Witness to Atrocities
The poetry of
Anna Akhmatova -
heard by
HOWARD SMITH'... a cause for unstinting applause and praise.'
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It may seem reasonable to suppose that the life and work of legendary USSR poet Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) is of little or no interest in the 21st century South-west Pacific.
Far from it. Those fortunate enough to attend the 2005 New Theatre (Sydney) première of Alma de Groen's haunting The Woman in the Window with director Kevin Jackson must surely have enduring recollections of two worlds effectively dehumanised.
Akhmatova (played by Elaine Hudson) disingenuously notes: 'Who needs Gutenberg? We're back in the days of Homer.'
Copyright © 12 April 2011
Howard Smith,
Masterton, New Zealand
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