A Message to the City from Charles Leggett

Good morning. It’s June 29, a few hours after another fatal shooting at CHOP, and the morning when worldwide COVID fatalities have passed half a million. But amid the destruction and loss of life, at least there is still art—at least there are still artists who can open up our minds and make us see life in new ways.

One of the most brilliant actors in the city, Charles Leggett, responded to the invitation to make a Message to the City by asking if he could perform the work of another artist, the poet Kyle Dacuyan. He first encountered it in the online literary magazine The Offing.

It has lines like “Every time I speak / the room more brightly empties.” And Chuck’s delivery—compelling, accessible, and disarming—draws out all the layers. Even if you don’t usually go for poetry, give this one a shot. Poets should hire actors to perform their works on the regular.

You can follow along with the text of the poem here.

When Chuck reached out to Kyle, the poet not only gave permission for his poem to be performed, but also extended his solidarity to all of us here in Seattle (and the CHOP) from New York City. (The poet also happens to be the executive director of this bad-ass organization.)

As for Chuck, “Leggett has been working in this town for a long time—thank god,” Brendan Kiley wrote in 2015, when Leggett was nominated for a Stranger Genius Award. “Whenever I open a theater program and see his name, it instantly sparks a sense of relief and hope. Whatever else might happen over the next few hours, you know you’re in good hands.”

Chuck, who is also a poet, is known among theater types for his highly developed ear for the possibilities of language:

Back in 2010, during the world’s umpteenth production of Hamlet, actor Charles Leggett did something unprecedented. He was playing the ghost of Hamlet’s father, that dourest of dour roles, and he extracted an astonished laugh from the audience with a single “O.” He wasn’t mugging or being at all hammy. He used a deadly earnest “O” in a way no one in the audience had ever heard it before. It was in the famous line “Amazement on thy mother sits: O, step between her and her fighting soul.” Instead of delivering the “O” as it’s always delivered, he glanced at the dead body of Polonius and spoke it as a mildly surprised but almost indifferent “Oh“…

With one carefully deployed syllable, he gave the ghost, his relationship to his closest adviser, and the world of Hamlet, a 400-year-old play, a whole new dimension.

Thank you, Chuck, for the inspired performance of a piece of art we may not have encountered otherwise.

Thank you, Kyle, for the poem. “Every time I speak / the room more brightly empties” will be rattling around in our heads for a while.

Good luck in your empty room today, wherever it is.

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Previously in this series:

Rachel Guyer-Mafune’s message to the city on June 26.

Liz Hayes’s message to the city on June 24.

Nicholas Bernard’s message to the city on June 22.

Tariqa Waters’s message to the city on June 19.

Bruce Clayton Tom’s message to the city on June 18.

Isaac Gutierrez’s message to the city on June 17.

Markeith Wiley’s message to the city on June 16.

Aleksa Manila’s message to the city on June 15.

Derrick Ryan Claude Mitchell’s message to the city on June 12.

Bret Fetzer’s message to the city on June 11.

Kyle O’Quin’s message to the city on June 10.

Elisheba Johnson’s message to the city on June 9.

Michael Jinsoo Lim’s message to the city on June 8.

Brandon Ivie’s message to the city on June 5.

Kimya Dawson’s message to the city on June 4.

Jennifer Nelson’s message to the city on June 3.

Erin Jorgensen’s message to the city on June 2.

Brangien Davis and Daniel Spils’s message to the city on June 1.

Timothy De Clue’s message to the city on May 29.

Elizabeth Aquino’s message to the city on May 28.

Christopher Frizzelle’s message to the city on May 27.

Elby Brosch’s message to the city on May 26.

Mila Skyy’s message to the city on May 22.

Michael Lee’s message to the city on May 21.

SassyBlack’s message to the city on May 20.

Seattle Symphony horn section’s message to the city on May 19.

Lori Goldston’s message to the city on May 18.

Ibidunni Ojikutu’s message to the city on May 15.

RL Heyer’s message to the city on May 14.

Garth Stein’s message to the city on May 13.

Okanomodé’s message to the city on May 12.

Zoe Scofield’s message to the city on May 11.

Aham Oluo’s message to the city on May 8.

Pete Rush’s message to the city on May 7.

Trent Moorman’s message to the city on May 6.

Renée Valencia’s message to the city on May 5.

Justin Huertas’s message to the city on May 4.

Charles Mudede’s message to the city on May 1.

Kathryn Rathke’s message to the city on April 30.

Anthony White’s message to the city on April 30.

Miss Texas 1988’s message to the city.

Matt Bishop’s message on April 27.

Cherdonna’s message to the city on April 26.

Shenandoah Davis’s message to the city on April 25.

Lorena González’s message to the city on April 24.

Clyde Petersen’s message to the city on April 23.

David Ritt’s message to the city on April 22.

Sara Porkalob’s message to the city on April 21.

Julia Sweeney’s message to the city on April 20.

Linda Derschang’s message to the city on April 19.

Molly Sides’s message to the city on April 18.

Nick Garrison’s message to the city on April 17.

Tomo Nakayama’s message to the city on April 16.

Rebecca M. Davis’s message to the city April 15.

Heather McHugh’s message to the city on April 14.

Brandon O’Neill’s message to the city on April 13.

Kate Wallich’s message to the city on April 12.

Rebecca Brown’s message to the city on April 11.

Lucien Postlewaite’s message to the city on April 10.

Betty Wetter’s message to the city on April 9.

Amanda Morgan’s message to the city on April 8.

Nancy Guppy’s message to the city on April 7.

Jonathan Biss’s message to the city on April 6.

Chris Jeffries’s message to the city on April 5.

Lesley Hazleton’s message to the city on April 4.

John Roderick’s message to the city on April 3.

Bill Carty’s message to the city on April 2.

Price Suddarth’s message to the city on April 1.

Kary Wayson’s message to the city on March 31.

Ellen Forney’s message to the city on March 30.

Major Scales’s message to the city on March 29.

E. J. Koh’s message to the city on March 28.

Ken Jennings’s message to the city on March 27.

Demarre McGill’s message to the city on March 26.

Lynn Shelton’s Message to the City on March 25th.

Timothy White Eagle’s message to the city on March 24.

Cookie Couture’s message to the city on March 23.

Sarah Rudinoff’s message to the city on March 22.

John Osebold’s message to the city on March 21.

Ben Gibbard’s message to the city on March 20.

Nathan Chan’s message to the city on March 19.