Photo courtesy of Sarah Sadler / Layout Editor.
KORI BARKLEY
Special to The Leader
Illiteracy is a growing problem in America that has an economic and social impact on a deeper level than many realize. It has been proven that people who read books are more likely to be effective in their communities, to be productive members of society at large and to stay out of trouble..
For years the National Endowment for the Arts, or the NEA, has sought to change this. As per the organizations website, arts.gov., “The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds and promotes artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities.
In 2004, the NEA conducted a study — “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America” — revealing that not only is literacy declining in America, but the rate of the decline is accelerating.
That’s where the The Big Read began.The Big Read is a program created by the National Endowment for the Arts, or the NEA, that “supports organizations across the country in developing community-wide programs which encourage reading and participation by diverse audiences,” as stated on their website.
Reed Library at SUNY Fredonia is a participant of The Big Read.
Each season, a compilation of books is listed. Each participating community chooses which book they would like to focus on and then must submit a grand proposal to the NEA for how they plan to promote it. This year, Fredonia chose The Poetry of Emily Dickinson.
To promote The Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Echoes of Emily was written and produced by Caeli Faisst, a sophomore theatre arts major with a minor in writing, Ted Sharon, associate professor of theatre at Fredonia, and Dan Lendzian, a Fredonia alumni.
This Friday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m. in the McGinnies Hall Lobby, watch as “Emily finds it hard to fit in. Confronted with love, loyalty and life in her high school hallways she searches for solace in her poetry … and a voice that calls out to her from the past,” as told on The Big Read website. “Filled with humor, tragedy and the questions we all face, this production breathes new life into the work of the celebrated and complex poet Emily Dickinson.”
Within the play Faisst has taken Dickinson’s poetry and rebuilt it to match the modern day Emily, who is receiving echoes of the real Dickinson from the past and included some of her own original poetry.
“Not only do you have Emily Dickinson’s poetry but you have this girl who is writing poetry modern day, in the style of Dickinson but with completely different imagery,” Sharon explained. “And Emily wrote all of that. So she is basically the main character, in real life. It is absolutely outstanding!”
Each character is designed to resemble Dickinson herself or people who influenced her during her lifetime, but with a modern feel. “I wanted something that was accessible to teenagers today,” Sharon explained.
Emily, the central character, is a friendly yet introverted high school student with a gift for writing, but she allows fear to keep her from showing this talent to others.
Her best friend Jeremy, a quirky photographer, is alongside her throughout.And of course we can’t forget Dickinson, a driving influence to the other Emily in her journey as a writer.
“Multiple things inspired certain parts of the script … ” Faisst shared, “ … like personal experiences, knowing who the actors were beforehand, reading Dickinson’s letters, biographies and poems.”
Sharon considers Faisst and her work to be remarkable.
“The girl is just brilliant!” he exclaimed over and over. When he and Lendzian realized how exceptional her work really was, Sharon decided to submit Echoes of Emily to a New York City theatre mentorship program.
The production at McGinnies Hall is open to the public and a discussion about the works of Dickinson will follow.
To learn more about Big Read and how you can get involved, visit http://www.neabigread.org.