The Wildly Inappropriate Poetry of Arthur Greenleaf Holmes at The Tank

A comedic saunter down the murky iambic back alleys of England's wickedly sly preeminent 16th Century poet of the perverse. Arthur fuses irresponsible humor with a deep love of language, poetry, and the humanities for an evening of convulsive laughter and surprising insight. Blending the profane with the elegant and the subversive with the illuminating, the wholly-original libertine Arthur Greenleaf Holmes takes the stage to bring us such hits as the insightful “Ode to an Extremely Provocative Knothole,” the prepubescent lament “Mother, Will My Stones Drop?,” and his crowning achievement “I Built My Love a Menstrual Hut.” Forced to find its way out of a dark and dusty corner of the Smithsonian amidst a landscape of uninspired current pop events, news-feed minutiae, and a non-nutritional diet of cat videos, The Wildly Inappropriate Poetry of Arthur Greenleaf Holmes fuses melodic language with an utter disregard for decent society to delight the well-read and casual Philistine. From college professors to the noble laborer, the NPR set to the barroom biker crowd—this is an evening tailor-made for the pervert of distinction. David Rosenberg directs.

Content warning: This production is intended for audiences 18 years and older.

“To see all kinds of people from every corner of society go from laughing hysterically to being drawn in by something truly poetic and thoughtful, and then calling out for more poetry—I’ve never seen anything like it,” said David Rosenberg. “What Gordy is doing is so remarkable. The marriage of outrageous comedy and sublime language makes for a truly unique comedic experience. Language matters, and we really need a show that is smart, literate, thoughtful, and completely depraved."

Performances are at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, November 9, 2022, through February 9, 2023, at The Tank. There are no performances Nov. 23 & 24 or Dec. 21, 22, 28, and 29, 2022.

The runtime is approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.

For more information, visit: ArthurGreenleafHolmes.com

With verse recited by famous comedian John Cleese and magician/performer Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller, The Wildly Inappropriate Poetry of Arthur Greenleaf Holmes has been developed on the side streets of seedy shires across the United States.