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Aug. 16th, 2015 07:21 pmGuess what I'm doing next Sunday evening.
I did two read-throughs of "Annabel Lee" with family for audience, and got some good feedback, and am informed the second go was much better than the first. The advice basically came down to "speak slower, clearer, enunciate" (ye gods I am so sick of hearing that) and "overact".
(I'm quite fond of "Annabel Lee". No other Poe, though.)
I wonder, if Annabel Lee died so young and the poem is being told so long after her death, and yet the audience may know her—what did she do in her lifetime, other than loving and being loved by the narrator, to establish such a reputation? And why does the narrator totally dismiss all thoughts that may have crossed Annabel's mind that are unrelated to loving and being loved by the narrator? I mean, this kinda makes sense in context of heteronormative and gendered assumptions about the narrator (namely, Poe is male so the narrator must be male, and Annabel is female so the narrator must be male), because a lot of men do dismiss or claim credit for anything their wives do*, but I am [presumed] female and as narrator I am planning on playing up the Tragic Lesbians angle, so...
But then, it is Edgar Allan Poe we're talking about here. Poe never wrote a non-creepy word in his life.
* Or daughters, or mothers, or any women they work with professionally. Case in point, I know for a fact it was my thought that I should audition. I have a Facebook screencap to prove it. Dad's been telling everyone, including Director Nancy, that it was all his idea. Because if I tell my manager that I'm auditioning (and, if applicable though he seems convinced it will be applicable, performing) in order to improve my oral communication skills (which is what my performance reviews keep dinging me on), then that'll help with my next performance review. It's frustrating.
I did two read-throughs of "Annabel Lee" with family for audience, and got some good feedback, and am informed the second go was much better than the first. The advice basically came down to "speak slower, clearer, enunciate" (ye gods I am so sick of hearing that) and "overact".
(I'm quite fond of "Annabel Lee". No other Poe, though.)
I wonder, if Annabel Lee died so young and the poem is being told so long after her death, and yet the audience may know her—what did she do in her lifetime, other than loving and being loved by the narrator, to establish such a reputation? And why does the narrator totally dismiss all thoughts that may have crossed Annabel's mind that are unrelated to loving and being loved by the narrator? I mean, this kinda makes sense in context of heteronormative and gendered assumptions about the narrator (namely, Poe is male so the narrator must be male, and Annabel is female so the narrator must be male), because a lot of men do dismiss or claim credit for anything their wives do*, but I am [presumed] female and as narrator I am planning on playing up the Tragic Lesbians angle, so...
But then, it is Edgar Allan Poe we're talking about here. Poe never wrote a non-creepy word in his life.
* Or daughters, or mothers, or any women they work with professionally. Case in point, I know for a fact it was my thought that I should audition. I have a Facebook screencap to prove it. Dad's been telling everyone, including Director Nancy, that it was all his idea. Because if I tell my manager that I'm auditioning (and, if applicable though he seems convinced it will be applicable, performing) in order to improve my oral communication skills (which is what my performance reviews keep dinging me on), then that'll help with my next performance review. It's frustrating.
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