James B. Nicola, Stage to Page: Poems from the Theater. Word Poetry, 2016, ISBN: 978-1-62549-1878-9, 124 pages. Price $20.00.
Book cover art: Eve Sonneman, “Diver Near Saturn’s Moons,” 2003.
Courtesy Nohra Haime Gallery, New York]
James B. Nicola has culled his experiences in the theater world to produce a rewarding and rich set of observations about the theater and, by extension, life in general. Here are a couple of examples from his poems, about the necessity of an actor elucidating his or her words. First, the opening lines of “Audition Tips” and then a niftily clever quatrain:
……….Speak boldly: Thrill—as if your life-depend-
……….ed on it (which it does you’re a pro!)
……….The inmost will, the hidden hope—extend,
……….that caring, drench the hall. . . .
………Elocutionary Advice
……….You might engage your jowls
……….To gather round your vowels.
……….And consonants slide better
……….With lips a little wetter.
The following well-written sonnet about a veteran actor struck a chord with me from my own theatrical background, as well as knowing the play “The Dresser” by Ronald Harwood and the aging actor played in the 1983 film version by Albert Finney, with Tom Courtenay in the title role:
……….Defiance
……….You stumble, through your character, at the end
……….of a lapse and grumble in defiance.
……….What have you now but Nothing? Every friend
……….has passed on; neighbors pause but never lend
……….an ear; your faith, its blind and blithe reliance
……….on formulas, is futile. Don’t pretend
……….there’s more than loitering and cracking wise
……….with howls of Hecks and Drats, Consarns and Fies.
……….But do the dance you know can make it rain
……….to drown the imprecations of the wife
……….offstage, as evanescent now as life:
……….Brandish bold saws again to thrive again:
……….Inveigh the heavens: Curse us, every one:
……….Go on!—that I might see how it is done
………………………………(after H. M. Koutoukas, 1937–2010)
The following short philosophical poems, it would seem to me, in different ways examine the meaning of theater, and the poet’s questioning is meaningful:
……….American Sequel
……….A play reverts to nothing when it’s done,
……….nothing save the potential to fulfill
……….what it was asking. But we never do,
……….it seems, not that we can’t or never will,
……….but have been trained to play incessantly
……….with love and hope the clamor of Act One
……….and are so proud of what we have begun
……….and so enjoy the promise of Act Two
……….we never see the point of playing Three.
……….The Rest
……….The rest is silence, Hamlet said.
……….But some, while sleeping, snore;
……….some dream: and as for being dead
……….(to extend the metaphor)
……….Some are written down, and even read.
Jim Nicola’s Stage to Page: Poems from the Theater offers a rewarding exploration of the theatrical life and of human character and meaning, whether onstage, in the theater, in real life, or indeed, in poetry. Fine work.
© James B. Nicola and Christopher T. George
James B. Nicola’s poems have appeared recently in the Antioch, Southwest and Atlanta Reviews, Rattle, and Poetry East. His nonfiction book, Playing the Audience, won a Choice award. His two poetry collections, both published by Word Poetry, are Manhattan Plaza (2014) and Stage to Page: Poems from the Theater (2016). A graduate of Yale University, James has given theater and poetry workshops at libraries, literary festivals, schools, and community centers all over the country. James read his eulogy to Peggy Lee, a sonnet originally published in Loch Raven Review, at a grand poetry reading in Worcester, Massachusetts in August 2016 that included ten area poets who have published a book this year. See his website at https://sites.google.com/site/jamesbnicola/
Christopher T. George was born in Liverpool, England in 1948 but is a long-time resident of Maryland where he lives with his wife Donna and two cats. Chris recently retired as a medical editor in Washington, D.C. Besides being an editor of Loch Raven Review, Chris is editor at the on-line poetry workshop Desert Moon Review at http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com/. His poetry has appeared in publications worldwide. He is also a songwriter, artist, historian, and Ripperologist. With Northern Ireland historian Dr. John McCavitt, he recently published The Man Who Captured Washington: Major General Robert Ross and the War of 1812 (Oklahoma University Press, 2016).
The Loch Raven Review 