Don’t over think it if you don’t have to.

Recently I’ve been thinking of something I’ve often heard people say when describing the process of engaging with particularly complex or esoteric poetry.

“Let it wash over you.”

What does this mean exactly? It means not trying to understand every word or phrase or how it all fits together. Ultimately, agonizing over details lessens your experience of the work as a whole. Some poetry is better taken in when you let it hit you like a ton of waves and don’t lose your balance struggling to fight back. You might still lose your balance, but you won’t have wasted your energy.

It means not getting bogged down in the minutiae—assuming we can presuppose for our purposes anything in poetry can be considered trifling.

Maybe at some point you will go back and try again, maybe you will reread the poem many times or maybe you will never return to it.

This advice may seem counterintuitive or rudimentary to the seasoned reader, but it’s a worthwhile exercise for people with any level of expertise. Some poetry is simply not written to be deconstructed and what an individual takes away from the experience differs for every person and varies upon every read.

I’ve been thinking about this advice because it’s worth contemplating beyond the realm of the poetic. Sometimes life’s more trivial, nebulous stressors compound our anxiety until, while we can’t put our finger on exactly why, we are overwhelmed by what is beyond our control.

What if we could pass through life treating it a little more like a difficult, at times inaccessible, poem, a poem we don’t understand in full, but with parts that sound pleasing. What if rather than attempting to wield too much control over what happens to us, we let situations wash over us instead. What if we pulled back and watched them roll by, bit by bit?

Just as it’s still possible to appreciate art we do not fully grasp or “understand,” if we cede some of the need for control in our own lives we might be surprised how much is not lost, and even how much can be gained from this altered perspective.

It’s important to play an active role and be present and engaged in our own lives, but it’s also worth realizing when a situation is merely another impenetrable stanza.

Occasionally The Protagonist briefly profiles the work and life of a local artist; this is one of those times. 

Brooklynite Keara Driscoll waitresses by day and writes poetry…well, whenever she has a spare moment to jot down her thoughts on the scrap of paper she keeps in her pocket.

Driscoll has been writing poetry in some form or another since the second grade. “I think I believed all poems had to be about dogwood trees, or ferns, or deer loping into the woods,” she said, of her “juvenilia.”

Now the 26-year-old has an MFA in poetry, anthologized work and invitations to read at popular reading series throughout the city. Driscoll remains humble, however, about her art. She’ll accept invitations to read, but seems wary about promoting her own work too much.

Perhaps counterintuitively, for Driscoll being busy is crucial to the act of making poetry.

“It makes the periods I save for poetry more productive,” she explains.  ”I know I have only a couple of hours between work and class, a half hour to read during a lunch break, etc. Some days I skip buying lunch and sit in the park and write until I have to go back to work.”

Driscoll says her current lifestyle, dedicated to waitressing and applying to teaching jobs, makes for “the best way to keep a flexible schedule that allows time to write, and provides enough money to live in an expensive city with profound ties to poetry.”

She adds: “It’s also enabled more encounters with whole butchered pigs than a girl could want, and if that’s not poetry I have no idea what is.”

Maybe fittingly, dismembered animal parts often find their way into Driscoll’s work.

Even for the most seasoned poet, writing doesn’t always come easy. All the time in the world can’t make eloquent beauty suddenly manifest on the page.

Of her process, Driscoll says: “Most days, I stare at my notebook for a while, write that email I’ve been putting off, clean the shelves in my fridge, make my bed, organize my desk, text all of my friends and THEN finally write, often starting with the phrase, ‘I have absolutely nothing to say.’”

“It doesn’t matter,” she explains. “I’m doing it.”

***

Ghazal that Confuses Humans with Animals

by Keara Driscoll

Should a harmful force be present a snake could, theoretically, swallow itself

up to the head.

Imagine! You, your own donut, packed safely in your throat, with only skull exposed.

Of course, there is no next step. Close your eyes. Sheath those gooey jewels.

Above all, tell no one about the ecstasy of tonguing your own tail.

Whoever first inserted foot into mouth was briefly on point.

Though s/he failed to recognize that guilt doesn’t stop at the ankle.

More often, it resides in your nose. You’ll have to swab with tree-sized Q-tips.

Know also: the results of your throat culture reveal traces of Whoever The Hell’s progeny

at the top of your tulip.

Culture implores you, don’t swallow your offspring. You are no shark, no serpent.

You are fat-happy heifer, ready to be cleaved for your calves. Low pleasantly

as they collapse in pasture.

Oh, Ahi! Progenitor of greed. We’ve been listening to your swelled midsection—

don’t force our fingers around your windpipe.

Don’t make us cut you open to take the ocean back.

Rachel Fields         

“This podcast is literally our last hope,” jokes Rachel Fields, co-producer of “The Versed” poetry podcast, and healthcare magazine editor. “Seriously though, I have always loved poetry, but I think a lot of people find it scary and stodgy and inaccessible.”

“The Versed,” recently featured on The Rumpus’s official Tumblr, the Rumblr, aims to bring poetry to the people.

“We want people to be able to talk about poems in the same way that people talk about movies,” explains Fields. “I have this friend who thinks Prometheus was a good movie. He’s an idiot, but he’ll still talk about it to anyone who will listen. We think poems should be like that too.”

Nora Frazin, Fields’s co-host, says she was listening to the Poetry Foundation’s podcast when she found herself wishing the hosts were “younger,” “sassier” and “more obscene.”

“Then I realized that I am young, sassy, and obscene,” says Frazin, who works at a middle school and aspires to be an English teacher in the near future.

The two Chicago-based friends and poetry-lovers want their podcast to be something people can tune into as they go about their day.

“Poems are a lot less popular than video games,” says Fields, citing her favorite video game podcast, ‘The Indoor Kids.’ “We’re going to turn that around.”

Frazin explains: “Poetry, for some reason, is something that I have found a lot of people hesitant to discuss or express an opinion about.”

“We’re tackling poems that people can read for pleasure,” says Fields.

The producers of “The Versed” believe podcasts are an ideal outlet for things that can be reviewed and discussed. “I like to think of our podcast as your cool, funny English teacher,” Fields explains, “if you met up a few years after high school and he got drunk and started hitting on you.”

One anonymous correspondent wrote in to ask why the “ladies” insisted on sexualizing everything.

“We’re obsessed with sex,” explained Fields on the following podcast, also providing a more serious answer.

Fields and Frazin aren’t afraid to take a relaxed approach to their podcast, which is more like banter among friends at the bar. You’ll undoubtedly find yourself chuckling along, laughing hysterically, nodding frantically or cringing in disgust, ultimately frustrated you can’t simply jump into the consistently lively conversation.

“It is very important to us not to be too rehearsed or edited or academic in our discussions,” explains Frazin.

They also make a policy of being as honest as possible. “We don’t sugarcoat anything and we hate on poems — or, usually, specific lines — that are lazy,” says Frazin. The hosts also aren’t afraid to disagree with one another about taste and interpretation or concede to their own ignorance at times, though Fields says they have yet to find a poem on which they strongly disagree.

Each of the four existing episodes of “The Versed” runs about 25 minutes and features two poems by different contemporary poets — some more contemporary than others — and the hosts’ stream-of-consciousness-style commentary and narrative interjections.

They have discussed poems like Fleur Adcock’s childishly sweet “For A Five-Year-Old” and Sharon Olds’s more carnal “The Pope’s Penis,” as well as their own experiences writing to celebrities, repulsively eating leftovers and playing terribly boring games with children.

On the podcast, Fields and Frazin also respond to feedback from fans, known and anonymous, but prefer when correspondents skip the shyness and identify themselves. After all, they’re not afraid to let it all hang out

Though “The Versed” hasn’t been around too long, Frazin has hopes and goals for its future, including greater participation by way of guest hosts who are opinionated and funny but “relatively unschooled in poetry.” She also hopes to incorporate material by more local and less established poets.

If that’s not enough to convince you to tune in every two weeks, consider Fields’s sales pitch:

“We’ll introduce you to poems that you can refer back to if you want to seduce someone or speak at a funeral or cheer yourself up,” she says.

“Plus, the podcast is short, so you only have to dedicate 20 minutes of your time every two weeks. Imagine if you could get a six-pack by doing three sit ups a year.”

Tune in to “The Versed”

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

We often hear creative writers praise each other in and outside their own genres. They frequently shy away from direct, unforgiving critique, even refusing to publicly review any work they don’t admire. Leave that to career critics, they say. They’d rather politely commend other writers’ ingenuity, their…experimentation.

Some might say: rightly so — the last thing we need is for writers to feel more like outsiders. Furthermore, who wants to spit in the face of creativity, whatever its bent?

Here at The Protagonist, though, I’ve often wondered what raises writers’ ire, what gets them truly incensed. We know what they find repugnant in society, but what do writers abhor in each other? More importantly, how can we drag this out of them in a public forum — make their views known, not just murmured enigmatically into a bar top at 4 a.m? How do we delineate between visceral emotion and performance?

Why all the literary amiability?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, several established writers I queried told me they “couldn’t think of anything,” “would get back to me later” or just plain didn’t respond. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt — they’re probably too busy being literarily productive to sit around literarily complaining.

Furthermore, who will promote your work — your latest chapbook of hodgepodge flarf, say, that keeps you up nights (but is it too weird?) – if you drag your vulnerable peers through the mud?

Bold, renowned New York poet David Lehman was open to sharing what gets his blood boiling, though, and it turns out it has nothing to do with literature itself.

“As one who gives poetry readings, attends them, organizes and moderates them, I have some pet peeves,” said Lehman. “It irks me when the poet is unprepared, talks too much, reads too long, begs the audience for approval, and puts himself or herself down.”

(Surely these “quirks” extend beyond the poets as well.)

Sometimes, the undervaluing is not immediately clear, but absorbed in a writer’s anxious tics, a general lack of self-awareness: “Even the commonplace formula, ‘Only three more poems,’ makes me cringe a little inside because it is as if the poet is pleading with the audience,” explained Lehman. “Why apologize?”

For this poet, it comes down to mutual respect, and a modicum of confidence. “It is true that the culture in general tends to belittle the poet as a figure of madness or eccentricity, impractical in some cases, righteously indignant in others,” he explained. “But the audience at a reading is there for a reason and you should honor the audience with your own best.”

He added, briefly: “It cannot hurt to rehearse.” (Collective, knowing cringe.)

The take-away? Writers, release your madness!

Submit your literary tips to The Protagonist: alissa.fleck@gmail.com

-Alissa Fleck 

Photo Courtesy of Michael Geffner

Where could you go to find parasols, corsets, a homemade merry-go-round plus bubble machine and a kimchi taco truck this weekend? That would be the second annual NYC Poetry Festival, just a quaint ferry ride away, on Governor’s Island. The festival featured several outdoor, makeshift stages scattered throughout a fenced-off, grassy area, where poets and other artists took to amped microphones and let loose, literarily-speaking. Prosody emanated nonstop from all corners of the space all weekend, while poetry-lovers lounged on blankets and sipped icy beverages. Throw in a ferry ride and you have the makings of a whimsical weekend retreat, which unfortunately happens only once a year.

(by Alissa Fleck)

The festival—or poetry bender, if you will—sponsored by the Poetry Society of New York, featured recent MFA graduates and emerging talent alongside more established poets like Thomas Sayers Ellis, Amber Tamblyn and Jennifer L. Knox. It was a diverse showing of the, particularly local, poetry community. Numerous organizations were represented as well, promoting and selling their literary wares. And yes, there was even a homemade merry-go-round, with multiple ride speeds, its maker offering up free rides to festival-goers. (Future festival attendees take note: sun, tacos, beer and a merry-go-round at “make it faster, make it faster” speed can be a recipe for disaster.)

Stephanie Berger, co-founder of the New York Poetry Society and mastermind behind the festival, said, of similar events: “It’s really fun to conjure up that young, artistic DIY spirit.” And that was the spirit of the weekend indeed, though it was by no means limited to the young…but maybe just the young at heart.

Berger and other Poetry Society members were responsible for bringing 50 reading series on board, to curate over 200 poets in the intimate, sunny setting. The festival also featured a variety of other artists, and even a kids’ space (some poetry is not for the young, faint-hearted or modest).

The spirit of the day—artsy, very chill—was encapsulated by Knox prior to her reading at the end of Saturday: “If you’re still here, like me you’re probably tripping balls,” she said into the mic. “Come on, don’t lie,” she urged, when only a few hands shot into the air in agreement. The mood and setup encouraged a respectful and jovial dialogue between poet and audience.

When Saturday’s events were drawing to a close, spectators could be overheard lamenting the inability to camp out all night on the island in anticipation of the next day’s events, their dismay indicating, of course, the festival was a rousing success for all involved.

Photographer Michael Geffner produces the Inspired Word. 

By Allen Houston

New York shows its literary stripes during the summer months, when every bookstore and bar seems to sweat an author or reading series from its pores. Here are our choices for some of the best events to help you get back in touch
with your inner literatus.

Downtown
Fantastic Fiction at KGB
Yes, this makes our yearly list and yes, we are suckers for daring speculative fiction (just don’t call it science fiction). From past luminaries such as Joyce Carol Oates and China Mievelle to up-and-comers trying to burnish their geek chic cred, this monthly reading series raises a respectful glass to an underappreciated genre. Third Wednesday of every month; free. KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St., www.kgbfantasticfiction.org.

Happy Ending Music and Reading Series
Nearing the decade marker, the Happy Ending series at Joe’s Pub is like an old friend you always have a great time with. Writers and musicians alike walk a lyrical tightrope, all to the tune of a monthly theme (June’s is “Advancement and Ruin”). Once a month; $15. Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St., www.amandastern.com.

New York Review of Science Fiction Readings
This science fiction reading series has served up heaping helpings of brave new worlds, as well as fantasy, horror and science fiction, since 1989. A bespectacled crowd gathers to pay homage to a bevy of new writers as well as such luminaries as Ursula K. Le Guin and Susana Clarke, among others. First Tuesday of every month; free ($7 donation suggested). Soho Gallery for Digital Art, 138 Sullivan St., www.nyrsf.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15

Operatic Masterpiece—The Amore Opera presents Pucini’s Tosca, sung in Italian with English supertitles. Connelly Theatre, 220 E. 4th St., 866-811-4111; times vary, $30.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16

Hip Hop Theater Festival—The 10th annual HHTF celebrates hip-hop culture with theater, dance, public art and more. Various locations, 718-497-4282; www.hhtf.org.

Art in the Park—Friends of Straus Park will host their annual Art in the Park. Artists will exhibit their work and there will be food and books for sale. Music and dance groups will entertain on West End Avenue. Strauss Park, 106th and 107th streets at Broadway; 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Free.

Classical Sounds—The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony kicks off its new season with a program that evokes nature. Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, the Pastorale, is paired with Copland’s sublime Appalachian Spring and Cimarosa’s hauntingly beautiful Oboe Concerto, performed by Pedro Diaz, solo English horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. All Saints Church, 230 E. 60th St., 212-868-4444; 8 p.m., $10-20.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17

Broadway Great in Recital—Roosevelt André Credit, bass-baritone with pianist Thomas Schmidt, will perform a recital of spirituals, Broadway classics, opera and contemporary songs on Roosevelt Island. Credit has performed on and off Broadway, playing several roles in the Tony Award-winning and national touring companies of Harold Prince’s Show Boat. His extensive repertoire includes opera, oratorio, jazz, spirituals, pop and musicals. Church of the Good Shepard, 543 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, www.goodshepherdchapel.net; 2:30 p.m., Free (donation to food program suggested).

La Bete—David Hyde Pierce, Joanna Lumley and Mark Rylance bring this revival of David Hirson’s 1991 comedy (set in the 17th century and written in iambic pentameter) back to Broadway. Comedic golden boy Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage) directs. Music Box Theater, 239 W. 45th St., 212-239-6200; 3 p.m., $76-$126.

Sankai Juku—Ushio Amagatsu directs the troupe in his most recent work, Tobari—As if in an Inexhaustible Flux. The Joyce, 175 8th Ave., 212-242-0800; 2 p.m., $10.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19

Seventeenth Annual Family Party—Over 2,500 children and parents are expected to participate in an evening of adventure throughout the American Museum of Natural History. The Family Party, one of the museum’s best-loved annual traditions, is a very special opportunity for children and adults of all ages to experience the wonders and magic of the museum. Taking full advantage of the magnificent halls, guests are treated to an evening full of fun. They interact with live animals, dig for dinosaur fossils, conduct fascinating experiments, experience simulated space travel, meet with scientists and much more. American Museum of Natural History, 79th Street and Central Park West, 212-313-7161; 5-7:30 p.m., $85-$175.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20

Poems from the Women’s Movement—Barnard College welcomes a group of outstanding women writers and thinkers for an evening celebrating the work of poets whose writing helped shape, and was shaped by, the women’s movement. Participants include Jorie Graham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; physician and poet Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins; Anne Waldman, author of more than 40 books of poetry including On the Wing and Manatee/Humanity; and Eileen Myles, whom BUST magazine called “the rock star of modern poetry.” Barnard Hall, West P117th Street and Broadway, Sulzberger Parlor, 3rd floor, 212-854-2116,www.barnard.edu; 7 p.m., Free.

Women Builders—The Women’s Learning Partnership and the New School for Social Research present a panel discussion focused on democracy building in the Middle East. Panelists for “2020 Vision: Mobilizing for Women’s Rights and Eliminating Violence against Women” include Melanne Verveer, U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues; Mary Robinson, U.N. high commissioner for human rights from 1997 to 2002; Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace laureate in 2003; and Thoraya Obaid, executive director of UNFPA. John Tishman Auditorium, 66 W. 12th St., 301-654-2774; 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Free.

Delusional Emperor—Untitled Theater Company #61 presents the world premiere of Rudolf II, a drama of delusion, science and sexual experimentation in the dark side of a tormented psyche. Rudolf II, the bisexual and bipolar Austro-Hungarian Emperor, is obsessed with alchemy, astronomy, his longtime mistress and his newest lover, a converted Jew. His enthusiasms established Prague as a center of artistic, scientific and sexual investigation. Bohemian National Hall, 321 E. 73rd St., 212-352-3101; 7 p.m., $18.

Dead Heads—The exhibit The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society opens today, offering a unique glimpse into the world of an American musical phenomenon. In their 30 years together, the band altered the way popular music is performed, recorded, heard, marketed and shared. New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, 212-485-9293; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., $7 to $12.
Saturday, March 6
People’s History—The Society for Ethical Culture presents a tribute performance of Marx in Soho in honor of radical historian Howard Zinn, who died in January. The performance, written by Zinn, looks to answer the question, “If Karl Marx could see the world today, what would he say?” The event is hosted by Amy Goodman, best-selling author and host of Democracy Now! New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 W. 64th St, 212-874-5210; 7 p.m., Free.

E.B. White Classics—The 92nd Street Y presents “An Afternoon with Roger Angell,” who will be reading from Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan, all written by E.B. White, Angell’s stepfather. Angell has been a New Yorker fiction editor since 1956, and his lifetime passion for baseball has led to many essay collections and books. 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center, 1395 Lexington Ave., 212-415-5500; 1 p.m., $10.

Debuts—Cantori New York presents a concert of contemporary American music for voices and instruments. The concert features several premieres, including Another Spring by Tom Nazziola, The People, Yes by Simon Sargon and Ma’at Musings by Trevor Weston. Church of the Holy Trinity, 316 E. 88th St., 323-481-3329; 8 p.m., $5 to $25.
Sunday, March 7
Think Globally, Act Locally—St. James Episcopal Church hosts the panel discussion “The Church and Global Reconciliation,” to mark the church’s bicentennial. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Rt. Rev. Gordon McMullan and Rt. Rev. Hays H. Rockwell discuss ways a local congregation can be called on to participate in global reconciliation efforts. St. James’ Church, 865 Madison Ave., 212-774-4244; 4:30 p.m., Free.

Academy Takes Manhattan—NYC & Company and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences present New York City’s official Oscar Night celebration and viewing party for the Academy Awards. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres are served while the Julliard Jazz Ensemble performs music from Oscar-winning films. Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway, 212-721-6500; 7 p.m., $150 to $225.

Fruitful Concert—Apple Hill String Quartet performs a concert with works by Schubert, Ullmann and Schumann. The quartet has gained international praise for its performances of chamber music from the 18th century to modern works by leading composers. The group is also a part of the “Playing for Peace Project.” St. Bartholomew’s Church, 325 Park Ave., 212-378-0222; 3 p.m., $15 to $25.

College Drama—Boston University’s College of Fine Arts presents diventare, a play written by Jenny Rachel Weiner and directed by Ellie Heyman. The play’s main character, Linda, escapes to an imaginary underwater kingdom after a devastating loss. When a hurricane approaches, Linda must choose to retreat further or face the storm. It is the college’s official entry in the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. The play is part of the college’s third annual InCite Arts Festival in New York, featuring performances, exhibits, film screenings and events through March 11. New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St., 212-239-6200; 3 p.m., $17 to $32.
Tuesday, March 9
Trolley Travel—The second installment of a four-part series highlighting the history of Roosevelt Island features the Queensboro Bridge and trolleys of the early 20th century. The program includes excerpts from the documentaries Modern Marvels: New York Bridges, New York’s Last Trolleys and Nostalgic Trolley Tour: Queens Trolleys. The series is co-sponsored by The Roosevelt Island Historical Society and the Roosevelt Island Branch of the New York Public Library. Roosevelt Island Branch of the New York Public Library, 524 Main St., 212-308-6243; 6:30 p.m., Free.

Songstress—Clare Burt makes her New York performance debut with her show Now You Know, featuring theater songs by Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Jule Styne and Adam Guettel. Burt is accompanied by a trio of musicians. The show originally debuted at London’s Pizza On The Park last year. Metropolitan Room, 34 W. 22nd St., 212-206-0440; 7 p.m., $20 plus two-beverage minimum.

Literary Lady—The Groiler Club of New York presents the American premiere of My Wife Did a Bit of Scribbling, which dramatizes the literary life of the early 20th-century British novelist and poet Mary Webbwarmly. The performance is part of the current exhibition at the Groiler Club, Mary Webb: Neglected Genius, on display through March 13. The play is free, but reservations are required; email mbrennan@grolierclub.org. The Groiler Club of New York, 47 E. 60th St., 212-838-6690; 7 p.m., Free.

Barber Show—The Ying Quartet, the Eastman School of Music quartet-in-residence, performs Barber’s String Quartet, op. 11, Sebastian Currier’s Next Atlantis and Beethoven’s Quartet in C-Sharp Minor, op. 131. The performance celebrates Robert Owen Lehman’s recent gift to The Morgan Library of composer Samuel Barber’s autographed manuscript of Essay for Strings, and takes place on Barber’s 100th birthday. Lehman hosts a discussion before the concert. The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave., 212-685-0008; 7 p.m., $25 to $35.

Wednesday, March 10
Birds on the Brain—Poetry and field guide come together in Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds. The Poetry Society of America and the New York City Audubon Society celebrate the book with Poet Laureate Billy Collins, ornithologist David Allen Sibley and other guests. A book signing follows the presentation. The Kaufmann Theater, American Museum of Natural History, West 77th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, 212-769-5100; 6:30 p.m., $13.50 to $15.

Serial Drama—The Gerald Lynch Theater presents Zombie, a performance looking into the mind of a serial killer, written and performed by Bill Connington, and adapted from the novella by Joyce Carol Oates. The audience gets a glimpse into the private life of Quentin P., a sex offender, serial killer and deceptively mild-mannered monologuist. The show won an award in 2008 as the “Outstanding Solo Show” from the FringeNYC Overall Excellence Awards. Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 899 10th Ave., 212-279-4200; 7 p.m., $15.
Thursday, March 11
Irish Activities—Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with crafts at the Chess & Checkers House in Central Park. Kids can color pictures, make decorations and engage in other activities. Chess & Checkers House, Central Park at 64th Street, 212-794-4064; 2 p.m., Free.

Yorkville’s Past—Learn about the history and life of Yorkville/Kleindeutschland at a lecture and exhibit by Yorkville historian, Kathy Jolowicz. The exhibit, presented by the Yorkville AARP chapter, displays 20 photo panels and encompasses the era of the 1910s through the 1960s and the Slocum Disaster. Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1296 Lexington Ave., 212-249-0125; 12:30 p.m., Free.

Mixed-Media—Hypermusic-Ascension premieres in the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum. The performance, which combines the genre of opera with an experimental monodrama, was created by artist Matthew Ritchie, Spanish composer Hector Parra and Harvard physicist Lisa Randal. The new performance is based on their previous collaboration, Hypermusic Prologue, a Projective Opera in Seven Planes, which premiered at the Centre Pompidou in Paris last year. It is presented in conjunction with the exhibit Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum, on view through April 23. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Ave., 212-423-3587; 6:30 p.m., $10 to $30.