While I didn’t get a chance to watch the Tony’s (ok, who am I kidding… I never watch the Tony’s), I did get to see Mark Rylance’s quixotic acceptance speech. Instead of thanking his mom, hairdresser, and producer’s personal assistant, he launched into an obscure prose poem, “Back Country,” by Louis Jenkins. Since the lit crowd and the award show junkies seldom mingle, the recitation came out more like an intentionally crazed rambling. Which was perfect.
More perfect is one of the facts about poet Louis Jenkins that The Times decided to share with its online audience: “He has been a truck driver, fisherman, librarian, guard, gardener, and shoe salesman.” The Times’ article also contains the full text of the acceptance speech and a self-indulgently clever commenter who noticed the similarities between this and Andy Kaufman’s (in?)famous Gatsby reading.
