Événement

WORD OVER ALL: Walt Whitman and Pablo Neruda

Teatro Paraguas presents Word Over All: Walt Whitman and Pablo Neruda, a celebration of the poetry and prose of two of the Americas' most beloved poets, opening on August 30, 2019 for seven performances at Teatro Paraguas Studio in Santa Fe.

Teatro Paraguas originally presented Word Over All in for two weekends in March 2015 as part of the ongoing ¡Poesía Viva! poetry performance series. The production was presented again for one weekend in April 2015 due to popular demand, and revived for yet another weekend in August 2015.

This year's revival coincides with and celebrates Walt Whitman's 200th birthday.

Whitman and Neruda never met (Neruda was born twelve years after Whitman's death), yet Whitman had a profound influence on Neruda, and there is a strong kinship between their work. Both poets can be by turns personal and political, tender and biting, carnal and ethereal. Both poets celebrate our common humanity, and seek to uplift those traditionally neglected by society.

Word Over All will present the work of Whitman and Neruda without any additional narration, as we seek to demonstrate an inherent relationship and dialogue between the two poets.

The show will feature a number of Neruda poems unearthed in 2014, discovered among his papers in Chile, and published only recently. We are excited to be presenting this new work alongside Neruda classics.

Word Over All is a fully bilingual production: Whitman will be translated into Spanish, and Neruda will be translated into English. These translations will be projected on a screen above the stage, while actors will perform the work in its original language.

Daniel Bohnhorst, a cast member from the last three shows in Teatro Paraguas' Poesia Viva Poetry Tribute series, has selected and arranged the poetry and prose into a script, and will both direct and act in the production.

The cast includes Liza Frolkis, Jonathan Harrell, Alexandra Hudson, Argos MacCallum, Paola Martini, JoJo Sena de Tarnoff, Xochitl Ehrl, Roxanne Tapia, and James Stake.

The production will include a musical interpretation of Neruda's Oda a la Guitarra, performed by cast members. There will also be guitar accompaniment for selected pieces throughout the show.