Keats is based on the life of John Keats, one of the greatest of all English poets. Today, Keats' poetry is compared to that of Wordsworth, Milton, and Shakespeare. The play centers on the life of the man that produced such great works of literature. Paul Harris' play is not only about the poetry, but about Keats himself. It is an absorbing and amusing play that sheds new light onto Keats as a person.
John Keats had the most remarkable career-and the shortest one-of any major English poet. He was born on 31 October 1795, in London. His father, a stableman, was killed when Keats was eight; his mother died less than six years later. Though Keats studied medicine, he eventually abandoned that career for poetry; his first book, Poems, was published in 1817, and his second one, Endymion, appeared in 1818. That same year Keats tended his brother Tom, who wasted away and eventually died of consumption (tuberculosis) in December. In 1819, Keats wrote his most enduring works, including "The Eve of St. Agnes," "Ode to a Nightingale," "Ode on a Grecian Urn," "The Fall of Hyperion," and "To Autumn"; these poems were published in 1820, in his third and last book. Preoccupied with his love for Fanny Brawne (to whom he became engaged), and beset by financial worries, he coughed up blood in February of 1820. Keats knew from this that he would die of the same disease that claimed his mother and his brother-and he did, on 23 February 1821, leaving behind him, at age 25, a remarkable legacy of outstanding poetry.
Paul Harris attended the London School of Economics, and trained at the Guild Hall School of Music and Drama in London. He has appeared on the British television series Galloping Galaxies!, and has written a number of radio scripts for the BBC. Harris's stage work has included roles in Julius Caesar, Richard II, The Comedy of Errors, Another Country, and an adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd.
Keats originally premiered to critical acclaim in England and then toured to Italy. The play was first performed in the United States at Harvard University. Mr. Harris' current tour covers eleven states, ranging from Texas to Massachusetts. His appearance at WPI is made possible by the WPI Department of Humanities and Arts, the WPI Speakers Fund, the Fine Arts Committee, and the Worcester State College Department of English.
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