The official blog of the Dramaturgy Department at Baltimore's CENTERSTAGE. For posts related to our current and upcoming shows, click the links to the right. Alternatively, you could begin at the beginning, and explore our posts in chronological order.
As Enemy of the People finishes 1st weekend, so great that audiences are responding strongly to these (among others) divergent and sometimes competing strains in national discourse and cultural aspiration, as highlighted in the play and our efforts to frame the conversation.
AP reports global protests over fracking—an issue of water, public health, and community wealth as fraught as that dividing the town in An Enemy of the People.
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — More than 100 protests against the natural gas drilling process known as fracking are scheduled to take place around the world on Saturday, building on public concerns but also using an overly simplified message to spur outrage.
The GlobalFrackdown website and campaign was developed by Food & Water Watch, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit that was once part of Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen group. The campaign claims that fracking “has already damaged communities and ruined lives. It pollutes water and makes people sick.”
Scientists disagree on the risks of fracking, a process that injects large volumes of water, sand, and chemicals underground to break rock apart and free the gas. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many state regulators, however, say that fracking can be done safely. The American Lung Association says natural gas has helped reduce air pollution as many dirtier coal-fired power plants shift to natural gas.
The immense volumes of natural gas found in formations of shale rock around the country has spurred a boom in natural gas production that has been credited with creating jobs and lowering prices for industry and consumers.
Robert Southey, “My Days among the Dead Are Passed”
More of the poetic exploration of art and (im)mortality in which this production of POE traffics.
Some things, fortunately, do change. But looking back at the moment when Edgar Allan Poe passed back through Charm City long enough to die mysteriously (subject of the next play here at CENTERSTAGE), here is a look at the somewhat gritty reality of 1840s Baltimore:
“In 1848…Baltimore, Maryland was the second-biggest city in the United States. As these period photos show, it was a bustling, busy city. It was also rather grimy and ramshackle. A city like Baltimore was a great place to be—as long as you didn’t mind polluted air, the risk of catching diseases from the water, from refuse in the streets or from one of the many passers-by. It wasn’t necessarily the best place to raise a family.
Editorial cartoon reviews Nixon-Kennedy debate of 1960 (conceptual backdrop for upcoming production of #ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE at CENTERSTAGE).
Some visual research and rehearsal room #dramaturgy from ProdTurg kellie mecleary for Enemy of the People @CENTERSTAGE_MD (otherwise known as CENTERSTAGE).
Truly a giant gone:
Roy S. Bryce-Laporte, Who Led Black Studies at Yale, Dies at 78
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
New York Times August 8, 2012
Roy S. Bryce-Laporte, a sociologist who led one of the nation’s first African-American studies departments, at Yale University, and did research that advanced understanding of blacks who came to the United States voluntarily rather than as slaves, died on July 31 in Sykesville, Md. He was 78.
With a very first draft of Kwame Kwei-Armah’s world premiere play Beneatha’s Place just landing in our inboxes, this news resonated powerfully; the path forged by Bryce-Laporte echoes loudly in the life and work of titular Beneatha (yes, the character originally brought to life in Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun) and many elements of this new work. So, with us all, stay tuned.
Welcome to PoeStories.com
This site contains short stories and poems by Edgar Allan Poe, story summaries, quotes, and linked vocabulary words and definitions for educational reading. It also includes a short biography, a timeline of Poe’s life, and links to other Poe sites.
Links to overviews, directories, collections, webrings, essays, and more online resources for gothic lit.
The Gothic Labyrinth introduces gothic writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, exploring their sources and inspirations as well as their influence on other artists. This is intended for entertainment only, as a form of literary trivia. Continue the ripple effect by sending in your own literary anecdotes. At the center of the maze is Horace Walpole. From there, four main paths branch off, each terminating in a painting which crystallizes some aspect of dark romanticism.
