Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

Thursday, April 29, 2021

'Emily Dickinson' stars in Alexandria



Karen Jadloss Shotts is Emily Dickinson in Little Theatre of Alexandria's The Belle of Amherst/Photo by Matthew Liptak


It's a delight to sing the tune without the words and celebrate National Poetry Month with Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), her life and poems which the Little Theatre of Alexandria does in its new production, The Belle of Amherst.

Karen Jadlos Shotts is an energetic Emily in this one-actor, two-act autobiographical sketch by William Luce, directed by Frank D. Shutts, II. who is the LTA president and director of more than 70 shows, 27 at LTA.

Before I even got to the theatre, I liked what I expected to hear and see, Emily Dickinson's poetry in person, on a stage by a character in dress!


I was not disappointed.

Ms. Shotts is much more animated than I would have imagined the reclusive Ms. Dickinson to be. She enlivens the poet's life realistically with imaginary conversations with the scholar, "Mr. Higginson," with family members and with others.


Karen Jadloss Shotts is Emily Dickinson in Little Theatre of Alexandria's The Belle of Amherst/Photo by Matthew Liptak

She glides across the stage almost non-stop from one side to the other, flowing like her words, and stopping sometimes to extend her hands and stretch her arms high overhead like a cat yawning. She removes her long white apron and then puts it on again, all the while delivering Emily Dickinson's best-known works and describing her life.

I tie my Hat—
I crease my Shawl— 
Life's little duties do—
precisely— 
As the very least Were infinite—to me—

A silver tea set becomes useful when Emily has a cup or two with her imaginary guests in the family's Victorian house in Amherst, Massachusetts where Emily spent the majority of her adult life.

She speaks negatively of her nosy neighbors 
I'm Nobody! Who are you?

Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know!

How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one's name – the livelong June –

To an admiring Bog! 

and speaks glowingly of her father, and only after his death does her ill mother make an "appearance."

I measure every Grief I meet
With narrow, probing, eyes – 
I wonder if It weighs like Mine – 
Or has an Easier size.

I wonder if They bore it long – 
Or did it just begin – 
I could not tell the Date of Mine – 
It feels so old a pain – 

I wonder if it hurts to live – 
And if They have to try – 
And whether – could They choose between – 
It would not be – to die – 



The play follows Emily's life until death, always accompanied by her poetry and much-welcome splices of humor.  Was she humorous?

I could not conceive that LTA's Emily would stay cooped up in a house for years as Emily Dickinson chose to live. But, the director begs the actor's animation and energy to keep the production moving, necessary to sustain attention in today's world, much better than watching the poet sit at a desk and mouth the words.

This is my letter to the World

That never wrote to Me —

The simple News that Nature told

With tender Majesty



Her Message is committed

To Hands I cannot see —

For love of Her — Sweet — countrymen

Judge tenderly — of Me 


Myke Taister has created a nicely filled, almost overcrowded set of Emily's bedroom and. a few steps below, the family parlor with lots to see and distract from poetry: framed photographs, paintings, lamps, windows on either side of the stage and curtains rustling with the wind.

Sound by Janice Rivera and Donna Hauprich is excellent, just the right amount and volume, as horses and carriages come and go outside Emily's windows, and music and church bells can be heard at other times.

In her room 

I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Frankfort Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!

Inebriate of air – am I –
And Debauchee of Dew –
Reeling – thro' endless summer days –
From inns of molten Blue –

And she


I never saw a Moor —
I never saw the Sea —
Yet know I how the Heather looks
And what a Billow be.

I never spoke with God
Nor visited in Heaven —
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the Checks were given —

Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley have fashioned under Emily's apron a dull candlelight long dress which fits Ms. Shotts like a large potato sack from neck to floor. Arms covered, of course, and all in a shade of white which is what Emily Dickinson always wore:  An angel of poetry?

In program notes Director Shutts hopes that LTA's illumination of Ms. Dickinson will provide guests with "a greater appreciation" of the poet and "how her phosphorescence now shines brighter than her contemporaries!"

It does!
My life closed twice before its close—
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unveil
A third event to me

So huge, so hopeless to conceive
As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.





Because I could not stop for Death – 
He kindly stopped for me – 
The Carriage held but just Ourselves – 
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility – 

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring – 
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain – 
We passed the Setting Sun – 

Or rather – He passed us – 
The Dews drew quivering and chill – 
For only Gossamer, my Gown – 
My Tippet – only Tulle – 

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground – 
The Roof was scarcely visible – 
The Cornice – in the Ground – 

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity – 



Emily Dickinson fans will want to rush and get tickets to see and hear the poet speak her songs.
Several of the shows are sold out.

LTA is seating about 25 percent of its capacity, strictly following covid-guidelines for masks and social distancing,



Other Belle of Amherst production members include Russell M. Wyland, producer; Melanie "Mim" Blower and Marg Soroos, stage managers; Jeff Auerbach and Kimberly Crago, lighting; Helen Bard-Sobola and Bobbie Herbst, properties; Chanel Lancaster, make-up; Robin Maline, hair.What: The Belle of Amherst by William Luce


When: Now through May 15, 2021, Wednesday through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m.


Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. 


Tickets: Start at $24. Several shows are sold out.

Duration: About 90 minutes with one 10-minute pause.

Public transportation: Check the Metro and Dash bus websites.

Parking: On the streets and in many garages nearby with free parking during performance times at the Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets.

For more information
: Box Office: 703-683-0496; Business: 703-683-5778.
Asklta@thelittletheatre.com


patricialesli@gmail.com




Sunday, May 20, 2018

Sylvia Plath's last day at the National Portrait Gallery is today

 Rollie McKenna, 1918-2003, Sylvia Plath, 1959, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Sylvia Plath's Girl Scout uniform, 1943-1948, on loan from Smith College. Ms. Plath earned 20 Girl Scout badges, at least five of them related to reading and writing. She turned in 30 book reports for one of her badges while working at the same time on stories, poems, and essays; collecting stamps; and taking viola, piano, and art lessons/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Sylvia Plath, Self-Portrait in Semi-Abstract Style, 1946-1952, Estate of Robert Hittel
To write The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath used portions from her college journal, 1950-1953, on loan for the exhibition from Smith College, her alma mater where she graduated summa cum laude in 1955. (The white circles at the bottom of the photograph are reflections of ceiling lights on protective glass.)/Photo by Patricia Leslie
 On the wall at the National Portrait Gallery is Sylvia Plath's elm writing desk, loaned from Smith College for the exhibition/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Sylvia Plath, Collage, which she crafted from pages in the New Yorker and other magazines in July, 1960 after attending an antiwar, anti-patriarchy rally in Trafalgar Square, London, on loan from Smith College.
 From Sylvia Plath's last set of poems for the New Yorker, on loan from Smith College.
The typewriter Sylvia Plath used at Smith College, on loan from the college/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Jenny Olivia Johnson, b.1978, Glass Heart (Bells for Sylvia Plath) with audio, 2013/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Today is the last day to see objects belonging to or made by Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery which are on view together for the first time.

The materials come from the collections at Indiana University and Smith College which has loaned them for
One Life: Sylvia Plath found in the Guenther and Siewchin Yong Sommer Gallery.

The one room gallery showcases photographs and objects from Ms. Plath's life as a girl, college student, poet and writer, wife and mother, her roles cut short by her suicide in a gas oven when her children were one and three years old.  

When her son, Nicholas, was 47, he, too, committed suicide, suffering depression, as did his mother when she died at age 30.

Dorothy Moss from the Portrait Gallery and Karen Kukil from Smith College curated the show which provides glimpses of Ms. Plath's background, perspective, and presents some of the tools she used to write.


What: One Life: Sylvia Plath

When: Closing today, May 20, 2018.  The National Portrait Gallery is open daily from 11:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Where: Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, 8th and F streets, N. W., Washington, D.C. 20001

How much: No charge

For more information: 202-633-8300 or visit the website

Metro station: Gallery Place-Chinatown or walk 10 minutes from Metro Center


patricialesli@gmail.com

 

Friday, March 15, 2013

Free Greek literature and book festival Saturday at Georgetown

             Constantine Cavafy by Yiannis Kephallenos
 
 
The 150th anniversary of the birth of Greek poet Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933) will be commemorated Saturday at the first Greek literature and book festival to be held in his honor in Washington.

The public is invited to attend the event at Georgetown University at no charge.

Cavafy, considered "one of the finest modern Greek poets" (Wikipedia), and his achievements will be recognized by Greek authors and poets who will present their own writings. Greek publishers will participate, and some of Cavafy's original books from the collection at the Library of Congress will be on display. 

The keynote speaker will be Vassilis Lambropoulos who teaches classical studies and comparative literature at the University of Michigan.

The event will include short films about Cavafy and readings of his poems with audience participation.

Sponsors are the Embassy of Greece, Georgetown's Modern Greek Language Program, the Athenians' Society of New York, and the Library of Congress.

From Wikipedia:

Cavafy was instrumental in the revival and recognition of Greek poetry both at home and abroad. His poems are, typically, concise but intimate evocations of real or literary figures and milieux that have played roles in Greek culture. Uncertainty about the future, sensual pleasures, the moral character and psychology of individuals, homosexuality, and a fatalistic existential nostalgia are some of the defining themes.

What: The celebration of the 150th anniversary of Constantine Cavafy's birth

When: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., March 16, 2013

Where: Bunn Intercultural Center Auditorium, Georgetown University, 37th and O Streets, NW, Washington, D.C. 20057

Cost: No charge

Metro station: Are you kidding? This is Georgetown. Take a taxi or get off the Metro at Foggy Bottom and take the bus at the top of the escalators to Georgetown or walk from Foggy Bottom (about 30 minutes). Use Metro's Trip Planner for more exact routing.

For more information: 202-687-0100 (Georgetown) or 202-939-1300 (the Embassy of Greece)
 
 

Friday, November 9, 2012

Goodnight Republicans

nightskyinfo.com




In the dead red room

There was a telephone

And an empty chair

And a picture of

Old white men stoking hot air

And there were nine great states

More than they could tabulate

And big fat cats

Not Democrats

And a map and a bank in a house full of plush

And a jowly old man whispering "Rush"



Goodnight Republicans


Goodnight room

Goodnight Beck flying away on his broom

Goodnight Rove

Goodnight to those who toy in the Grove

Goodnight past and bad forecasts

Goodnight Big House and days of yore

We remember what you did to Al Gore

Goodnight Fox, your squawks, your hawks

Goodnight Mr. Nobody, and goodnight slush

Goodnight to the old men who cry "Rush!"


Goodnight stars goodnight air

We welcome voters everywhere

Goodnight to days of yesteryear

Come here and vote

It's free and clear

Goodnight hot air

Goodnight Republican nightmare



With apologies to Margaret Wise Brown and Goodnight Moon