The show is a staged reading with music from the poetry book, Man-Moth & The Gospel of Possibility. The poems are read by two readers in a unique style of “Prespeak, Swap Out, Repeat, and Double Down.” The live reading is accompanied by original music and audio and played on multiple instruments by a single musician.
The three performers are Donald Levering, Gary Barten, and Argos MacCullum. Levering has authored 17 poetry books and garnered national awards. Barten is a painter, a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and set designer who co-hosted the Santa Fe’s Poets@HERE Gallery reading series. MacCullum is a book-published poet, actor and director, and artistic director of Teatro Paraguas in Santa Fe.
The work premiered in Santa Fe at Teatro Paraguas in May 2026 where the entire run of three performances played to sold out houses.
Man-Moth & The Gospel of Possibility was inspired by Elizabeth Bishop’s poem, “The Man-Moth.” Her poem, in turn, was sparked by a misprint of the word “Man-Moth” for the word “mammoth” in the New York Times. Several of the poems are introduced by quotes from Bishop’s poem. Like her character, Levering’s Man-Moth is an often unwelcome “other” who roams New York City, riding its subways “facing the wrong way” and scaling skyscrapers as he is pursued. He is ostracized by ordinary humans for his differences from them, and also feels a compelling kinship with moths. He witnesses his human mother’s death from Covid. Like Hamlet, in the crucible of his woes he ponders existential questions.