Poetry

'If I Forget You' by Thomas Christopher Greene is the tale of two lovers finding each other again after years and lives apart.

Weaving together a series of Whitman's writings into a dramatic narrative monologue that forms a kind of selective biography, the actor pays a serious, loving, and artfully imagined tribute to the great American poet.

Brimming with a studied outrageousness, and brushed with sentiment, the show takes a sidelong look at the pretentiousness of downtown artsiness, while reminding us – or introducing us to – the French force of nature who provoked the spirits of so many 20th century creatives.

A 19-year-old Emily Dickinson, teamed with Edgar Allan Poe, is the last line of defense between the everyday and a world of magic, ghosts, and vampires.

When the former U.S. Poet Laureate read the phrase "frying pan of yourself/into the fire..." a young child in the audience gave a magnificent whoop. It was the perfect sound effect to punctuate the hot metaphor.

The one-night-only show will include performances by Gabriel Byrne, Olympia Dukakis, Melissa Errico, Colum McCann, Peter Gallagher, John Slattery ('Mad Men'), and more.

The one-night-only show will include performances by Gabriel Byrne, Olympia Dukakis, Melissa Errico, Colum McCann, Peter Gallagher, John Slattery ('Mad Men'), and more.

Fifty years of innovative, creative and inspired poetry

Locke’s verse is delightful and superb, if somewhat irascible. He demonstrates no concern for anyone’s vanity, even his own. And he doesn’t indulge in what-if speculation. He simply sees and feels and expresses what he feels.

'If I could tell my young self something, I'd say that she should not let anything take away her joy in making things out of words – that whatever tends to take away from that deep play and pleasure should be questioned.'