My overall impression
This play manages to be both high-concept and emotionally powerful. Done entirely verse rhyme, Mikle Maher’s play about two William Blake professors who the night before were caught making love on the college green are now to apologize to the student body.
Tiger Reel’s direction keeps the poetry accessible and rhythm and pace never drop. Jack Young’s exuberant Bernard who gives a lecture on Blake’s “The Song of Innocence” brings you into the world of the play and speaks the poetry with aplomb. His counterpart, Ellen (Christina Keefe) is much more pragmatic, giving her final lecture on “Songs of Experience.” Although Keefe does a fine job, there’s no matching the energy and language prowess of Young. Maher’s language does take some getting used to, but its use of humor makes it accessible and thoroughly enjoyable.
This play definitely left me leaving the theatre thinking about the nature of love and poetry. It’s definitely a unique show and well executed.
