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| AI Theater Spring
Show Schedule Finalized |
Well, it's been a lot of work but our spring/summer show
schedule seems to be comming together nicely. The focus is on
developmental work at festivals and theaters in New York, although we will
also be doing a one-month run at a regional theater in San Diego. The
complete calendar is below, but here are some highlights:
Pound, a one-man play in which the poet Ezra Pound is put on trial
for treason with the audience as the jury, will be performed at the TADA
theater in New York for one night only in early May (date TBD, but it's
looking like either May 4 or 10); and then open at the Studio Theatre in
Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, New York) and run from May 27th through
June 19th.
Dickinson, a one-night confrontation between the playwright and the
poet Emily Dickinson, will be performed at 440 Studios in New York from
June 13 through June 20, and then open at the North Park Vaudeville Theater
in San Diego and run from July 10 through August 2nd.
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| New Poetry Coffee
Shop Site |
Our poetry web site, Poetry Coffeeshop, was hosted by the
hosting service xsorbit. Although we had prepaid for the board through
12/31/2009, the board owner apparently fled the country and the board was
shut down and, as near as I can tell, all of the data was lost.
I have found another hosting service and brought the board back up,
so once again www.poetrycoffeeshop.com is available for posting and
discussing poetry and other topices. I'll need to rebuild my moderator
list, so if the board moderators could set up their accounts on the new
board and then email me, I'll reconfigure you as moderators again.
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Visit the new
site
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As many of you know, live theater in general, and
especially live theater at the developmental stage, relies very heavily on
donations and grants to survive. Last month I announced that we were
kicking off a fund raising drive, and I'm pleased to announce that thus far
we've raised $1,675 thanks to your generous support. If you have not
donated yet, please do visit our website and make a donation. We need to
raise $50,000 during 2009, so the need is still great.
Also, we could use non-financial support as well:
1. Do you know any groups in San Diego or New York who might be
interested in attending one of our performances as a group?
2. Are you aware of any corporate programs that are willing to fund
the arts and where we should apply?
3. Are you aware of any foundations that fund the arts where we
should apply?
4. Do you have any experience with PR, Marketing, or fund raising?
Would you be willing to volunteer some of your time?
5. Would you be willing to host or organize a fund raising event
for us?
If you can help us in any of these areas, or if you have other
ideas, please email william@aitheater.org.
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Make a donation
now!
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| by William
Roetzheim |
What is a Poem?
At first, this might seem like a simple question. Let’s take a
poem like Robert Herrick’s “Upon Julia’s Clothes,” written not too
long after the time that Shakespeare was writing.
Upon Julia’s Clothes
Whenas in silks my Julia goes,
then, then, methinks,
how sweetly flows
that liquefaction of her clothes.
Next, when I cast
mine eyes and see
that brave vibration each way free;
O how that glittering taketh me!
I think we can all agree that this is a poem, but what makes it a
poem? Well, to begin with you might point out that the endings rhyme. If
you read it out loud a few times, you might notice that it has four regular
beats per line. This regular pattern of beats (or meter) and the end
rhymes give the poem a musicality that contributes to the fluid feeling of
the poem, a fluidity somewhat akin to the liquefaction of Julia’s
clothes. If you probe even deeper, you might point out that the poem is a
more intense, image rich form of talking than the standard, “Gosh, you
look nice tonight Honey.” So a poem has rhyme, meter, and intensity.
But what about this poem, a little haiku, written by Shiki in the
late 1800’s:
By that fallen house
the pear-tree stands full-blooming
…an ancient battle-site
The rhyme is gone. The regular meter is gone. It has some nice
images but they aren’t developed very much and they’re sort of choppy.
So why do we call this a poem?
The difference between poetry and most prose is that poetry deepens
in meaning as you think about it. Good poetry brings as much enjoyment in
the hours or days after you read it as it does while you are reading it.
So as you think about our little haiku, how does it deepen in
meaning? Let’s look at each line individually, starting with the middle
line:
the pear-tree stands full-blooming . . .
OK, we’ve got a beautiful pear-tree in full-bloom. This pear-tree
represents nature, so we’ve got nature in her glory. Pear-trees bloom in
spring, so we have the whole rebirth thing happening as well. What about
the works of man? Let’s look at that first line:
By that fallen house
Uh oh, doesn’t look good for the home team. The only thing man
created, a house, is fallen. Just like every work of man is ultimately
destined to crumble. Now let’s look at the last line:
an ancient battle-site
We don’t know what the battle was about, much less who won or
lost. The field may be littered with buried corpses for all we know, but
what has survived? Nature, as represented by the glorious pear-tree in the
spring of rebirth. In fourteen words this poem addresses the transience of
man’s accomplishments, the futility of war, and the triumph of nature.
Or how about this poem about old age and death by Robert Creeley
from his book Just in Time (New Directions Publishing).
Place
There’s a way out
of here but it
hurts at the edges
where there’s no time left
to be one if
you were and friends
gone, days seemingly
over. No one.
So the thing that differentiates a poem from prose isn’t rhyme or
meter or even imagery. It’s more the way it leaves you thinking after
you’re done reading. Can the lyrics to songs be poems? Absolutely! Can
a work of prose such as a novel contain portions of the text that are
poems, or at least, poetic? Sure! Could a portion of dialog from a play
or movie be a poem? Definitely! We have poetry all around us, if we just
look and notice. Let me end with a little poem called “The Haw
Lantern” by Seamus Heaney from his book Opened Ground (Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, LLC.).
The riverbed, dried-up,
half-full of leaves.
Us, listening to a river in the trees.
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Visit William
Roetheim's personal website
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Performance of Pound
Illuminating Artists Festival
One-night only
TADA Theatre
15 West 28th Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY
May 2009 (May 4 or 10)
Tickets $18
Reading of Dickinson
Weekend of May 29, 2009
The Studio Theatre in
Theatre Row
410 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
Date and time TBD
Free
Performance of "Dickinson
440 Studios
440 Lafayette Street, 3rd floor
New York, NY
June 13, 2009, 11:00 AM
June 14, 2009, 7:00 PM
June 15, 2009, 8:30 PM
June 17, 2009, 4:00 PM
June 19, 2009, 8:30 PM
June 20, 2009, 1:00 PM
Tickets $18
Performance of "Pound"
The Studio Theatre in
Theatre Row
410 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
Wednesday, May 27, 8 PM
Thursday, May 28, 8 PM
Friday, May 29, 8 PM
Saturday, May 30, 8 PM
Sunday, May 31, 3 PM
Thursday, June 11, 8 PM
Friday, June 12, 8 PM
Saturday, June 13, 8 PM
Sunday, June 14, 3 PM
Tuesday, June 16, 7 PM
Wednesday, June 17, 8 PM
Friday, June 19, 8 PM
Tickets $18
Box office 212.714.2442
July 10 - August 2, 2009,
North Park Vaudeville Theatre
2031 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92104
Fri/Sat at 8PM, Sun at 2 PM
619 220 8663 for box office
Tickets $18
Performance of "Dickinson"
Showcase production of "Dickinson"
TBD location in New York, NY
January 2010
Showcase production of "Eliot"
TBD location in New York, NY
February 2010
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View
our calendar on-line
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This Issue
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About William Roetzheim
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William Roetzheim is an award winning poet, playwright, and
writer. He began his career in the fine arts in 2001 after retiring
from the technology industry. Since that time he has founded a highly
aclaimed small press, written or edited several award winning books,
directed and produced fifteen spoken word audio CDs, and with his wife
Marianne, started an art focused Bed and Breakfast outside of San Diego.
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