Guest host John Darnielle presents favorite works that reflect on life and death and what comes after. He reads Robert Browning’s chilling poem “My Last Duchess,” and also offers up a new song, “Skeleton’s Tooth.” Molly Ringwald performs “No More Loves,” by Javier Marias, in which a ghost learns to read by proxy. Kirsten Vangsness reads Neil Gaiman’s “When We Went to See the End of the World by Dawnie Morningside, Age 11 ¼; the child narrator doesn’t like what she finds in this magical place. The heroine of Robert Aickman’s “Le Miroir,” does like what she sees in an antique looking glass—but there’s a price to pay. The reader is Kathryn Erbe.
Guest host John Darnielle presents favorite works that reflect on life and death and what comes after. Darnielle’s first novel, Wolf in White Van, was a New York Times bestseller, a National Book Award nominee, and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for first fiction, and widely hailed as one of the best novels of the year. His second novel, Universal Harvester, was released in 2017. Additionally, Darnielle is the author of the “South Pole Dispatch” column in Decibel Magazine; in 2012, he was guest poetry editor for The Mays anthology; and he co-hosts the podcast “I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats.” Darnielle is also the writer, composer, guitarist, and vocalist for the band The Mountain Goats, and on this show he offers up a new song, “Skeleton’s Tooth.”
He also kicks off this program’s eerie line-up with a reading of Robert Browning’s chilling poem “My Last Duchess.” The Duke taking a guest around his sumptuous gallery tells us more than he thinks about himself and his actions. Browning (1812 - 1889) is remembered as one of the most celebrated poets of the Victorian era, best known for his epic poems and collections Pauline, Paracelsus, Men and Women, Dramatis Personae, and The Ring and the Book, as well as his telling of the folktale “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” His poems are noted for their social commentary and use of dark humor and irony. And unlike the sinister Duke in this poem, Browning was happily married, to the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Next, Molly Ringwald performs “No More Loves,” by Javier Marias, in which a ghost learns to read by proxy and forms a friendship with the reader. Darnielle calls Marias “one of the best writers alive.” His works include the novels A Heart So White, winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, The Infatuations, winner of the National Novel Prize, the Your Face Tomorrow trilogy, Berta Isla, and the short story collection When I Was Mortal. In 2013, he was awarded the Prix Formentor international award.
Molly Ringwald’s recent credits include the film “All These Small Moments” which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, “The Kissing Booth,” “Riverdale,” and the off-Broadway production of “Terms of Endearment.” Known for the iconic films “Pretty in Pink,” “The Breakfast Club,” and “Sixteen Candles,” Ringwald began her film career in Paul Mazursky's “Tempest,” also starring in “The Pick-Up Artist,” “For Keeps,” “ Fresh Horses,” “Betsy's Wedding,” and the foreign films “Tous Les Jours Dimanches,” “Enfants de Salaud,” and Goddard's “King Lear.” Additional theater credits include Paula Vogel's “How I Learned to Drive,” the Broadway production of “Cabaret” as Sally Bowles, the Broadway production of “Enchanted April,” the London production of “When Harry Met Sally,” Horton Foote's “Lily Dale” off-Broadway, Jonathan Larson's “Tick, Tick...Boom!,” and the national theater tour of “Sweet Charity.” Ringwald is also a published author, whose articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vogue, Esquire, The Guardian, and more. She translated the French novel Lie with Me, which was published by Scribner and will be released in April 2019. A lifelong singer, Ringwald tours with her jazz quartet and released a debut album with Concord Records.
Darnielle is a fan of the prolific fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, so found a perfect fit for this show in a SHORTS favorite, “When We Went to See the End of the World by Dawnie Morningside, Age 11 ¼.” A family outing to a magical place turns sour, and the child narrator doesn’t like what she finds there.
Reader Kirsten Vangsness is a regular on our stage both in New York and Los Angles, as well as many of our touring ventures. She is best known as Penelope Garcia on the CBS drama “Criminal Minds.” Films include Kill Me Deadly (star and executive producer) and her work on stage includes Neil LaBute's Fat Pig and Sheila Calahan’s, Everything You Touch. She was nominated for Playwright of the Year by LA Weekly and is a company member of Hollywood’s Theatre of NOTE. Vangsness regularly performs her critically acclaimed one-person show Mess--about quantum theory and monsters--around Los Angeles.
Our final story is Robert Aickman’s “Le Miroir,” in which a privileged young woman becomes captivated by an antique looking glass—but at a price. Aickman (1914-1981) is best remembered for his acclaimed “strange stories.” He was the author of eight short story collections of supernatural fiction, two novels, two works of nonfiction, and two autobiographies. He received the World Fantasy Award for his story “Pages from a Young Girl’s Journal” and the British Fantasy Award for his story “The Stains.” He also served as editor for eight volumes of The Fontana Book of Ghost Stories.
This haunting story is performed by Kathryn Erbe, known for her work on "Law and Order: Criminal Intent” and “Oz.” Additional television credits include “American Experience,” “Billions,” The Sinner, How to Get Away with Murder, Instinct, and Pose. Her recent film credits include Kensho at the Bedfellow, Dating My Mother, Assassination Nation, and Alex Strangelove. As a member of the Steppenwolf Theater Company, Erbe has appeared in many productions, including The Grapes of Wrath, Curse of the Starving Class, and A Streetcar Named Desire. She is also a member of the Atlantic Theater Company. Erbe was nominated for a Tony Award for her work in The Speed of Darkness and recently appeared in The Father, opposite Frank Langella. Additional theater credits include Ode to Joy, Checkers, Nikolai and The Others, and Natural Affection.
