Just a brief word for those who do not give good readings. As last Friday I
heard Standard Shaeffer read at Small Press Traffic. Standard is a very
good, smart poet who has writtent legitimate prize winning work focused on
the history of the Los Angeles basin - from Walt Disney to limestone, does
the research. "The Water Factory" I learn, for example, was the original
title for what became "Chinatown" - the movie in this state about water
waters. ("Those ain't mountains, Mister, those are water factories." should
have been a line in the film!!)
Anyway, Standard has this dry swallow the words reading style that takes
much work to hear. You want to speed toward finding the work on the page!
Then there are those who read beautifully but whose work is a series of
empty ducks. (I guess those are the kind one wants to shoot!)
Anyway, as they say, don't shoot the fingerless piano player - buy the book.
Stephen V
Blog: http://stephenvincent.durationpress.com
Who reads beautifully and should be preparing his work for his reading
Friday evening! Vanity is the only source of success in ...
> I think there are many possible readings as well. I suspect Miles Kington
> has identified one particular British style, though -
>
> Best
>
> A
>
> On 10/3/05 11:01 AM, "Frank Parker" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> If you've ever heard Anne Waldman or Victor Hernandez Cruz or Michael
>> McClure read their work you'd know that there are alternative voices and
>> voicings.
>> While I agree a lot of what I hear read is sad, I also catch some good
>> readings too; my pal David Gitin has done some great work with musicians,
>> etc. And I might add that Miles might have said, "He's a motherfucker!" if
>> he'd heard me deliver my own verse. I think a balance can be struck between
>> performance and being in service to the word. The audience will know when
>> staging is outstripping substance. The Emporer wears no clothes, etc.
>
>
>
> Alison Croggon
>
> Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
> Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
> Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
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