Double bubble toil and trouble will churn the Jacksonville Library’s stacks tonight.
Macabre and horror poetry spun by two area artists will entertain at the library starting at 7PM.
Dr. Robert Seufert and Sherri Mitchell will conjure poems from several eras ranging from the era of Shakespeare to the modern day.
Seufert says the idea of the program sprang from an Arkham House poetry anthology of his youth that he has recently reconnected with via a birthday gift, Dark of the Moon: Poems of Fantasy and the Macabre. Seufert says he and Mitchell have been away from the stage due to Covid-19 the previous years and he felt the poems would be a great vehicle for their triumphant return: “I just read [the book] through, and it’s full of these wonderful of what I’m going to call Halloween poems…and I knew that this would be a great way for Sherrie and I to get back into acting again because she has such range, so many dialects, so many characters inside of her, so many sides. These poems gave voice to many things that I have seen her do before. I just realized that this would be a perfect vehicle for the both of us – me because of my interest in horror and poetry and her because of her range and her diversity of characterization. She’s handled them terrifically.”
Mitchell, who has acted as Emily Dickinson, Vivien Leigh, Lady MacBeth, Cleopatra, and Mother Superior from The Sound of Music says acting against type and performing in a genre that is not in her typical comfort zone continues to make acting and art a learning and enjoyable experience: “I don’t settle into any one particular style or genre. It is just whatever comes. I like variety, and this show is definitely full of variety even though it’s under that umbrella of ‘Halloween poetry.’ And, no, it’s not necessarily something that I’ve been into. It’s just Robert, through all of the years of working together, I just trust him. He has provided so much poetry on my plate. Being a part of the local poetry group for years, especially before I moved to Springfield, so much poetry was introduced to me. I’m a musician as well as an actor, so of course, I love poetry. It doesn’t really matter. Like I said to someone else, I’m just along for the ride. [Robert] is the mastermind behind the program. When he asks me to do something, I usually say ‘yes.'”
The program is all ages, free, and open to the public. No registration is required. If you have questions or need accommodations, contact Adult Services Librarian Ali Jones at 217-243-5435 or email ajones@jaxpl.org.