colin Smith is the managing editor of Euphony, Vancouver's premier weekly arts, entertainment zine available celebrated Internet (WWW). and culture magaon the and eight Euphony recently CD-ROM exclusively its one-year anniversary plans to issue an interactive critically acclaimed early in (996. enutled S P K N . W R D I , featuring West Coast poets, Capilano Theatre Season Expands for the Future In order to prepare for the leap from a 60-seat theatre to a 350-seat theatre, the Capilano College Theatre Department is adding an extra production to its season. The department's Des Price says the point of running a full series of plays this year is to begin to establish a strong audience base for the future. A new theatre is being built on campus and is slated to be finished for the 1996/97 season. This new venue is a big step up from the current 60-seat venue which is described by those who use it as "the hut." The small studio has provided for intimate theatre and shown the ingenuity of the department's Dawn Moore and Bill Murdoch who have used its limitations to devise a variety of performance experiences for their students, including cabaret, theatre-in-the-round. and the "total" experience of mingling with audience members throughout performance. Presentation House is the venue for the fall production, Senvnt of Two Masters (Nov. 24 - Dec. 2), to be directed by Price and the w inter show. Edward Bond's The Woman, directed by Stephen Atkins. The third and final show of the season will be directed by Moore and performed this spring. Moore chose Anne Chislett's Quiet in the Land, and says this play represents the department's commitment to increasing both its students' and its audiences' awareness of the first-class theatre regularly produced by Canadian playwrights. With the addition of a new. centrally-located theatre, the future looks bright for Capilano College Theatre Department. Capilano Theatre directors department l-r: Dawn Moore, Quiet in the Land; Stephen Atkins, The Woman; and Des Price, Servant of Two Masters.