“Severn-I–lift me up–I am dying–I shall die easy–don’t be frightened–be firm, and thank God it has come!”
John Keats
If there had been no Covid pandemic, they would have marked the 200th anniversary of John Keats’ death with a new production of the play Lift Me Up I am Dying in the house that Keats died – now the Keats-Shelley House in Rome. But when it was clear that a live performance would not be possible, the creator Pele Cox came up with an alternative: she would have Zoom meetings with the actors who happened to be in lockdown and then let them film themselves and bring to life a half-hour film based on the last weeks of Keats’ life. Continue reading “An Intimate Virtual Performance: Damian Lewis in “Lift Me Up I am Dying””
Since I launched Fan Fun with Damian Lewis in 2015, we always reserved the last two weeks of the year for a year in review – we picked and brought you the moments in which Damian shone as a brilliant actor, a wonderful storyteller, a true gentleman, a serious athlete or just a guy who knows to have a good time. We cannot bring ourselves to have a big celebration this year for obvious reasons.
That said, we also know in our hearts that Helen, a beautiful soul, a brilliant actress, and a kick-ass woman that she was, would want us to carry on – exactly like she wanted her family to do – and celebrate her beloved husband like we always did. So we decided to have a year in review without calling it one and we start with Damian rediscovering a love poetry recording he and Helen did together at Cheltenham Literature Festival in October 2014.
Well, I was there in the room when Damian and Helen read love poems to each other from The Love Book, a brilliant collection of classic and contemporary love poems that vary from Shakespeare to E.E. Cummings to Maya Angelou coming together in a book as well as in an app. It was a moving and intimate hour with a powerhouse husband and wife team reading poems, teasing each other, and sharing their dynamic chemistry with the audience.
It turns out that when the festival inquired about a possible video recording of the reading in 2014, Helen and Damian said no. Damian tellsThe Sunday Times:
The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Damian Lewis rediscovered a love poetry recording he and his late wife Helen McCrory did together at Cheltenham Literature Festival back in October 2014. Well, I was there in the room when Damian and Helen read love poems to each other from The Love Book, a brilliant collection of classic and contemporary love poems that vary from Shakespeare to E.E. Cummings to Maya Angelou coming together in a book as well as in an app. It was a moving and intimate hour with a powerhouse husband and wife team reading poems, teasing each other, and sharing their dynamic chemistry with the audience.
February is the month of LOVE and poetry is one of the most beautiful ways to express love… We love poetry on Fan Fun with Damian Lewis. And, especially because Damian loves and actively supports poetry, we do our best to promote poetry! And, one of the main poetry projects Damian supports is the Love Book project including a book as well as an app, a brilliant collection of classic and contemporary love poems that vary from Shakespeare to E.E. Cummings to Maya Angelou.
There is no question that the last nine months have been different than any other for everyone. And so, for Damian, too, there was no filming, no going out in London, no theatre, no Wimbledon, no summer festival or live concert. l. But the good news is that the pandemic did not stop him from being very good at doing good.
We talked about Damian and Helen’s finest moment during the pandemic, Feed NHS, earlier here.
But then Damian wore his charity hat multiple times throughout the year for different great causes. And I think if Damian’s generous heart does not make a top moment, what else does?
