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

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Rewriting Greek Tragedy in Poetry

Theaterwork's Company of Poets generated the words written
on the set of the upcoming play Antigone.

I've been part of a collective for nearly a year now. This is the second theater performance we've worked to enhance with poetry. We began meeting in November, writing from prompts and Jean Anouilh's play Antigone, which premiered in the early 1940's. 


That play was based on Sophocles' original treatment of the Greek myth. Oedipus' daughter buries her brother who has been killed by her uncle, her mother's brother, and in turn, her life is forced to an end. All in all, a sordid story expertly told.


The Company of Poets, as we're called, has been actively exploring the words and themes of the play - writing it into new directions. We will be publishing a chapbook of some of the works we've created, entitled "Other Antigones," and reciting our work before some of the performances. We'll also be doing an event specifically focused on poetry - ours and others - that derive from the many arguments and concerns that arise from the play.


Did I mention the play itself is in a reclaimed city pool? That's what you're looking at in the photo above. Theaterwork has gussied up a 12-year vacant pool. The show opens this Friday. 


Our main poetry performance is still a few weeks off. 

“Antigone” Poetry Performance in collaboration with 
Theaterwork’s production of Jean Anouilh's play 
Company of Poets: Anne Valley-Fox, Jenice Gharib, Angela 
Janda, Lauren Camp and Ann Hunkins
333 Montezuma Annex, Santa Fe, NM
April 24, 7PM

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Interpreting a Poem - Part 1

A photograph by Michael Nichols of a Bengal tiger and cubs. 


Aunt Jennifer's Tigers
by Adrienne Rich

Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

Aunt Jennifer's fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.

When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

Next post - how to make sense of a poem