The Shimmering Verge

The Shimmering Verge is a one-woman show about the line between ordinary existence and the heightened state of reality in poetry. The play is Molly Peacock's experiment in using the resources of the theatre to present poetry to new audiences. Although the 55-minute monologue is structured like a poetry reading, with Peacock's poems accompanied by more informal conversation, the theatre changes the experience, as the memorized words, the costume and set, the lighting, and the accompanying music performed live on stage make the poetry more theatrical and more intimate at the same time. Peacock presents her life as a poet; and her poems' themes run from love, sex, and marriage to loss, death, and spirituality. The Shimmering Verge tries to draw its audience--many of whom might never attend a poetry reading--into the world of these poems, into the world where poetry comes from, and into the places where it communicates its magic to other people. The Shimmering Verge, a fully staged Canadian/American production, toured from 2002 to 2007 with Molly Peacock as both writer and actor, including an Off Broadway showcase. It was revived in 2019 by Art Thing productions in Toronto with Madeleine Brown in the solo role.