Townsman, 1991-02, Page 40and digested.
This is not exactly a play script.
Voices or characters are not always
defined and there is really no plot.
Neither do character or plot really
develop. Perhaps it is more the
chronicle of one year and of a life.
James Reaney has an extensive
background in writing and teaching
about literature. His home town is
Stratford and he has been teaching
English at the University of Wes-
tern Ontario for many years. As
well, he was publisher of Alphabet
magazine for 10 years in the 60s. He
has written much poetry and many
plays for both adults and children.
His plays have been produced at
Toronto, Stratford, Blyth, London
and many other venues. At present
he is working on the libretto for an
opera.
The book under review combines
two of the author's interests in
presenting poems intended for per-
formance on stage. There are 12
sections, one for each month of the
year indicating that this is a kind of
cycle -- of the seasons and also of
life. January, which is subtitled
Ethos, includes poems on home,
teachers of Reaney's youth and the
society party of the year with
homage to Zena Cherry.
February is the Dianoia or per-
sonal opera indicating that we all
have a work of that nature within
us. March is music and south-
western Ontario which should never
be called flat. Note The Girls at
Swifts. April deals with the tradi-
tional music festival and with
footsteps among other topics. The
introduction to May gives instruc-
tions on how to uncover or discover
"Found" poetry material and how
to incorporate it into a performance.
June deals with poetics and what
happens to those who reject myth
and metaphor. Hamlet, Simonides,
Scopas, Caliban and Yates are all
characters here. August is entitled
Private Public Poems and the other
months follow to December within
is Summa.
What is one to make of the
melange of thoughts, scenes, topics
and events presented here and of
the ways they come to us? Indivi-
dual segments can, of course, be
read or enjoyed alone but the
flavour of the whole is important.
There is incredible variety here.
38 TOWNSMAN/FEBRUARY-MARCH 1991
From Domicile,
Janitor and Janitress are we
Of this verandahed domesticity,
Itself a place of lightning rods
And kitchen gods.
In Footnotes and Podiatry we get,
FEET Streets Streets are
Write Make Lined notepaper
Street Feet write for footcaper
Left, Right! foolscapper
After reading and thinking about
this work for some time there are
several conclusions. There is a great
deal here which is not immediately
obvious and which is difficult to
discern from a simple reading of the
printed page. The material must be
read aloud, preferably several
times. Doing this with one or more
other persons will also help as there
are often multiple voices or charac-
ters in any given poem. The
interaction of different readers will
make the meanings clearer. Best of
all would be having someone to
direct the action and react to the
readers. An audience might also be
helpful here. Those presenting the
material will, of course, have to go
through it many times to get all the
nuances.
A knowledge of Canadian history,
especially that of southwestern
Ontario and Perth County will help
in understanding. Even more im-
portant is broad reading in world
literature and mythology. Who is
Hamlet or Simonides and what is
the context of references to them.
The more knowledge one brings to
the reading and understanding of
Reaney and his writing the greater
will be the reward of understanding
his purpose and achievement.
A final selection comes from
November,
Near the end of the year we have
two festivals of the dead.
At Hallowe'en we carve pump-
kins into jack -o -lanterns
Which are descended from skulls
the Celts put over doorways.
Next as the year darkens even
more we wear smudges of blood -
Coloured cloth lest we forget the
sacrifice of our young men
To the Martinent God of War.
This is not easy material but it
should be fun both for the presen-
ters and the audience. It will need
many modes of presentation from
singing and chanting to declaiming
to simple quiet recitation and talk.
For groups willing to work at it this
writing will present great rewards.
It would be suitable for adult groups
and for high school drama students.
Jerry McDonnell is a high school
librarian and avid reader who has
reviewed books for several publica-
tions across Ontario.
IMAGINE'S New Year's Resolution 47
This is the year we finally get the lawn
looking good - and get our charitable
giving looking good, too.
Interested in
part-time sales?
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salespeople to sell
retail advertising
on commission.
Interesting work for a
quality product.
If you're interested call
Keith Roulston, Publisher
523-4792.