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Item details

Date

Saturday, May 2, 2026 4:00PM

Location

Cafritz Lobby

Name

Poetry Out Loud

Description

As part of the run of I & You: The Musical, Olney Theatre welcomes regional Poetry Out Loud participants to share live poetry performances that deepen the themes of the play. Featuring recitations by current and former Poetry Out Loud students, this special event celebrates the power of spoken word, young voices, and the enduring relevance of poetry in shaping identity, democracy, and self-expression.

With a special spotlight on poems by Walt Whitman, whose work—rooted in democracy, individuality, and the radical idea of a shared American voice—echoes the questions at the heart of I & You: who we are, how we belong, and what it means to speak for ourselves and one another. These performances invite audiences to experience poetry as a living, communal art form—spoken aloud, shared in the moment, and connected across generations