E-Mail This Article to a Friend Verse and verser The "Sonnet-thon" and the Boston Poetry Marathon BY NINA MACLAUGHLIN

Jonathan Epstein, an actor with Shakespeare and Company, doesn’t know every one of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets — it just seems that way. "I give that impression," he says, "by never reciting any that I don’t know." The actor estimates he knows half of the Bard’s body of sonnets well enough to recite, and he recognizes "all of them as friends." (Well, except for about six awkward acquaintances that he finds clumsy and unevocative.) This Wednesday at the Boston Public Library, Epstein will have a chance to reunite with all of his 14-line pals at the second annual Shakespeare Sonnet-thon in which actors, directors, teachers, students, and all manner of Shakespeare enthusiasts aim to read, recite, or perform all the sonnets in the span of four hours — an hour longer than last year’s marathon.

Epstein is both the MC of the event and the inspiration. Linda Lowy, artistic director of Shakespeare Now! Theater Company, came up with the idea of the Sonnet-thon after taking an intensive workshop with Epstein. "He’s a sonnet master. Listening to him made me realize the power of sonnets as performance pieces, as these phenomenal little gems of emotion." Wouldn’t it be cool, Lowy thought, to get 154 people "who share a common love for Shakespeare’s language and go through all the sonnets." Turns out, yes, it would be cool, very cool — by all accounts, last year’s event was a huge success.

Lowy credits that success to the spirit of the people and performers: "Everyone wanted to say we accomplished the goal of getting through all of them." Epstein agrees: "Because of the mood, everyone took a shot at making it a kind of performance instead of a poem." As MC, Epstein provides context and insight about the material, maintains the momentum, and keeps "it light enough so that people can afford to get heavy. If there’s an atmosphere of delight and pleasure, then people have the latitude to get more serious."

This year, participants will include directors Rick Lombardo, Diego Arciniegas, Daniel Gidron, and Spiro Veloudos and local actors Jerry Kissel, Susanne Nitter, and Anne Gottlieb. Veloudos was the first to sign up, calling dibs on No. 138 ("When my love swears that she is made of truth"). Gottlieb wrote in saying she "must have" No. 145 ("Those lips that love’s own hand did make"); Kevin Fennessy claimed the ever popular No. 29 ("When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes"); and Lowy herself has selected No. 86 ("Was it the proud full sail of his great verse"). As of this writing, 29 sonnets are still up for grabs.

Leading up to the Sonnet-thon is another epic event of rhyme and meter — the Boston Poetry Marathon, organized by Harris Gardner, the writers’ group Tapestry of Voices, and Kaji Aso Studio, takes place Saturday and Sunday with 56 poets, including Rosanna Warren, Charles Coe, the Phoenix’s own Lloyd Schwartz, Dan Tobin, Rhina Espaillat, Regie Gibson, and Doug Holder. In both these poetic events, Epstein reminds us, "One doesn’t communicate facts, one communicates passion. Passionate regard is infectious."

The Shakespeare Sonnet-thon takes place this Wednesday, April 7 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street in Copley Square. Admission is free. To sign up for one of the remaining sonnets, call (781) 326-3643 or email info@shakespearenow.org. The Boston Poetry Marathon takes place this weekend, on April 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the BPL and on April 4 from noon to 5 p.m. at Northeastern University, Dodge Hall, 360 Huntington Avenue in Boston. Admission is free; call (617) 723-3716.