Raise the Hammer
There's a lot to like about Infinite Sequels, but it's by no means escapist entertainment. David Stones, who is a semi-retired business man and regional poet, plays The Poet, the person who writes the book Infinite Sequels. (Stones in real life published a book of poetry called Infinite Sequels in 2013).
The play takes us through the creation of the book "Infinite Sequels", largely by David Stones playing The Poet, who is David Stones reciting poems by David Stones. If this seems all a little too meta-theatrical for you, you need not fear, just sit back and enjoy David Stones recite his poetry.
The star of the show is the poetry and Stones recitation of it. It is well accompanied by the musical guidance of David Forrestor and the accomplished violin-playing of Tom Gannon Hamilton, who knows how to enhance Stones' poetry without overshadowing it. That's no mean feat.
Many of Stones's poems tread very familiar poetic ground of love and longing, and many times both. The poems are contemplative, and some are completely void of joy. Still, there are some wonderfully inventive images and turns of phrase.
Stones is fully committed to the work, and it shows in his delivery. If there's any complaint, it may be that for a full show, every poem and every word is given with a kind of intensity that can be exhausting for an audience.
Stones does a lot of drinking on stage, mostly of a very expensive Scotch whiskey. (Not to worry, no actual alcohol was consumed on stage.) I do wonder if this adds to the poems or not. By any means it adds to the mythology of poetry being an expression of self-destruction-which I must say for the record is not a given. Poetry can be as vast and diverse as the universe itself. Drinking and sex and longing are poetic and theatrical choices that Stones makes and fully embraces.
Although I doubt you'll leave this show feeling happy, you may leave this show feeling satisfied. This is a show worth seeing, particularly if you like poetry nights at coffee shops or the local pub.
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