Chasen Gaver
Writing
Known For
The poet vanishes and only his voice remains. He is replaced, as Walters describes it, by a "visual realization" of the poem's themes of spies, secret codes and lurking violence.
Under Suspicion
A monologue which posits being Black and HIV positive as making one doubly invisible, and losing weight as a prelude to disappearing.
Disappearing Act
A parody of American domestic and political life. Marge Jones, a B-movie actress, is plagued by creditors and blackmail. She returns to her hometown, Zanesville, Ohio, to raise her two children and save herself.
A Family All Together
Gaver is an actor rather than a reciter and pulls the "text" out of a gold-leaf skull, folds it into an airplane and then tosses it over and over. Scenes of newspaper production and World War II propaganda footage are intercut with this main action, echoing visually the rhythms of the poem.
Fresh Out of Ideas
Documents the innovative ways in which Washington writer/poet Chasen Gaver uses movement, percussion and other performance elements to enhance the delivery of verse. He uses this form of poetry to raise questions about our society, encourage cross-cultural awareness and make us reflect on contemporary issues.
Beat: The Performance Poetry of Chasen Gaver
A now-defunct Washington, D.C. after-hours gay bar is used as the setting for hell.
Desk in Hell
A spoof on Jacqueline Onassis's possible telephone response to First Lady Joan. Second segment of "A Kennedy Trilogy."