{"id":8704774,"date":"2023-01-03T11:45:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T19:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8704774&preview=true&preview_id=8704774"},"modified":"2023-01-03T11:51:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T19:51:59","slug":"is-art-worth-it-one-act-plays-explore-what-poets-reveal-about-their-personal-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/03\/is-art-worth-it-one-act-plays-explore-what-poets-reveal-about-their-personal-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Is art worth it? One-act plays explore what poets reveal about their personal lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nora Ephron\u2019s adage, \u201cEverything is copy,\u201d might be worth considering while enjoying the pair of one-act plays that make up \u201cPoetic Justice,\u201d a show at the Marsh San Francisco in January. Both plays by Lynne Kaufman look at what happens when famous writers use revealing, private moments and interactions with others to create transcendent literature.<\/p>\n

In the first one-act, \u201cYou Must Change Your Life,\u201d the Austrian poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke begins a correspondence with a young military school cadet, Franz Kappus, who\u2019s struggling with whether to pursue a career in the army or dedicate his life to poetry. In a series of letters, which formed the basis of one of Rilke\u2019s most acclaimed works, \u201cLetters to a Young Poet,\u201d he offered inspiring advice on how a poet should feel, love, experience the word and engage in art.<\/p>\n