The UW's David Wagoner, a poet and creative writing professor, has written a play about the UW's Theodore Roethke, a poet and creative writing professor. Roethke taught at the UW between 1947 and 1963, when he wasn't self-medicating his bipolar disorder by boozing it up at the Blue Moon -- and sometimes when he was. Wagoner was a student; his play takes the form of a creative writing seminar that Roethke is leading, and focuses on Roethke's extraordinary charisma and enthusiasm as a teacher. The Seattle Times preview talks more about the impact of his poetry; the P-I talks about putting the play together. Because of rights difficulties, the play doesn't use Roethke's poetry but that's all right -- a poetry reading and a play are two different things. First Class opens Thursday at ACT and runs through August 26.
