Come join us to watch a live reading of the uproarious and insightful new three-character play, Sonnez Les Matines, penned by our very own Jane Clark Scharl. Jane will be present for the reading to answer questions afterward, and talented Anselm Society actors will be playing the roles!
Details
Please bring a light dish and/or drink to share.
To support the author and/or prepare for the experience you are welcome to order the play on Amazon. (You can also enjoy our Believe to See Podcast conversation with Jane at the bottom of this page—she gives context for the play…and reveals how to pronounce its name!)
Recommended for grownups only.
Questions? Contact Matt Mellema.
about the Author
Jane Clark Scharl, an Anselm Society Fellow and erstwhile Arts Guild member, is an American poet, playwright, and critic.Her poetry has appeared in many American and European outlets, including the BBC, The Hopkins Review, The New Ohio Review, The Hudson Review, The American Journal of Poetry, The Lamp, Measure Review, and others. Her criticism has appeared in Dappled Things, Fare Forward, Plough Quarterly, and others. Her first verse drama, Sonnez Les Matines, was published by Wiseblood Books in February 2023. She lives in Detroit with her husband and children.
About the Play
One Mardi Gras night in 1520s Paris, college students Jean Calvin (founder of Calvinism and autocratic ruler of Geneva), Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Counter-Reformation Catholic religious order, the Jesuits), and their bawdy friend François Rabelais (the humanist novelist) find themselves mixed up in a gruesome murder-and any one of them might be guilty. The ensuing investigation sparks a battle of wits and weapons, plunging them into questions of justice and mercy, grace and sin, innocence, guilt, love, and contempt. Before the bells ring in the start of Lent, they must confront the darkest parts of their souls and find the courage to pursue truth in a world that seems intent on obscuring it.
Sonnez Les Matines imagines what might have happened if these three brilliant, volatile men had to put their convictions to the test while navigating a brutal crime and their own involvement in it. When left to his own devices, each character speaks in his own verse form, giving the play the feeling of a fierce sparring match between masters. Calvin's blank verse toys with despair as he wrestles with doubts about the good-ness of God and the possibility of freedom; Ignatius commands situations in clipped iambic tetrameter, revealing his background as a disciplined soldier, while his passion for order shows through in frequent alliteration; and Rabelais dances around with iambic rhyming couplets, cracking profane, bawdy jokes that unexpectedly become profound meditations on the mysteries of God, creation, and grace.
"A clever, heartfelt, and uproarious inquiry into the perennial mystery of human frailty. This is drama-as-literature in fine form, demanding we think, laugh, and mourn alongside its remarkable characters. Unforgettably original and great fun."
Paul J. Pastor, author of Bower Lodge: Poems
"By turns energetic, hilarious, and profound, Sonnez Les Matines reclothes religious history's dry bones in the muscle and gristle of living."
Maryann Corbett, author of multiple poetry collections, including Mid Evil (2014), the winner of the Richard Wilbur Award.
Whet your appetite!
Listen below to our Believe to See Podcast conversation with Jane about the play!