On a somewhat rainy Saturday night, my parents decided to drive out from Chicago to visit me. Obviously, the time to impress was at hand. After taking them to dinner somewhere besides Chipotle, I decided that I would bring them to a poetry event my teacher had told us about—little did my parents know, I was required to go to another reading, as such events are not my typical Saturday shenanigans.
Celebrating Victorian Women’s Lives: An Evening of Music and Recitations began at 7, so naturally we showed up at 7:15. I was very surprised to discover that the Old Capitol Senate Chamber was almost packed, and we had to awkwardly walk in front of many people to find seats together. Just as we sat down, Judith Pascoe began her introduction, “Hearing Voices.” By 7:45, she was just finishing up, and I was greatly beginning to regret what had seemed like a brilliant plan. Pascoe seemed to be talking more to her students than the audience, about a topic few of us knew, and my thoughts trailed to the chandelier above and the growing cries of drunken college kids outside. I was not impressed, and quite fearsome for the next hour and a half or so. What had I done??
However, the night took a much-appreciated turn for the better. Five actors walked onto the stage, holding binders, and seated themselves on chairs. They took turns reciting poems, with piano interludes interspersed every so often. While the binders the presenters read off of were somewhat distracting (reminding me that they were indeed performing), the poems themselves proved to be much more daring than I had expected. Considering the time period they were coming from, the female author’s voice’s were much more powerful and opinionated that I ever would have expected. They did not shy away from bold topics and commanded the audience’s attention.
The night was compromised of many different sections of themed poetry, ranging from childhood, marriage, motherhood, age, and activism. They also varied from humorous to extremely tragic. The almost “melodrama” of the poems was obviously something the 21st century listeners were not expecting. For the first half of the night, giggles and laughs were often heard, even if the poems themselves were not humorous; instead, some of the actors were incredibly committed and (at times) a bit overdramatic. One woman even came close to tears while speaking about her relationship with her husband. Whether or not this was a good thing to bring to the performance, at times I felt completely out of my element and comfort zone.
My favorite poem, that moved me the most, was rehearsed by Connie Winston, who I considered by far to be the most impressive performer of the night (for those of you fans out there, she can also be occasionally seen on Law & Order). “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point” by Elizabeth Barrett is an extremely heartrending poem about a slave who is raped by her master, becomes pregnant, and eventually commits infanticide on her own mixed child. At one point, Winston held up her arms, talking about the marks on her wrists from chains, and I honestly looked to see the scars. She was completely devoted, but never over the top, and did an amazing, moving rendition of the poem.
Overall, the night left me pleasantly surprised, due to the range of poems, themes, actors and style of presentations. I managed to sit through almost 2 hours of poetry and only checked my phone a few times. And, of course, my parents are still pleased to this day that I do such intelligent, educational activities with my weekend nights. All in all, it was an enjoyable and insightful evening.
-Lucy Williams
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