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| Booking Info: Rita Parisi at 978-430-1357 ritaparisi@waterfallproductions.com |
(Ms.) Parisi spoke each story beautifully so that the listener could appreciate the
lovely language while enjoying a shiver from the mystery that each story contained.
-Topsfield Village Reporter
lovely language while enjoying a shiver from the mystery that each story contained.
-Topsfield Village Reporter
supernatural
By Robert Knox
Boston Globe Correspondent / September 25,
2008
Sarah Orne Jewett, a neglected star in New
England's flourishing 19th-century literary
firmament, drew on the region's fascination with
the supernatural in her "gothic tales" and was
influenced by Edgar Allen Poe.Her work in turn
influenced regional writers such as cult favorite
H.P. Lovecraft, who found eerie inspiration in the
dilapidated wharves of 19th-century Plymouth
Harbor, and contributed to a school of occult
and horror writing that lives today in the works of
such authors as Stephen King.
"Gothic New England literature is a tradition that
needs to be explored," said Maryanne Driscoll,
senior library assistant at the Kingston Library.
"It was a rich, flourishing tradition in this region."
The library, whose reading group explored that
tradition in Jewett's novella "The Country of the
Pointed Firs," was also drawn to the literary and
dramatic elements of a program on Jewett's
work by actress Rita Parisi.
The result is that the library will host a theatrical
storytelling performance Saturday of Jewett's
"Gothic Victorian Tales." Wearing the Victorian
dress of a 19th-century rural New England
woman, Parisi will tell several of Jewett's stories
with the writer's characteristic supernatural
themes - curses, death, and immortality.
While her short stories mirrored the everyday
lives of New Englanders, they also distilled the
mysterious and supernatural elements in the
region's atmosphere - an aura largely lost to
21st-century social homogenization but still
preserved in some places.
"Even today, there are still pockets of old New
England families, families that have lived here for
centuries in the old villages," Parisi said. If you
know an old New England family, she said, you'll
know what that means. "They're funny."
Jewett's father was a country doctor, and as a
child she rode with him on visits to patients,
meeting unique, sometimes eccentric, New
England characters, old sea captains and
spinsters - part of a world that was already
disappearing in the later 19th century. Jewett
drew from these characters in her work.
In Parisi's adaptation of the three stories, she
keeps exact wording but culls some of the detail.
She enacts the roles of the tales' narrators and
the other characters. All of Jewett's stories, Parisi
noted, have lead female characters.
In "Lady Ferry," the narrator recalls a strange old
woman she met as a little girl. The woman was
very old, her origins mysterious, and a local myth
had raised a troubling question: Was she
immortal? "The Gray Man" deals with the theme
of death and with the character of Death himself.
"The Landscape Chamber" revolves around a
family curse. In this tale, Parisi said, Jewett has
rewritten Poe's famous early horror masterpiece
"The Fall of the House of Usher" from the
viewpoint of a woman.
While Jewett's stories appeared in magazines and
were popular in their day, editors favored realism
and discouraged her from delving more deeply
into the supernatural, Parisi said. "She believed in
the supernatural; she believed in ghosts, in
séances, in something after death," the actress
said. "She believed death was a gift because she
believed in something beyond. She loved
animals, dogs, horses, cats."
Though not numbered among the highbrow
Transcendentalist school of New England
writers, she crossed paths with some, such as the
poet and newspaper editor John Greenleaf
Whittier, and was friends with painter Sophia
Peabody Hawthorne, wife of novelist Nathaniel
Hawthorne - whose fiction brushes upon the
supernatural at times. Unmarried, Jewett lived in
South Berwick, Maine, sharing a home with a
widowed woman friend.
Parisi, who studied at Boston University, lives in
Amesbury, and left a career in molecular biology
about 15 years ago to earn her living as an
actress in independent and commercial films, and
live theater.
Her theatrical credits include roles in "Nunsense"
and "The Crucible"; and "Joey & Maria's Italian
Wedding" at the Tremont Hotel in Boston and as
a persecuted Puritan in Salem's reenactments of
its witch trials.
Classically trained in voice and acting, she took
acting classes to hone her craft. From her science
training, Parisi said, she learned the value of
organization, an appreciation for detail, and
strong analytical skills. All these help in running
her own business and analyzing scripts as a
theater professional, she said.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
By Robert Knox
Boston Globe Correspondent / September 25,
2008
Sarah Orne Jewett, a neglected star in New
England's flourishing 19th-century literary
firmament, drew on the region's fascination with
the supernatural in her "gothic tales" and was
influenced by Edgar Allen Poe.Her work in turn
influenced regional writers such as cult favorite
H.P. Lovecraft, who found eerie inspiration in the
dilapidated wharves of 19th-century Plymouth
Harbor, and contributed to a school of occult
and horror writing that lives today in the works of
such authors as Stephen King.
"Gothic New England literature is a tradition that
needs to be explored," said Maryanne Driscoll,
senior library assistant at the Kingston Library.
"It was a rich, flourishing tradition in this region."
The library, whose reading group explored that
tradition in Jewett's novella "The Country of the
Pointed Firs," was also drawn to the literary and
dramatic elements of a program on Jewett's
work by actress Rita Parisi.
The result is that the library will host a theatrical
storytelling performance Saturday of Jewett's
"Gothic Victorian Tales." Wearing the Victorian
dress of a 19th-century rural New England
woman, Parisi will tell several of Jewett's stories
with the writer's characteristic supernatural
themes - curses, death, and immortality.
While her short stories mirrored the everyday
lives of New Englanders, they also distilled the
mysterious and supernatural elements in the
region's atmosphere - an aura largely lost to
21st-century social homogenization but still
preserved in some places.
"Even today, there are still pockets of old New
England families, families that have lived here for
centuries in the old villages," Parisi said. If you
know an old New England family, she said, you'll
know what that means. "They're funny."
Jewett's father was a country doctor, and as a
child she rode with him on visits to patients,
meeting unique, sometimes eccentric, New
England characters, old sea captains and
spinsters - part of a world that was already
disappearing in the later 19th century. Jewett
drew from these characters in her work.
In Parisi's adaptation of the three stories, she
keeps exact wording but culls some of the detail.
She enacts the roles of the tales' narrators and
the other characters. All of Jewett's stories, Parisi
noted, have lead female characters.
In "Lady Ferry," the narrator recalls a strange old
woman she met as a little girl. The woman was
very old, her origins mysterious, and a local myth
had raised a troubling question: Was she
immortal? "The Gray Man" deals with the theme
of death and with the character of Death himself.
"The Landscape Chamber" revolves around a
family curse. In this tale, Parisi said, Jewett has
rewritten Poe's famous early horror masterpiece
"The Fall of the House of Usher" from the
viewpoint of a woman.
While Jewett's stories appeared in magazines and
were popular in their day, editors favored realism
and discouraged her from delving more deeply
into the supernatural, Parisi said. "She believed in
the supernatural; she believed in ghosts, in
séances, in something after death," the actress
said. "She believed death was a gift because she
believed in something beyond. She loved
animals, dogs, horses, cats."
Though not numbered among the highbrow
Transcendentalist school of New England
writers, she crossed paths with some, such as the
poet and newspaper editor John Greenleaf
Whittier, and was friends with painter Sophia
Peabody Hawthorne, wife of novelist Nathaniel
Hawthorne - whose fiction brushes upon the
supernatural at times. Unmarried, Jewett lived in
South Berwick, Maine, sharing a home with a
widowed woman friend.
Parisi, who studied at Boston University, lives in
Amesbury, and left a career in molecular biology
about 15 years ago to earn her living as an
actress in independent and commercial films, and
live theater.
Her theatrical credits include roles in "Nunsense"
and "The Crucible"; and "Joey & Maria's Italian
Wedding" at the Tremont Hotel in Boston and as
a persecuted Puritan in Salem's reenactments of
its witch trials.
Classically trained in voice and acting, she took
acting classes to hone her craft. From her science
training, Parisi said, she learned the value of
organization, an appreciation for detail, and
strong analytical skills. All these help in running
her own business and analyzing scripts as a
theater professional, she said.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
| Gould's ghouls Tales by Candlelight" excerpted from the Topsfield Village Reporter November 7, 2007 article by Alison D'Amario The rain beat down and wind howled through the trees around Gould Barn. At one point the barn door creaked open-the perfect setting for Rita Parisi's Gothic Victorian Tales by Candlelight at a recent Topsfield Historical Society meeting. Dressed in handmade period clothing and lit only by "candlelight", Parisi held the audience rapt as she recounted three Sarah Orne Jewett tales of the supernatural. The actor who "feels most comfortable performing in intimate settings," chose Jewett's "The Landscape Chamber", "The Grey Man", and "Lady Ferry" for her program at the Gould Barn-excellent selections for the time and place. As she says, "I choose things I can act out-usually in the first person." Parisi spoke each story beautifully so that the listener could appreciate the lovely language while enjoying a shiver from the mystery that each story contained. Parisi and Jewett made perfect story partners for that stormy fall night in October. |
Chicopee Library 449 Front Street. Chicopee, MA Thursday October 20, 2011@ 6:30 PM Past Performances Thayer Memorial Library, MA Tuesday October 19, 2010 Attleboro Public Library, MA Thursday October 21, 2010 Monroe Historical Society, CT Saturday October 23, 2010 Brookline Public Library, NH Thursday, October 28, 2010 @ 7 PM Northfield Library, MA Friday, October 29, 2010 @ 6:30 PM Nichols Village, MA Friday November 5, 2010 Leicester Senior Center, MA Friday October 30, 2009 Grafton Historical Society Wednesday, October 21, 2009 Leach Library, Londonderry NH Thursday, October 15, 2009 St. Mary's Academy, Longmeadow MA Wednesday September 16, 2009 Kingston Public Library, MA September 27, 2008 Blackstone Public Library, MA October 16, 2008 Westborough Council on Aging October 21, 2008 Waltham Public Library, MA October 28, 2008 Easton Council on Aging, MA October 10, 2007 Topsfield Historical Society, MA October 19, 2007 Athol Public Library, Athol, MA October 21, 2007 Milford Council of Aging, MA October 26, 2007 Sharon Public Library, Sharon, MA October 28, 2007 D.A. Hurd Library, N. Berwick, ME January 17, 2007 Windham Women's Club, NH September 6, 2006 Hampstead Public Library, NH October 10, 2006 South Berwick Library, ME Nov 4, 2006 Dudley-Tucker Library, NH October 18, 2006 Exeter Public Library,Exeter NH October 19, 2006 Libby Memorial Library, ME October 28, 2006 |
Sarah Orne Jewett, a native of South Berwick
Maine was one of New England's most prolific
female writers of the 19th century . Her short
stories mirror the
everyday lives of New
Englanders; often
reflecting the mysterious
and supernatural
atmosphere of this region.
Rita has adapted several of
Miss Jewett's short
stories as a theatrical
storytelling presentation.
Gothic Victorian Tales by Candlelight
stories of Sarah Orne Jewett
stories of Sarah Orne Jewett
| This program is appropriate for mature teens and older. Duration: 50 minutes Available only in September, October & November |
I would like to thank you for participating in
our adult program series. Your wonderful
performance had the audience on the edge of
their seats as you treated them with the
well-written and eerie tales of Sarah Orne
Jewett. Your knowledge and respect for her
work were clearly evident in your articulate
storytelling. It was truly the perfect way to
pass a fall evening!
-Kendall Ann Koladish
Public Services Librarian/Program
Coordinator Leach Library, Londonderry NH
our adult program series. Your wonderful
performance had the audience on the edge of
their seats as you treated them with the
well-written and eerie tales of Sarah Orne
Jewett. Your knowledge and respect for her
work were clearly evident in your articulate
storytelling. It was truly the perfect way to
pass a fall evening!
-Kendall Ann Koladish
Public Services Librarian/Program
Coordinator Leach Library, Londonderry NH
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Horror Storyteller Captivates
Imagination at Meetinghouse
By Mike Russo , Patch.com 2010
Actress Rita Parisi portrays 19th century
author Sarah Orne Jewett during a one
woman show sponsored by the Monroe
Historical Society Saturday at the East
Village Meetinghouse on Barn Hill Road.
A packed East Village Meetinghouse lit
only by electric candles became alive with
Gothic Tales by Candlelight Saturday
evening with stories of 19th century horror
writer Sarah Orne Jewett as portrayed by
actress Rita Parisi.
Historical Society featured Parisi dressed
in period clothing performing narrative
adaptations of authors' short stories
Landscape Chamber, The Gray Man and
Lady Ferry.
During the one-hour performance, Parisi
captivated the audience's imagination as it
followed Parisi's every word, filled with
horror and mystery in the dimly lit
meetinghouse.
Parisi concluded the evening with a short
biography of Jewett, who lived between
1849 and 1909 and was born in South
Berwick, Maine.
Jewett's writings are likened to other horror
classics such as Dracula, The House of
Seven Gables, and Frankenstein.
Parisi said during Jewett's early life, she
was a sickly child but was a veracious
reader influenced by Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Edgar Allan Poe and Harriet
Beecher Stowe.
Jewett also traveled across New England
with her father, a country doctor, and kept
journals, writing stories based on her
father's patients.
Jewett's published short stories and
sketches in Atlantic Monthly Magazine in
addition to her poetry and novels were
critically acclaimed during her lifetime.
Parisi said during her performances she
likes to incorporate her love of the theater,
literature and history to create a unique
entertainment and educational experience.
"I always get something out of performing
for the audience and hope they enjoy it
too," she said.
Imagination at Meetinghouse
By Mike Russo , Patch.com 2010
Actress Rita Parisi portrays 19th century
author Sarah Orne Jewett during a one
woman show sponsored by the Monroe
Historical Society Saturday at the East
Village Meetinghouse on Barn Hill Road.
A packed East Village Meetinghouse lit
only by electric candles became alive with
Gothic Tales by Candlelight Saturday
evening with stories of 19th century horror
writer Sarah Orne Jewett as portrayed by
actress Rita Parisi.
Historical Society featured Parisi dressed
in period clothing performing narrative
adaptations of authors' short stories
Landscape Chamber, The Gray Man and
Lady Ferry.
During the one-hour performance, Parisi
captivated the audience's imagination as it
followed Parisi's every word, filled with
horror and mystery in the dimly lit
meetinghouse.
Parisi concluded the evening with a short
biography of Jewett, who lived between
1849 and 1909 and was born in South
Berwick, Maine.
Jewett's writings are likened to other horror
classics such as Dracula, The House of
Seven Gables, and Frankenstein.
Parisi said during Jewett's early life, she
was a sickly child but was a veracious
reader influenced by Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Edgar Allan Poe and Harriet
Beecher Stowe.
Jewett also traveled across New England
with her father, a country doctor, and kept
journals, writing stories based on her
father's patients.
Jewett's published short stories and
sketches in Atlantic Monthly Magazine in
addition to her poetry and novels were
critically acclaimed during her lifetime.
Parisi said during her performances she
likes to incorporate her love of the theater,
literature and history to create a unique
entertainment and educational experience.
"I always get something out of performing
for the audience and hope they enjoy it
too," she said.
Tales by Candlelight for Monroe CT Historical Society 2010
photos courtesy of Mike Russo
photos courtesy of Mike Russo