BUNNY, DARLING!

for BC

Bunny, darling! You simply can't
tell me it's a prima facie
observation of domestic violence.
The man was loops; it's a grotesque.
And nobody will tell me what I can
or cannot laugh at in a theatre.

Bunny, darling! I don't care
if Hugh Jackman sings delightful
and the lyric's magical.
It isn't canon. It's not the repertoire.
It's not the repertoire, sweety.

Bunny, darling! Don't you dare
pretend you didn't squeal
when the "ugly brothers" licked
their hands and stuck them
down their shorts. Bunny,
Bunny! Don't you dare pretend!

Bunny, darling! If you need a shoulder,
mine will be in the third row
of the matinee performance.
Look for the purple salwar kameez,
the scent of Chloe in the dust,
and I will hold you Bunny,
darling, I'll bring tissues.


Now with soundcloud here: Soundcloud

EVENTS LEADING TO A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN

for JA

Once you have recognised the director miscast you

as Atlas in the school production of Fiddler, it is hard

to escape the burden of carrying the entire scenery

around on your back. I was holding billboards slapped

with paint by the Y9's, bits of fence used to disguise

where they'd missed and the MDF shone through.

The subject matter was heavy. Some Russian Jews

had been thrown out of their homes like rocks

chucked in the sea and I had to keep turning this way

and that to be certain the actors said their lines

in the right places. These were my responsibilities

that I shouldered alone. My parents were touring

in productions of Don't Look Back and Les Mis respectively.

I was cutting my teeth in the world of theatre,

though as I grew old I was typecast as Reb Nachum, the beggar

whom nobody listened to, who did not sing or dance,

just said a few lines to keep the whole thing moving.

This was who I was playing when I quit acting.