Prompt 3 on Fornes

And now for something completely different, amirite?

Alice Gerstenberg lays out characters' every inner thought and desire in Overtones. Susan Glaspell fills her stage with surface details. In their own ways, these two plays each paint a complete picture of their world. One is a complete psychological picture; one is a complete physical picture.

Maria Irene Fornes, however, is famous for denying audiences such complete psychological and physical portraits. In fact, her signature style involves whittling down stories, characters, and images into intense, rich moments.

An early review of a production of Conduct of Life notes this tendency:

"The play conjures a lot of tension, mostly by keeping the scenes tight and disciplined and unsettlingly short. The dialogue and staging seem almost to have been cropped too close at the top or bottom, like those paintings by Philip Pearlstein [nsfw!] where the nude's head or leg has been cropped off the edge. Sometimes the cropping pares away everything but the musing of a single voice, and these monologues are the most effective aspect of all." (Paul Berman. Review of The Conduct of Life and Coming of Age in Soho. The Nation April 6, 1985: 412-413).

Instead of stuffing a stage or characters with detail, Fornes cuts details away. Remember, she could have provided full back-stories and answered all character/setting/plot questions. She chooses not to.



For this post: suppose that you had only this play as an example of a Maria Irene Fornes play. You might conclude, judging from this play, that her dramaturgical style involves pared-down, sometimes even abrupt scenes.

What other dramaturgical choices in Conduct of Life stand out to you? Choose one and discuss it. Give us a quick explanation of what you mean and a quick example of where we can see that choice in action. Finally, venture a guess about what effect this choice has on the story, the characters, and/or the themes in the play. Remember, I'm looking mainly for dramaturgical choices--not "what story is she telling" but "how does she choose to stage that story"?

EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS QUESTION ("bonus" as in "additional," not as in "extra points"): Why's the play called The Conduct of Life? Any guesses?

Do your best to post by Thursday evening

JF

Prompt 2 on Trifles

Greetings, all--

I know most of you haven't yet gotten around to posting on Overtones yet; that's fine since the posts aren't due until Tuesday night.

Nevertheless, since it's a little under a week out from when Trifles is due (i.e., Friday, 1/25), I wanted to get the prompt for that play up as well.

So: for this posting, imagine that someone in the department was proposing a production of Trifles for the Lab season. No problem there, right? The thing is, the proposal specifies that the production be ultra minimalist in design. That is, the production would not create a naturalistic stage full of props and having the actors dress in historically appropriate costumes. Instead, he production will use only blank, black blocks and simple black chairs for furniture. Props will be abstract, neutrally colored versions (e.g., a blank white sheet for Mrs. Wright's quilt, a simple white box for the sewing box, etc.). The actors would dress only in simple black clothes. The ideal design here isn't "sloppy" or "cheap" but just "blank" and "abstract."

Says the director: "I want to focus on the words and emotions in this production. I want the audience and the actors to focus on the people, not on things."

Now, to be clear: the production wouldn't be altering the dialogue or plot at all.

My questions for you to write about: What do you think of this proposal? What would such a production gain? What would it lose? Try to answer mainly from the perspective of the script. That is, can you imagine an ultra stripped-down production of Trifles (i.e., a theatricalized rather than naturalistic production) that nevertheless doesn't lose something significant?

Make your post for Trifles by the evening of Thursday 1/24. Hopefully by then I'll be able to start putting you all into blog reading circles, and you can respond to each other's ideas.

As always, contact me if you have questions or concerns.

Be well,

JF

Prompt 1: Overtones

In Overtones, Alice Gerstenberg specifies that Harriet never actually sees Hattie (though she hears her) and that Margaret never actually sees Maggie (though, again she hears her). Things are slightly more complicated, however, in terms of if/when/where/how Hattie and Maggie see or hear each other.

On a larger level, I'm asking about the "rules" or conventions for this play's theatrical world. That is, what determines if, when, where, and by whom a character can be seen/heard? How do you know what these conventions are? How would an audience (who doesn't get to read Gerstenberg's stage directions) know this? Are these rules consistent throughout the play? Or are there moments in the play that bend or break these rules? If so, where? How do you know? What effect do these choices (consistency, non-consistency, etc.) have?

Post your response in about 300 words by the evening of Tuesday, January 22. Be ready for a quiz on Overtones in class on Wednesday, January 23.

Beyond this post: think, also, about this play through the lens of Fuch's "Visit to a Small Planet." See what comes from thinking about the various attributes of this play's world. Remember, it's as important to note what Gerstenberg leaves unspecified as it is to note what she specifies.

As always, contact me (and/or Macy and Brook) if you have questions or concerns.

Best,

JF

Welcome!

Greetings, THTR 2130 People--

This is the main course blog. Here's where I (and/or Brook and Macy) will be posting prompts for the plays we read this semester. You should consult this site regularly.

By Friday, January 25, you should each do the following:

• Register with blogger.com and create a blog site dedicated to this course (THTR 2130). (note: the first time you go to blogger.com, you'll be asked to sign in using Gmail and/or create your blogger account)
• E-mail your URL (the web address that appears when you "view blog" on your own blog) to Dr. Fletcher, Brook, and Macy (see either the syllabus or the Moodle site for our e-mails).
•  "Follow" the main course blog at thtr2130spring2013.blogspot.com

 Blogger is fairly friendly; you shouldn't have too much trouble setting up your own website. Contact us if you have questions or concerns, and watch this space for your first prompt!

Best,

JF