The Man in the Newspaper Hat: Poets are not Nice People, opened at the Odd Duck Studio on Thursday Nov. 17. It recounts the conversations between the great modernist poet Ezra Pound and poetess Elizabeth Bishop, while Pound was incarcerated in a military hospital in Washington DC, during his trial for treason. Pound supported not only innovation in literature but also innovation in politics; he supported the innovative politics of the 20th Century: Fascism.
The conversations are mostly about Pound “literary theories and Bishop” attempts to reconcile his great contributions to literature with the mental illness which led him into anti-Semitism, Fascism, and totally destructive behavior. If this sounds boring, it wasn’t due to the expert direction and superb acting, especially by David S. Klein, as Pound and Lisa Keeton as Elizabeth Bishop. David S. Klein particularly had the verbal dexterity to deliver the lines with panache. Although there was not much action, plot nor psychic movement, the play moves fairly swiftly. The dialogue was witty, the requisite comic timing was present in abundance and it was appropriately short. (75 minutes without intermission)
Elizabeth Bishop is regarded as one of the finest 20th poets, who won many prizes but unlike Pound, kept a very low profile. Prior to his political activities, Pound was “an unofficial minister of culture who acted as mid-wife for new literary talent” in London and Paris, advancing the careers of great 20th Century innovators like T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, and Hemingway. Pound was also a polyglot who learned umpteen languages in order to discover the fundamental musicality of poetry. In addition, he was not exactly a nice person.
The set designer and director made some very intelligent decisions about how to use the space. Odd Duck is notoriously difficult to work in and very small. A two person play which takes places in a confined prison cell was perfect for this space. The walls were painted an apple green color, a color which is known to make people relax. The authentic props-manual typewriters, an old-fashioned bed etc. were simple but evoked the era when frustrated writers did not just press delete, but had to tear the paper out of the typewriter, crumple it and throw it into the trash.
As an undergraduate at the University of Iowa, I had the misfortune to share a house with some of the poets, prosers and poseurs from the Writer’s Workshop. This play is a very realistic representation of the kind of egotistical conversation going around the dinner table whenever two or three writers are gathered together. But this play was more witty than the conversations of Jane Smiley’s future literary agent.
The Man in the Newspaper Hat: Poets are Not Nice People. By Hayley Heaton. Produced by Many Tracks & Theatre Lexicon in co-operation with Eclectic Theatre Company. Thurs. Fri and Sat. 8 PM. Odd Duck Studio, 1214-10th Ave. Seattle, 98122 (Pike/Pine) www.brownpapertickets.com