Very Private Readings

By Karmah Elmusa
Saturday, June 28, 2008

For a lot of people, the word "poetry" conjures images of angsty adolescents or finger-snapping, black-clad beatniks. It is an acquired taste, something that a certain type of person (boring?) with unoccupied hours to spare might pursue.

Regina Coll is trying to change that perception. Her Bathroom Poetry Project spreads the good word about poetry by putting it near the one place we are all compelled to visit: the toilet. This strategy not only ensures a varied audience for the poets involved, but on a more cerebral level is an exploration of poetry in nontraditional spaces.

Also, it gives you something to do while you're in there. Talk about multi-tasking . . .

Coll started the project in 2005 by placing poems in coffeehouse, bookstore and eatery bathrooms in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia. The poems are typed, then laminated, so they stand apart from your average bathroom fare. Business owners place works where they deem fit.

For those who care to experience the magic of bathroom poetry in the flesh, you'll have your chance tomorrow at a "progressive reading" event. You can meet Coll at the Big Bad Woof in Takoma Park, where she will hand out maps to five nearby locations. Inside each bathroom, you can hear a dramatic reading of the newly installed poetry by the writers themselves -- for one hour only.

Coll is also looking for participants to take her project to a global level, and why not? You know what they say: The bathroom is the great equalizer. (Or is it death? Whatever.)

Or, as put more articulately by Savana Moore in a poem hanging in a Takoma Park stall: "When it comes down to it, when we have to go/Our bodies teach us what our minds don't know/No matter what our creed or race/We are all the same inside this place."

Free. 1-2 p.m. tomorrow. Meet at Big Bad Woof, 117 Carroll St. NW. 202-291-2404 or visit http://www.thebigbadwoof.com.

The Week & Next

The District

Today

EXHIBIT: Check Out a Museum Off the Mall: The Kreeger With the Mall teeming with sweaty, slow-moving families dressed in "I {heart} D.C." shirts, perhaps it's time to try something new. The Kreeger, admittedly, is not new, but it is off the beaten path, on Foxhall Road in Georgetown. And the museum has a show celebrating the architecture/art of Philip Johnson (the late architect who designed the fabu Kreeger itself). The exhibition includes pieces from Johnson's own collection, including works by Andy Warhol, Frank Stella and the like. The show is up through July 31. $10; students and seniors, $7. Open Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and by reservation Tuesday-Friday. 2401 Foxhall Rd. NW. 202-338-3552.

Tomorrow

FILM : From Cannes to . . . 14th Street? In May, Style reporter William Booth discovered a pair of ambitious D.C. cousins at Cannes, of all places, trying to hawk a short film -- a comedy about terrorism featuring a terrorist/idiot named Nib Nedal. Tomorrow, you can see the 24-minute film, "A Free Radical," at Busboys and Poets when it's screened as part of the cousins' "D.C. Trilogy" (which includes the 15-minute "Classified," about a White House operative, and the 15-minute "Moment of Silence," a drama about a soldier's homecoming). Afterward, directors Dan Boylan and Guy Taylor stick around for a Q&A. Free. Doors open at 8 p.m. (Films start at 8:30). Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St. NW. 202-387-7638.

FILM : One Last Return to Summer Camp At the Hirshhorn, the last installment of its retro, camp series celebrating the stop-motion king Ray Harryhausen is his "20 Million Miles to Earth." Film scholar David Wilt will explain the significance of the flick, which the Hirshhorn folks have deemed the best of the series. Free. 6 p.m. tomorrow (be there early to get seats). Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Ring Auditorium, lower level, Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW. 202-633-1000.

Monday

CONCERT: Fort Reno, Here We Come"Mostly Arsenic-Free Since 2008" says the logo on the annual local music series's Web site. If you don't watch the television news, you might not know that Fort Reno Park was closed briefly because of suspected arsenic in the soil. It was all cleared up (Oops! False positive!), though not before 100 different rumors hit the Internet about the fate of the series. The series is fine; in fact, Bellman Barker, the Moderate and Gestures play Monday. Free. 7:15 p.m.-9:30 p.m. The series continues Mondays and Thursdays through Aug. 14. 3950 Chesapeake St. NW. 202-355-6356 or for a schedule, visit http://www.fortreno.com.

Northern Virginia

Today

ON STAGE: "A Body of Water" Firebelly Productions just began its run of Lee Blessing's play about a couple who awaken to find that they don't know who they are or where they are. Complicating things is a woman who offers one story after another about their pasts, till they (and the audience) don't know what to think. $15; students and seniors, $12 (seniors, $5 on Sundays). Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Through July 20. Theatre on the Run, 3700 S. Four Mile Run Dr., Arlington. 703-409-2372.

Tomorrow

THE SCENE: Forget David Beckham. UEFA Anyone? You probably don't have tickets to see the L.A. Galaxy, but you can see whether the Germans can outshoot Spain (which will be without injured high-scorer David Villa) tomorrow in the European Championship. Arlington Cinema 'N' Drafthouse has been showing the football (that's "soccer" on these shores) semifinals and finals this week, including tomorrow's events. Free. 2:45 p.m. Doors open at 2:15 p.m. 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington. 703-486-2345.

Maryland

Today

FOR KIDS: "Babe the Sheep Pig" Adventure Theatre's last show of the season is the story of a doomed pig who ends up reversing his fortune when it turns out he can herd sheep. The play is appropriate even for very young children. $12. Saturdays and Sundays at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Through Aug. 3. Adventure Theatre, Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. 301-634-2270.

THE SCENE: The Old School Reggae House Party A fundraiser for Artmosphere Cafe is at Joe's Movement Emporium tonight, with a DJ playing '70s and '80s hip-hop, reggae, techno and R&B; food for sale (Caribbean-style cuisine, desserts); and more. Cash bar. $10. 8 p.m.-2 a.m. Joe's Movement Emporium, 3309 Bunker Hill Rd., Mount Rainier. 301-699-1819.

EXHIBIT: The Bethesda Painting Awards As gallery shows featuring local painters go, you can't do much better than this one at Fraser Gallery, featuring the nine finalists from the regional competition. The show is set to close next week. Keep an eye out for the winner, B.G. Muhn of North Potomac, who snared the $10,000 prize. Free. 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, through July 5. Fraser Gallery, 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. 301-215-6660 or http://www.bethesda.org.

Save The Date

THE SCENE: Theater Lunchtime Look-In "Disney's The Lion King" The KenCen run of the Broadway behemoth is sold out, and all that's left of this peek behind the scenes is a handful of tickets. But if you're dying to hear from the cast members and ask questions about life as a jungle animal, go for it. This brown-bag event (bring lunch) is July 9 at the Kennedy Center. $12. Noon. Kennedy Center Theater Lab, 2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Yogic Maneuvering for a Better View As miserable as the outdoors can be in the summer, Rock Creek Park is always green and lovely. So a group of D.C. yoga studios (including Flow Yoga Center, Quiet Mind Yoga and Studio Serenity) and apparel company Even Keel have gotten together to host a series of free outdoor yoga classes in the park. Take 24th Street into the park and head for the grassy field at 10:30 a.m. on the fourth Sunday of each summer month (which in D.C. includes September) to get your downward dog on. Don't forget to bring a mat, a towel and some water -- never get caught in a D.C. summer without water handy. Free. July 27, Aug. 24, Sept. 28 at 10:30 a.m. Rock Creek Park at the Connecticut/Cathedral exit. For information, 202-841-9394.