Philosophy Friday - The Intoxication of Words

" Every day, we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture and if possible, speak a few sensible words"

                                    ........  Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe      
                                               
                                                          
Last night the DA and I had the pleasure of hearing many sensible and glorious words from the golden tongue of one of the most eloquent men on this planet - none other than Christopher Plummer himself. We took in his delightful play " A Word or Two", currently enjoying a limited run at the Stratford Shakespearian Festival in Stratford, Ontario.

The play, written by Mr. Plummer, is autobiographical in nature and explains his lifelong obsession with words beginning with his early years in Montreal and fond memories of his beloved Mother and family times.  He spoke affectionately of the family after dinner reading sessions, where he learned to love Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland,  Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows and J.M.Barrie's Peter Pan. He continues on a sentimental journey through his teens, touching on his loves and his early years in the theatre,  right up to the present day.  At 82 years of age, his voice remains powerful, his self deprecating humour intact and his virility and physical authority on the stage still captivating his audience and keeping them spellbound after all these years.

                                                                 
Regaling stories of his colourful life,  beautifully presented in the form of poetry and prose that has moved him, he slips with ease from English into French and then suddenly his strong resonant voice slurs into a lovely Southern drawl.
His stories touch on sitting in a bar as a young man listening to a rather inebriated Richard Burton and Dylan Thomas ( a man he describes as having a voice like a " Beethoven symphony".) debating the merits of literature and life.  Times spent with Archibald MacLeish, the multi-talented artist best known for his poetry and Steven Leacock, whom Mr. Plummer refers to as a " comforting, crinkly old don ".

With a receptive, audience who " got it", in that they recognized, had read and understood many of the passages Mr. Plummer quoted,  you could see his sheer delight in their response. Mr. Plummer has a fear that great language is in danger of extinction but I believe that after an evening with this gentleman, most of us came away with a renewed joy of the magic of language, eager to open a book and re-acquaint ourselves with old friends or to introduce our youth of today to the exciting world of literature and the power of words.

Textile related? Definitely! In the past year, I have been working on a project involving words and lyrics. Last night's peformance jogged my memory, giving me cause to once again turn to some authors and poets I had overlooked and it opened my mind to some new interpretations.  Thank you Mr. Plummer - you magnificent wordsmith!






The stage setting for " A Word orTwo" with the amazing stack of  books reaching for the sky.
 Set design by
 Robert Brill.