Early in “Dear Elizabeth,” a play about the friendship between the writers Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, Bishop begins to read aloud one of her poems, “The Fish.” However, the tale of an ancient fish that is caught, examined and then thrown back into the drink is related only in part. Bishop doesn’t finish the reading, which is a shame for fans of the poem but somehow fitting for a play that contains some lovely words but also feels strangely incomplete.

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