Green Party Candidate
for Mayor of St. Paul
|
Green Party Candidate |
| Audience Gets Close to Emily Dickinson by Kim Surkan, St. Paul Pioneer Press, August 4, 2002 Whether you already love the words of Emily Dickinson or just want an introduction to the poet's life and work, this show is a must-see for the literary-minded. Elizabeth Anne Dickinson, who is both a trained actress and one of Emily's descendants, has adapted this solo performance from actual letters Emily penned over a century ago. The correspondence includes messages sent from Emily to her brother Austin, her closest friend and sister-in-law Susan Gilbert, poet and short story writer Helen Hunt Jackson and publisher Thomas Niles, among others. Combined with snippets of her poems, these excerpts chronicle major events in Dickinson's life. Onstage, Elizabeth does a phenomenal job of making the words of her famous relative come alive, painting a vivid picture of her relationships with many people from her home in Amherst, and her hopes and fears about writing and publishing her poetry. "A letter always feels to me like immortality, because it is the mind alone without the corporeality of friend," Emily writes. And though we can't really meet her in person, this performance takes us as close as we could hope to get. "Emily Dickinson: My Letter to the World" performances are at 8:30 p.m. Monday, 7 p.m. Thursday, and 5:30 p.m. Saturday and next Sunday at Red Eye Theater.
|
|
