PORTLAND, Me. – The Mayhem Poets, three spoken-word artists who believe that “poetry adds life to life,” will perform original poetry with a hip, life-affirming message for young people and their families on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m., in the John Ford Auditorium at Portland High School. The performance – geared toward young people ages 10-15 and their families – is the first in the 2007-08 Family Series presented by PCA Great Performances.

The Mayhem Poets are Kyle Sutton, Scott Tarazevits and Mason Granger – three young, accomplished poets and theater artists with New Jersey roots and connections to New York’s vaunted “slam poetry” scene. The trio use hip-hop rhythms, movement and theatrical techniques to inspire a new generation of young people to study poetry and embrace the power of the spoken word. In this bicentennial of the birth of Portland’s Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the Mayhem Poets will source Longfellow’s poetry in their PCA performance while also revealing influences as diverse as Dr. Seuss, Maya Angelou and Salvador Dali. The Mayhem Poets meld the rhythms of the streets with great literature, causing young and old alike to respond with laughter, applause and shouts of approval.

Add Verb Productions’ Say It Loud! ensemble will open the PCA bill for Mayhem. A performance group for young, Portland-area women ages 15-19, Say It Loud! uses hip-hop, spoken word and music to express ideas and opinions through individual and collective performing.

The Mayhem Poets will lead “Verbal Mayhem,” a free PCA Offstage workshop for students in grades 8-12 at The Telling Room, 225 Commercial St., Portland, on Friday, Nov. 16, at 4 p.m. Workshop participants will hone skills in enunciation, improvisation, wordplay, connection with an audience, and use of creativity and imagination under Mayhem’s tutelage. PCA is co-presenting this workshop with The Telling Room, the Portland-based, nonprofit writing and storytelling program for youths age 8-18. To register for the “Verbal Mayhem” workshop, contact [email protected].

Tickets for the PCA performance by the Mayhem Poets at Portland High School are specially priced for youths and families at $10 each. Tickets are available through PortTix, the box office at Merrill Auditorium; by phone at 207-842-0800; or at www.pcagreatperformances.org.