Diary IV: "A Question of Power", Show Time
The show went very well. Although I stayed at the backstage for most of the time, I knew and felt that it went well.
I was very happy that I did this, the first time to present my own works in public.
Sue, the artistic director, and Ann, an actor, had been very supportive all the way through.
The two poems are about power-relationships in the context of romantic love.
I felt powerless when writing them, willingly powerless.
After the recital, however, I found myself empowered, or maybe, the mind became clearer.
3 pretty audiences, Terri, Wanyu, and Yushan, made this afternoon event memorable for me.
NB. Pictures of this event have been updated in Album 1, thanks especially to wanyu's snaps of me on the stage.
Postscript 1. Maybe the poems are not about intimacy, they are more about distance.
my pleasure!
ReplyDeleteabsolutely proud of you..
plus, your poems are lovely, thanks for sharing!! i mean it!!
To relate the experience to the issue of power, well, to be honest, i feel you've given us (the audience who were there at the event, especially me) too much power by sharing your poems, because a) they're not addressed to us, plus, they're addressed to someone I know, so this is as if i was reading letters to someone else, which I always deliberately avoide doing; b) they're about intimate situations; perhaps i'm feeling this because i never really knew any poets who were my close friends... well, T is an exception, but i don't think he ever shares his love poems with us..
wanyu x
urg, this went on too long... only wanted to say i'm extremely pleased i was there!
The show and the people were great!! Some performances were so touching especially yours^^
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame that the person your poems addressed to was not there but I believe that he must be very proud of you, as we are.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYushan, I love the performers too! They were very nice!
ReplyDeleteEven if he, the addressee, had been there, he would have pretended he did not understand anything... ; )
ps. a grammatical mistake in my previous reply, "I 'was' one of the most defensive writers".
Dear anonymous wanyu,
ReplyDeleteI had hesitation before I submitted my works to the program too, wondering whether it's too private to share as you pointed out.
I think writers, or at least I, write about their own experiences and feelings. After the writing is finished, it is independant from the writer. The metaphors used in the poems may be very intimate at the beginning of the writing, but they should be mirroring bigger realities than the writer's small world, I hope.
They could be about private intimacy but I hoped they also spoke to the audience. As for the addressee, let's forget about him. He's only one of the addressees, or only for me, he was not so important at that moment. The audience could think about whom they would like to speak to.
I cannot stop remembering T's classes after saturday. Everytime we discussed our works, the authors (I was one of the most defensive ones) always wanted to say something to justify themselves, but T always stopped them. Once the work is done.
it's no more only about me, I hope.
But I do need to think how I can go beyond homely issues.
(See how I have gone this long way to ease myself about the disclosure of private feelings... Good question, lady!)
I might have given the audience a lot of power, but I found that the reading to the audience empowered me! I need that power...
Hi Wanchen
ReplyDeleteWell done on your performance~ I wish I had been there to see it. Next time maybe!