University at Albany senior and playwright Billy Feerick recently won The Next Act! NextGen New Play Summit by Capital Repertory Theatre (theREP) in Albany for his hip-hop play in verse "SLAM!"
NextGen is a collaboration between theREP and the university's Fresh Acts festival, which puts on new plays written by students.
"SLAM!" is about students in a college poetry club vying for the coveted title of “Best Poet.” The play is written entirely in iambic pentameter verse with rhyming and hip hop rhythms.
Billy is from the Bronx studying theatre and business at UAlbany. "SLAM!" is his first play. A sampling of Billy's writing in "SLAM!".
"Hello my friends and welcome to the show
of words, of wit, of witty wordy woe.
Let's begin it now, and begin it fast
so that you may all soon get up off your --
Wait, that would be 11. Damn it!
Writing in verse is much harder than -- just
rhyming and hoping your phrasing's not bust.
How will I prove myself among the greats
if my meter is early or too late."
Billy onstage in UAlbany's productions of "Godspell" at left, and "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Here's a link to a video of the NextGen performance of Billy Feerick's "SLAM!" (The reading begins at the 7:50 mark.)
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