Sound Theatre Company and GreenStage offer Seattle lovers an alternative to the standard box of chocolates or red roses.
For a donation that helps support local theaters, an actor in Elizabethan costume will present one of Shakespeare’s sonnets to your selected Valentine.
Deliveries commence Saturday (Feb. 10) and continue through Valentine’s Day. However, you can order your poetry at www.valentinesonnets.org. And if you’d like to add roses or chocolate to the occasion, that can be arranged too!
Teresa Thuman from Sound Theatre Company is coordinating sonnet deliveries and graciously answered a few questions about the program.
Do you suggest a sonnet or do people call for a particular sonnet to be delivered?
We have two popular sonnets that the actors have memorized and prepared to share with the Valentine recipient. If they would like another sonnet, it will be read by the actor. Last year I did steer a few folks to specific sonnets to help support their particular situation like a new relationship, or a teacher. This was fun since I was in communication with the person sending it and was able to consider a number of possible sonnets.
What was the most unusual delivery that you did last year?
Well there were some great stories, but I especially loved the "bedtime" sonnet delivery. Some very creative parents got a sonnet to be delivered to their two daughters on Valentine's evening just as they were on their way to bed. Amelia Meckler at GreenStage did this and she said it was very sweet. I imagine it is something those daughters will always remember.
We know from Shakespeare that "music is the food of love" -- how does poetry spark romance?
This may be an oversimplification, but I believe it has something to do with the mystery that is in both love and poetry. Good poetry can awaken deep and mysterious feelings through images and words; it can open our souls and allow our logical minds to rest. You have to allow yourself to surrender to poetry whether you are writing it, reading it or listening to it. It is pretty powerful stuff and it is always makes me feel a part of something bigger.
If somebody was to send you a sonnet, which one would you chose?
I guess I am a sucker for the classics. I love the "Let me not to the marriage of true minds" sonnet, which is one of the memorized offerings. Most of Shakespeare's sonnets have a very dark side to them, as does this one. But it is so powerful and strong and such a statement about commitment.
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