The Wild Party is the name of a novel-length poem written by Joseph Moncure March that was immediately banned across the nation, starting in Boston upon its publication in 1928, for its decadent content. In spite of- and perhaps due to- the controversy linked to the piece it was a success and it became a cult classic.
Louis Untermeyer, the famed American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor, declared at the time of its original release: “It is repulsive and fascinating, vicious and vivacious, uncompromising, unashamed… and unremittingly powerful. It is an amazing tour de force.”
March’s later works were considered more mainstream because they didn’t carry the same level of social debate.
Showbiz insiders Queenie and her lover Burrs, who live a decadent style that March depicts as unique to Hollywood, decide to have a party, complete with illegal bathtub gin and a houseful of the couple’s eccentric and egocentric friends- but the party unfolds with more intrigue than planned.
A new hardcover edition, released in 1994 with the subtitle The Lost Classic, featured about fifty black-and-white illustrations by Art Spiegelman, a long-time admirer of the poem. In his introduction to the volume, Spiegelman recalls his first meeting with William Burroughs and indicates that the conversation was pretentious until Spiegelman asked the elderly Burroughs if he ever read March’s poem.
He had in 1938, when he was a graduate student at Harvard. It was the “book that made me want to be a writer,” Burroughs said, who then recited the opening couplet of the poem.
The New York Times described Spiegelman’s drawings as “demonic woodcuts: every angle, line, and curve jumps out at you. Stylishness and brutishness are in perfect accord.”
For those who think that poetry is all flowers and sonnets, this poem can make even readers with no time for such foolishness stop dead in their tracks, entranced by every word. Then, once fully digested by the mind, large shards of this story of one night of debauchery will become permanently lodged in the brain.
The plot is misleadingly in its simplicity. Vaudeville dancer Queenie (played by Danica Dawn Johnston in Houston’s Bayou City Theatrics new production, pictured left) and famed clown Burrs (played by Colton Berry) decide to settle down together and move into a loft. Several years later, passion subsided after a brutal incident with Burrs, Queenie determines to humiliate him publicly, and suggests the party, where she intends to carry out her plan.
Guests such as Kate (Erin Wasmund), Queenie’s best friend and friendly rival, arrives with the mysterious Mr. Black, and suggestions of lust almost immediately connect Queenie and Mr. Black, while Kate pursues Burrs.
Prizefighter Eddie and his newlywed bride Mae, the lesbian Madelaine True, the gay D’Armano brothers, as well as a producer, a hooker (Kelley Waguespack), and Nadine, a minor all begin to arrive for the festivities.
This takes place in the Manhattan of 1928, but it could just as well been Manhattan in the 1970s.
Large amounts of alcohol are consumed, drugs are shared, and the bed at stage left is a revolving door of occupants. There is no attempt to glamorize the life-style and even the sex in an orgy staged in silhouette seems joyless.
But, damn, is it exciting to watch and read.
Decadence can have its own fascination, and the interplay between characters creates a world you wouldn’t want to live in, but one that certainly you will certainly enjoy visiting. It was the 50 Shades of Grey of its time. The only difference is- The Wild Party has staying power.
The Wild Party has been translated into French, German, Spanish and Swedish and was adapted into a low-rated film version in 1975, and two stage musicals, both produced in New York City in the same 1999–2000 theater season- Michael John LaChiusa’s version, directed by George C. Wolfe was highlighted on Broadway while the Andrew Lippa version was performed off-Broadway. In the last decade, theatre companies from New York to Utah have rekindled an interest and a new life in this one night of hot sex and cold murder.
For more information on the Banned Books Awareness and Reading for Knowledge project and the complete list of titles covered, please visit the official website at http://bbark.deepforestproductions.com/
Sources: Wikipedia, Houston Press
© 2013 R. Wolf Baldassarro/Deep Forest Productions
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