[Milton-L] Recitations of PL

[Mario DiCesare]

Dear Angelica Duran and Colleagues,

I don't recall any specific date or dates when my Harpur College students held a 
reading (partial) of *Paradise Lost*, but I do recall one delightful evening when 
the dozen members of our special half-course seminar came to our house, more than 
twenty years ago. My wife (herself also a Ph.D.) had decorated our dining room table 
with a small tree, a memorable snake, and figures of Adam and Eve. "Playing" Eve was 
an naked Barbie-doll, which she had somehow rigged up in a tempting pose with a tiny 
apple in hand. I don't remember how she concocted an Adam.

Retired a dozen years and now enjoying the status (?) of octogenarian, I have been 
teaching in UNC-Asheville's remarkable College for Seniors. (Some of them are even 
older.) Reading Shakespeare aloud has become common among a lively group of these 
elders; we have organized readings of nine or ten plays in the last six or seven 
years, including "Coriolanus," "Cymbeline," and "Richard the Third" most recently. I 
guess it's time to try a reading of "Paradise Lost" in conjunction with a course.

Cheers,

Mario



Angelica Duran wrote:
> Dear scholars,
> 
> I am finishing up a paper on oral readings of /Paradise Lost/.  I have 
> enough but I would like to be as comprehensive as possible. Please 
> contact me off-list if you know of or have participated in the following:
> 
>    1. recitations from memory of /Paradise Lost/.  I know of the following:
> 
> • Ku Hung-Ming (1857–1928) per the /MQ/ article by Tianhu Hao
> • John Basinger’s DVD of his performed recitation from memory
> (There is a subcategory of “recitation” advertised on DVDs and CDS where 
> I cannot ascertain if the recitation is from memory or “read” -- there 
> seems to be a variable meaning of “recitation.”
> • Terrance Lindall
> • Anton Lesser
> 
> 2. readings of /Paradise Lost/. I woud like to fill in the following 
> categories:
> 
> • College classes: Jameela Lares; Mario DiCesare; Angelica Duran
> • high school classes: Tim Strzechowski at Argo Community High School in 
> Summit, Illinois; Greg Lowe at Collins Hill High School in suburban Atlanta
> •  church or community groups, exclusive of 400 year anniversary 
> cultural events, such as Christ's College Cambridge podcast its all day 
> reading of October 23, 2008 Judith E. Wilson Drama Studio, Faculty of 
> English, which are easy to find.  I AM REALLY LOOKING FOR SOME OF THESE. 
>  Someone at the last Murfreesboro Conference gave me a program for the 
> regular marathon she coordinates but I cannot find it.
> 
> Many thanks.
> 
> Adios,
> 
> Angelica Duran
> Associate Professor
> English and Comparative Literature
> Purdue University
> 500 Oval Drive
> West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
> USA
> (765) 496-3957
> <duran0 at purdue.edu>
> <http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/directory/?personid=80>
>