Robert Gonzalez's "Rhapsody in Verse" comes to Stratford

“Rhapsody in Verse: The Voice of Great Poets on Time, Nature and Love” will be performed by former Fairfield resident Robert González at the Stratford Library on Monday, July 7 at 12 noon. The special performance marks Gonzalez’s first appearance in Stratford. The program is free and open to the public.

More than a reading, Robert González rhapsodizing great classic poetry is a theatrical performance. With nothing more than a bare stage, his voice, his body, his memory and his and your imaginations, González weaves together sonnets, ballads and other passages from Shakespeare, Keats, Donne, Whitman, Dickinson, Poe and other luminary bards, over twenty in all, into one grand drama of human experience – life and death, eternity and time, love and loss, nature and spirit. Grouping the poems by like themes, setting the scenes and introducing the characters of these inherent poetic dramas, González further “stitches” them together with commentary on the creative journey of the poet.

Robert González grew up in Fairfield and is a graduate of Andrew Warde High School. He holds a BFA from Boston University, an MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a Ph.D. from the University of South Florida. Currently Associate Professor of Speech, Theatre and Dance at the University of Tampa, he teaches Voice and Diction, Oral Performance of Literature, Play Analysis, Acting for both majors and non-majors and Acting Shakespeare. As part of his current sabbatical activities he is visiting Connecticut to perform this current work-in-progress.

For further information, call 203.385.4162 or visit the library website.