Home » Eating & Drinking, Free Food, Literature, San Francisco, Theater & Performance

Poetry, Free Beer & Bonfire: Paul Verlaine Play | NoPa

Dang! This event has already taken place.
>> Want to see our Top Picks for this week instead?
Thursday, September 12, 2013 - 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm | Cost: FREE*
*Free, but feel free to bring along additional food/drinks and musical instruments as the spirit moves you.

One Lone Pear Tree | 1953 McAllister St, San Francisco, CA

Event Details

Come hear the poetry and passions of Paul Verlaine, 19th Century French Symbolist poet, channeled by the incomparable Phil Lumsden.

Phil’s one-man play was last performed in 1991 at the Exit Theatre in San Francisco. Poet Under Saturn incorporates some of Phil’s own translations of Verlaine’s poetry.

They’ll start things off with complimentary beer and snacky foodstuffs, but please feel free to bring additional food/drinks and musical instruments as the spirit moves you. A bonfire will follow the reading.

The play focuses on Verlaine’s discovery of the 17-year-old French Decadent poet Arthur Rimbaud—a remarkably talented writer whose visionary verse precluded Surrealism, and who completed the entirety of his literary output by the age of 20. Verlaine and Rimbaud began a tumultuous love affair and traveled to London, where they lived like paupers, earning their living by teaching. Verlaine held literary salons in whatever rooms he could afford, welcoming fans and patrons to come listen to him hold court and read his poetry. It is at one of these gatherings where you’ll join him in progress.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.


Cost: FREE*
*Free, but feel free to bring along additional food/drinks and musical instruments as the spirit moves you.
Categories: Eating & Drinking, Free Food, Literature, San Francisco, Theater & Performance
Address: 1953 McAllister St, San Francisco, CA