Fresh from Brighton Fringe, An Evening with T S Eliot

Audrey Lee gives a pocket version of her widely acclaimed performance of the Waste Land. Reportedly T S Eliot carried a pocket version of Dante around, and although he could not understand Italian explained that he simply listened to the music of the words. Audrey Lee's performance is her own response to the music of Eliot's words in The Waste Land. Written one hundred years ago this year, at a time when Eliot was experiencing personal depression, there is much in its portrayal of failure, aridity and fear that can be seen in our modern world. The musical sounds of Robert Lee's composition enhance the words wonderfully well, especially on the one uplifting passage "who is the third who walks always beside you?" Music by Robert Lee, Technical Support by John Lee

After cakes and a break, Audrey will lead a discussion about the poet. Bring your own T S pieces to share.

Audrey is an old lady now, determined to defeat the advancing years, and Robert Lee (the musical composer) is her son. She has lived with the poem since its first performance over twenty years ago and is delighted to bring it to an audience again.

 Review

We enjoyed a dramatic performance of the Waste Land by Audrey Lee, with sound engineer John Lee, music arranged by Robert Lee. The scene was set, with black drapes and scenery with Audrey changing character by using hats and scarves draped over a hat stand. Outstanding! After the break Audrey told us some fascinating facts about T S Eliot and his LIFE. A lively discussion ensued, with some interesting observations about meditation.

Poetry Society facts about T S Eliot.

Eliot’s career as a poet can be reasonably organized into three periods—the first coincided with his studies in Boston and Paris, culminating in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” in 1911. The second coincided with World War I and the financial and marital stress of his early years in London, culminating in The Waste Land in 1922. The third coincided with Eliot’s angst at the economic depression and the rise of Nazism, culminating in the wartime Four Quartets in 1943. The poems of the first period were preceded by only a few exercises published in school magazines, but in 1910 and 1911, he wrote four poems that introduced themes to which, with variation and development, he returned time and again: “Portrait of a Lady,” “Preludes,” “Rhapsody on a Windy Night,” and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/t-s-eliot)