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Mary
Wadkins traveled west this fall to give a stellar performance as Emily
Dickinson in the one-woman production of "The Belle of
Amherst"
Two
evenings of performances left the audience touched to the heart by the
exquisite humanness of Ms. Dickinson as she was portrayed by Ms.
Wadkins. The long-term effect of an afternoon performance for high
school students was perhaps even more far-reaching. The students
reportedly returned to their American Literature class with a totally
new view not only of Dickinson by Whitman, Emerson, Thoreau...
Ms.
Wadkins spoke after the students' performance and in response to a
question about whether her role had changed her life, she said, "I
think it's taught me to be more open, more fully human. Emily may
have lived as a recluse, or course, never left the house, but inside
herself she was so open." Ms. Wadkins' performance opened her
audience as well. |
