Moving through the last show of the run, it was hard to contain my happiness. Through the first four acts I felt downright giddy. It was difficult to suppress the smiles and there was a kind of laughter inside, too flattering sweet to be substantial. I was happy the run was near an end butContinue reading “#215: The Actor “Decides” the Last Scene is Four Lines Too Long and Does Some Spontaneous Editing On Stage”
Tag Archives: A poem a day for a month
#214: Lord Capulet Interrogates Michael Jarmer in a Closing Night Sonnet
First things first: Happy birthday, Bill! It’s been a super rough year. The loss of Bowie, Rickman et. al., and just days ago now, the devastating loss of Prince, makes one super conscious of the fragility of life, especially when our heroes fall, heroes who seemed to us untouchable and timeless, almost god-like. But now, involvedContinue reading “#214: Lord Capulet Interrogates Michael Jarmer in a Closing Night Sonnet”
#213: Ode to Tech (a prose poem)
Ode to Tech They spin a revolving stage that weighs hundreds of pounds a dozen times every night, some with their bare hands. They sit in the dark wearing headphones whispering cues and following script. They perch in the heat near the ceiling behind hot spotlights that focus the audience’s attention in every single moment, or they seclude themselves inside a boothContinue reading “#213: Ode to Tech (a prose poem)”
#212: Rosaline Goes to an Old Accustomed Feast
Today’s napowrimo suggestion is to write a poem in the point of view of a minor character in a folktale or myth. I choose neither. Because Shakespeare: Rosaline Goes to an Old Accustomed Feast I was on the guest list and I decided to go even though I knew he would be there. I wanted noContinue reading “#212: Rosaline Goes to an Old Accustomed Feast”
#211: Ode To Juliet’s Nurse
Juliet’s age-knowing, wormwood on dug-leaving, dirty-joke telling, thou wilt fall backward, when thou comest to age, wilt thou not, Jule-talking, fan-waving, fan’s the fairer face-waving, Mercrutio, scurvy-knaving, saucy merchant-screaming, I’ll take him down-threatening, match-making, Juliet-teasing, oh, my aching bones-complaining, where is your mother-asking, wedding-arranging, Romeo and Juliet co-conspiring, Romeo shaming, on Friar Lawrence-crushing, he’s dead,Continue reading “#211: Ode To Juliet’s Nurse”
#210: How to Perform Shakespeare for Middle School Children
Chew the words. Enunciate. Don’t go too fast. Lift the line. Energy. Energy. Perhaps, more importantly, overemphasize the dirty jokes: “Draw thy tool” and “My naked weapon is out” should get big laughs. However, for things that could be considered dirty but are not, caution is advised. If you’re Romeo, for example, and you’re climbingContinue reading “#210: How to Perform Shakespeare for Middle School Children”
#208: Lord Capulet Cleans Out His Chakra House
Down there in the red Root the ground is slipping. That navel orange Sacral space is pretty much on fire and my Solar Plexis spins like a drunken dervish on a yellow sun. All the Heart Stuff bubbles and boils dangerously toward destruction, comes up green in my throat and I find myself shouting all the time. Finally,Continue reading “#208: Lord Capulet Cleans Out His Chakra House”
#206: The Actor Attempts to Meditate in the House During Fight Call
and is successful in his way. The swords clash and clang and the combatants exclaim their shouts of excruciating pain and the crowds riot in the streets. The actor meditating in the house allows the clamour to disguise itself as a kind of tumultuous silence. The bell chimes inaudibly underneath his theater seat just in timeContinue reading “#206: The Actor Attempts to Meditate in the House During Fight Call”
#205: Lord Capulet Takes an Almanac Questionnaire
The optional assignment from the napowrimo website: Today, I challenge you to fill out, in no more than five minutes, the following “Almanac Questionnaire,” which solicits concrete details about a specific place (real or imagined). Then write a poem incorporating or based on one or more of your answers. It took me longer than fiveContinue reading “#205: Lord Capulet Takes an Almanac Questionnaire”
#204: During Act Two, Capulet Writes A Poem
I know what’s coming. It’s happened before, as if in a loop, in exactly the same way each time and it never ends well. But I’m always surprised: the shouting in the streets, the alarm, the subsequent chaos, my wife charging into the fray screaming bloody murder over the death of nephew Tybalt. And I’mContinue reading “#204: During Act Two, Capulet Writes A Poem”
michael jarmer 