Cheri Magid mixes political theatre and dark comedy in her play A Poem and a Mistake, which takes inspiration from the Metamorphoses of Ovid and is described as ‘Freaky Friday meets the classics’.
Where: Drawing Room at Assembly Rooms
When: 31 Jul-24 Aug
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/a-poem-and-a-mistake
We asked Cheri to give us a flavour of what this play is all about.
Your show takes a deep dive into Ovid’s Metamorphosis through a dark comedy angle. How did it all come about?
It all started with a monumental bummer of a fact: Ovid’s Metamorphoses is the most adapted text in Western literature after the Bible.
And it contains fifty sexual assaults, many of which have historically been translated out and made consensual. For centuries!
So, there are all these adapted stories that we know so well that seem to be about love, but actually have assault baked into their DNA.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but this idea meant the play was going to be a black comedy. I knew there were going to be chase scenes between aggressors and victims and that was going to be fundamentally disturbing.
I also knew that since it was a one person show, that meant that actor Sarah Baskin was going to be chasing herself, which is innately funny, almost like Looney Tunes.
I knew the professor was going to need to give us some exposition about some of the tales and that that exposition was going to need to be funny.
So, his character developed as a cross between Steve Irwin, Sir David Attenborough—and Professor Ian Duncan from Community.
I can’t help thinking about Oleanna and the student and professor confrontation there when I read your blurb. Was that of any influence on you?
Given Oleanna’s influence and controversy, it’s amazing I wasn’t consciously thinking about it.
The student/teacher dynamic came from my own experience as a professor of Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Part of what inspired me to write the play was thinking about great works of art that also contain assault.
How do you teach them and think about them and have discussions about them in a productive way that looks at what the work is doing while also considering the ethics?
You want students to remain open to discussing all of that which is tricky, since you don’t know what personal experiences they are bringing into the room.
The professor in A Poem and a Mistake is passionate, inspiring, and caring—a great teacher–but he also has a blind spot in that regard.
And Myrrha has walled so much of herself off that she is not prepared for the rage that comes when he blunders.
The confrontation breaks them both open and transforms them over and over—which replicates what happens in Metamorphoses.
How did you make a start as a writer? Do Fringe festivals inspire you?
I grew up an hour and a half from New York City, and my parents were always bringing my sister and I to see Broadway shows.
It’s no wonder that when I started writing, the things that came most naturally to me were dialogue and theatricality.
And songs—my professional debut was a radio play with songs for NPR Playhouse.
Seeing other work always inspires me, especially when I’m going to a lot of diverse and divergent shows in a short period of time.
It means that my brain is making all sorts of connections between things I would have never put together. That is alchemy and really fertile ground for creating new work.
What are you looking forward to the most in Edinburgh?
I’m getting to the city well before the festival and I’m looking forward to wandering through different neighborhoods and immersing myself in the feel of Edinburgh.
I would be lying if I didn’t also say I’ve been dying to go to the Scotch Whiskey Experience and see that library with my own two eyes!
At the festival, I’m excited to see friends’ work and go to things that inspire me in the moment.
I think one of the best things about a Fringe festival is not scheduling anything in advance and being open to the adventure of it all.
Where can we see your work after Fringe?
A Poem and a Mistake has had a bizarre pandemic-influenced journey, which means that in addition to being a play, it’s also been a film and an art piece.
And now it’s being made into a limited-edition art book published by interstitial press. We are just meeting with the graphic designer now, so no publication date yet.
I’m also at work on an opera about one of the most controversial calls in American football called Fail Mary. You can list to some of the songs here.