The Wild Party: The Lost Classic

By: Joseph Moncure March

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Synopsis: "The Wild Party" is a raw, funny, tragic narrative poem about a couple working in Vaudeville, Queenie and Burrs, who decide to throw a party in their New York apartment in the 1920's. She is a beautiful dancer who has known many men; he, a successful clown who has charmed many women but who is also violent and mean. Their relationship is volatile, passionate and dangerous to them both. The poem introduces us to many characters, some innocent but looking for action, some jaded, some brutal. Queenie decides to use one guest, the handsome newcomer Black, to make Burrs jealous, albeit Black arrived with Queenie's friend Kate. As the party becomes progressively more chaotic and orgiastic, the love triangle intensifies beyond Queenie's own expectation, until tragedy occurs.