Sunday, April 28, 2013
Jerry
Jerry is represents the everydayness of life. Also of the mundanity of what takes up our daily lives. This is in contrast to the rose that Fran describing as falling in the dance. That every day in life there is a monotony that happens that can get you off of your game. That takes you away from the poetry of life. There is a sameness. The scene between Jerry and Joseph talking about the Notices of Violation almost takes the air out of the play. Will he get out of the parking violation or not? Not a very interesting question. But then we see him later dancing with Fran. Taking lessons. Finding that he is also dissatisfied with what he is doing and then finds a connection with Fran and others through dance. That is a beautiful thing to see the world open up in front of him.
I'm looking at the scene again in which we see him and I think that Lindsay is right. The scene when he is talking about his violations is funny. He is a jovial guy. He is a guy that is very happy helping others, being in service of others. He thinks that by bringing a smile to someone's face is a worthwhile thing to do in life. He probably hasn't been very highly educated. Probably got through high school. Likes to talk to Marc and Joseph about the books they are reading or the gallery openings that they have attended because he likes learning. He hasn't had a good formal way of learning, maybe that is the reason why he didn't go past high school. His father before him might've also been a person who was a janitor or maybe worked in a factory. Takes pride in working with his hands. Great at tinkering.
Really likes Fran a lot. Thinks she is beautiful. Really struck by the fact that she is an immigrant and that she is going to teach him how to dance. Thinks Fran is absolute stunner and is attracted to her as a human being. Likes that Fran doesn't judge him. Treats him real.
Pants/Top - I think that he is wearing a uniform. I'm thinking a navy blue for him. Or maybe a little lighter than that.
I'm looking at the scene again in which we see him and I think that Lindsay is right. The scene when he is talking about his violations is funny. He is a jovial guy. He is a guy that is very happy helping others, being in service of others. He thinks that by bringing a smile to someone's face is a worthwhile thing to do in life. He probably hasn't been very highly educated. Probably got through high school. Likes to talk to Marc and Joseph about the books they are reading or the gallery openings that they have attended because he likes learning. He hasn't had a good formal way of learning, maybe that is the reason why he didn't go past high school. His father before him might've also been a person who was a janitor or maybe worked in a factory. Takes pride in working with his hands. Great at tinkering.
Really likes Fran a lot. Thinks she is beautiful. Really struck by the fact that she is an immigrant and that she is going to teach him how to dance. Thinks Fran is absolute stunner and is attracted to her as a human being. Likes that Fran doesn't judge him. Treats him real.
Pants/Top - I think that he is wearing a uniform. I'm thinking a navy blue for him. Or maybe a little lighter than that.
Luis
For Luis, at the start of the play there is a sense of stagnation in his life. He apologizes about not writing and reasons that there is "nothing very interesting in his life". There is a general dissatisfaction. What will he do? Will he cross over? The breathing that he has at the beginning of the play is very labored. There is a tenseness. An anxiety over his present situation. He can't write but he wants to write. His sister is not with him. There is a void.
His clothing reflects a very workaday situation. There isn't excess. The fact that he is not writing just to write is important. He is spare. He is measured. But he is also wishing that he could be in the United States with Fran. He wants to breath in the beauty. When he says, "What a lovely thought" he is saying that he wants to breath in a different poetry of life.
Luis is not just whole heartedly working to go to the United States. He has repsonsibilities. It may be that he even sacrificed in some way for Fran to be where she is. He is heavily invested in her. From being in a family of immigrants I can relate personally to how this is very important. The "lucky one" who goes away needs to send money back to their families back home. The people back home will make that sacrifice if the one who left stays in contact and sends stuff back. There is a sort of contract between the family and the individual. He has sacrificed. The clothing he wears at is practical. He has a set of clothing that he usually wears. There isn't the money for a wardrobe. Maybe he has a little more flair at the beginning when he doesn't have children, but when he has Enrique, he takes on that responsibility and his son will retain the brightness of his clothing.
When you breath into someone else then you change. Your colors change. So I think that there is a change at the very end of the play when Luis and Fran get together. Love makes you blush. It makes you red in the face. And you feel hot in your face. How do we mark love in the play through the costumes? How does love change our breathing? Love makes you feel good. It is a very physical feeling.
Enrique changes his mind. Enrique opens Luis up to possibility of just living. Of being where you are. Luis says that life is difficult and Enrique says, "Let's not do difficult. Let's do happy!" Then they dance and they are living a song. They are physicalizing joy. Love can change your breathing. Love is the connection between the two worlds.
**Beginning of play - So he starts out with a little bit of flair. He is single. But a little bit more reserved because he may have to conserve because of Fran.
**Enrique's birth - He gives his love to his son. He is clothing is more muted because he wants to make sure his son is taken care of.
**Trip to America - Through the portal. He is in his best. He is dreaming through his son. His dream becomes reality. I think that he is then wearing his most vibrant clothing.
I am attracted to the idea that Aubrey floated about about the breathing. I think that these characters coe together is through love and the way love changes your breathe.
Top - Cream colored shirt with checks on them. Large plaid. He is a little conservative. I think older than Fran, he wants to take care of things. He is a little tentative about life. He talks about leaving Cuba but doesn't go until Enrique announces that he wants to do it.
Pants - Jeans. A little faded out. Levis Jeans. He is a little particular about them. They are pressed. They have a little crease in the front. He is maybe a mirror to Joseph. He needs to be opened up.
Top - Cream colored shirt with checks on them. Large plaid. He is a little conservative. I think older than Fran, he wants to take care of things. He is a little tentative about life. He talks about leaving Cuba but doesn't go until Enrique announces that he wants to do it.
Pants - Jeans. A little faded out. Levis Jeans. He is a little particular about them. They are pressed. They have a little crease in the front. He is maybe a mirror to Joseph. He needs to be opened up.
Enrique
I think of Enrique as being the poetry in Luis's life. Enrique is exuberance. Enrique gets Luis off of his ass, out of his head. Makes him think of the present. Holds Luis to be accountable to what is happening right in front of him. There is an eagerness about Enrique, a hunger for life. So much was his appetite for life that he was born a month earlier than expected.
Enrique is a dreamer. He wants to hear the fairy tale versions of reality first. He imagines himself in the United States and is the driving force for the family to move. He announces in 18, "Papa, I want to be in New York!" and he drags his Luis there to be reunited with Fran. Enrique gets his father to sing. To be a poet. To think outside of the box.
From his connection to Fran, Enrique knows that Cuba cannot hold him. He can make believe very well in Cuba. He is adept at it. He can make a can many things. But he now wants to see the reality. He doesn't want to live in make believe. He wants to see the fancy restaurants in New York and Paris. He wants to cross over into the real and know what it is like to breath that air.
I picture his clothes as being hand-me-downs. They can either be a little too big for him or a little too tight. They might even be clothing that you would find from goodwill as they might have come from organizations or individuals who are bringing clothing over to help out. There is also a sense of the heat, so I am thinking that he is wearing shorts or that he might even not be wearing a shirt at all. In general, there is a freedom of movement in his clothing and also a freedom on his clothing constricting his thought.
**Clothes get smaller as the show progresses. Maybe they are a little loose at first, and then they get tighter. But they are the same clothes for the actor. It is like a soap opera character. They age like 10 years after being born a couple of months ago. And then age again the next year and are dating someone on the show who has been around for 5 years.
Shirt - White polo shirt. Worn a little. Looks a little tired. Worn out. Lots of washings.
Pants - He is wearing shorts. Khaki. I like that it is a little formal. Probably hand-me-downs from maybe when his father was a kid as well.
Shoes - No shoes. He is grounded. Of the earth. He is someone who is very connected to his impulses. A lot of the plays impulses comes through him.
Enrique is a dreamer. He wants to hear the fairy tale versions of reality first. He imagines himself in the United States and is the driving force for the family to move. He announces in 18, "Papa, I want to be in New York!" and he drags his Luis there to be reunited with Fran. Enrique gets his father to sing. To be a poet. To think outside of the box.
From his connection to Fran, Enrique knows that Cuba cannot hold him. He can make believe very well in Cuba. He is adept at it. He can make a can many things. But he now wants to see the reality. He doesn't want to live in make believe. He wants to see the fancy restaurants in New York and Paris. He wants to cross over into the real and know what it is like to breath that air.
I picture his clothes as being hand-me-downs. They can either be a little too big for him or a little too tight. They might even be clothing that you would find from goodwill as they might have come from organizations or individuals who are bringing clothing over to help out. There is also a sense of the heat, so I am thinking that he is wearing shorts or that he might even not be wearing a shirt at all. In general, there is a freedom of movement in his clothing and also a freedom on his clothing constricting his thought.
**Clothes get smaller as the show progresses. Maybe they are a little loose at first, and then they get tighter. But they are the same clothes for the actor. It is like a soap opera character. They age like 10 years after being born a couple of months ago. And then age again the next year and are dating someone on the show who has been around for 5 years.
Shirt - White polo shirt. Worn a little. Looks a little tired. Worn out. Lots of washings.
Pants - He is wearing shorts. Khaki. I like that it is a little formal. Probably hand-me-downs from maybe when his father was a kid as well.
Shoes - No shoes. He is grounded. Of the earth. He is someone who is very connected to his impulses. A lot of the plays impulses comes through him.
Gerardo - Miliciano Uniforme
I think Gerardo grounds us in Cuba. We see the uniform. The uniform that signifies the embargo, the distance, the resistance, Castro, the pride of Cuba, the homeland. Patria o muerte! Homeland or death! Most of his family has left to live in other countries - Spain, Mexico and the United States - but he chooses to remain because of he doesn't want to leave his home. He has found his love in Cuba. His community. He doesn't want to leave his homeland to be a stranger. Even in the action of applying for the visa his homeland will reject him. Not giving him rations. It may be too painful for him. He is the embodiment of why it is difficult to leave and what you may be missing. Country. Home.
As performed in the United States for our audiences, I think that can have a startling effect to have him in actual Cuban military gear. There is a physicalization of a human being talking about real life matters. Living life on stage. In uniform. It personalizes the uniform, the conflict between the two nations. Gerardo's language softens they way we look at that country. There is a desire for home, and a knowledge that Cuba is a choice. Family is a choice. People come to the United States because of opportunity. But in making that decision there is a huge divide that they must leap across or bridge.
As performed in the United States for our audiences, I think that can have a startling effect to have him in actual Cuban military gear. There is a physicalization of a human being talking about real life matters. Living life on stage. In uniform. It personalizes the uniform, the conflict between the two nations. Gerardo's language softens they way we look at that country. There is a desire for home, and a knowledge that Cuba is a choice. Family is a choice. People come to the United States because of opportunity. But in making that decision there is a huge divide that they must leap across or bridge.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Characters...
Thoughts after yesterday's meeting...
I think I seriously confused the issue of place (which is to say time) when I said awhile back that I wanted the visual elements of the play not to read as *1960s*--because I do, in fact, think the play is set in Greenwich Village in the (early?) 60s, and that the community in which these characters exist is one marked by artistic experimentation in all areas of life. This community is composed of people living (indeed, often by choice, and many having come from relatively comfortable circumstances) precariously, packed together by financial necessity and also a feeling of creative necessity into apartments with strangers who become friends, collaborators, and profound influences upon one's work.
I think it's a colorful, vibrant environment in which people are constantly trying new things. I think in Marc and Joseph we have some of this distilled, made almost childlike. I think their appearance should evoke a feeling of convenience and of practicality when it comes to dress, but also a vitality and a youthfulness, and enough attention to style that they look like they would go out of the apartment this way. I think we need to look at imagery from the Village in the 60s. People in studios, in apartments, in parks. I think Marc and Joseph are "young artists and poets"; I think they're a nostalgic type, that the play treats as at once a little silly and self-involved, but also with a deep affection and love. In general, the play seems to have a deep affection for its characters.
In New York, I don't think we leave the 60s Village. I don't think we move, within New York, much of anywhere in time, I don't think we see the physical effects of time passing, I don't think we mark events in the decade. I think, as an audience, we watch time, we are made to think about time, but we see it thrown into relief against the absence of its passing. So anyway, I don't think anybody in New York gets older, or anything like that. I think we track change but not time. So when Joseph appears slightly different at some point when he has realized he's in love with Fran, that, to me, seems more about that realization than about time having passed.
I think time is passing in Cuba, or has been passing in Cuba, and New York is waiting for the time in Cuba to catch up in such a way that it will be possible for Luis and Enrique to arrive. Really, this seems to be about Enrique. Enrique is the only character who shows us the passing of time, through his physical growth (or at least the pretense of his physical growth). Children show us time in a way that adults do not. And children experience time in a way adults do not.
If we're thinking about breathing (I really love this idea from Aubrey) then what we might say is that the two worlds we watch are trying to bring their separate breaths into a single rhythm. Also makes me think about a boat pulling up to another boat, and the awkwardness of trying to get from one to another, since they're moving differently, one up, one down.
Back to the Village, and clothing in particular. It's ok if it does not feel contemporary--my main concern was really just that it not feel like "The 60s!" I think there's a specific set of referents for the 60s that are over-determined; they work as signs and against creating an environment--the bell bottoms, the crocheted ponchos, the polyester. I also think the early 60s provide the more muted, and even more formal kind of world I think fits the play.
Cuba, I think, has a similar formality, which Flordelino was pointing out in the photos he brought. An attention to dress. It's there, certainly, in Ana's wish for the grey stockings. It's there in Geraldo's military uniform (it'd be great to see some photos of Cuban military uniforms--I wonder what sort of interesting contrast this will create with Luis' clothing. And also the idea that Geraldo was going to come play baseball in his uniform. And that they don't mention the uniform, so it must be his usual dress).
Jerry the plumber. I think he probably looks a little less stylish than Marc and Joseph, a little more put together and buttoned-up, but less lithe and comfortable in his clothing. I like Jerry. He feels like a very specific memory, and that he is remembered in part because he reminds her of Geraldo.
I think we may need to be thinking about all these characters (or at least the New York characters--maybe even including Fran) as memories. And that that in part determines how they work and what we can (and cannot) know about them. I think it's ok that we don't, in fact, know very much about them at all. That feels important. We're working with sketches that are sketches for a reason. This perhaps relates to the fact that Joseph gets kind of obliterated when the family arrives. I think what Taibi and Flordelino were saying is right--Luis and Enrqiue feel more "real" than the New York characters.
More to say. Still thinking.
I think I seriously confused the issue of place (which is to say time) when I said awhile back that I wanted the visual elements of the play not to read as *1960s*--because I do, in fact, think the play is set in Greenwich Village in the (early?) 60s, and that the community in which these characters exist is one marked by artistic experimentation in all areas of life. This community is composed of people living (indeed, often by choice, and many having come from relatively comfortable circumstances) precariously, packed together by financial necessity and also a feeling of creative necessity into apartments with strangers who become friends, collaborators, and profound influences upon one's work.
I think it's a colorful, vibrant environment in which people are constantly trying new things. I think in Marc and Joseph we have some of this distilled, made almost childlike. I think their appearance should evoke a feeling of convenience and of practicality when it comes to dress, but also a vitality and a youthfulness, and enough attention to style that they look like they would go out of the apartment this way. I think we need to look at imagery from the Village in the 60s. People in studios, in apartments, in parks. I think Marc and Joseph are "young artists and poets"; I think they're a nostalgic type, that the play treats as at once a little silly and self-involved, but also with a deep affection and love. In general, the play seems to have a deep affection for its characters.
In New York, I don't think we leave the 60s Village. I don't think we move, within New York, much of anywhere in time, I don't think we see the physical effects of time passing, I don't think we mark events in the decade. I think, as an audience, we watch time, we are made to think about time, but we see it thrown into relief against the absence of its passing. So anyway, I don't think anybody in New York gets older, or anything like that. I think we track change but not time. So when Joseph appears slightly different at some point when he has realized he's in love with Fran, that, to me, seems more about that realization than about time having passed.
I think time is passing in Cuba, or has been passing in Cuba, and New York is waiting for the time in Cuba to catch up in such a way that it will be possible for Luis and Enrique to arrive. Really, this seems to be about Enrique. Enrique is the only character who shows us the passing of time, through his physical growth (or at least the pretense of his physical growth). Children show us time in a way that adults do not. And children experience time in a way adults do not.
If we're thinking about breathing (I really love this idea from Aubrey) then what we might say is that the two worlds we watch are trying to bring their separate breaths into a single rhythm. Also makes me think about a boat pulling up to another boat, and the awkwardness of trying to get from one to another, since they're moving differently, one up, one down.
Back to the Village, and clothing in particular. It's ok if it does not feel contemporary--my main concern was really just that it not feel like "The 60s!" I think there's a specific set of referents for the 60s that are over-determined; they work as signs and against creating an environment--the bell bottoms, the crocheted ponchos, the polyester. I also think the early 60s provide the more muted, and even more formal kind of world I think fits the play.
Cuba, I think, has a similar formality, which Flordelino was pointing out in the photos he brought. An attention to dress. It's there, certainly, in Ana's wish for the grey stockings. It's there in Geraldo's military uniform (it'd be great to see some photos of Cuban military uniforms--I wonder what sort of interesting contrast this will create with Luis' clothing. And also the idea that Geraldo was going to come play baseball in his uniform. And that they don't mention the uniform, so it must be his usual dress).
Jerry the plumber. I think he probably looks a little less stylish than Marc and Joseph, a little more put together and buttoned-up, but less lithe and comfortable in his clothing. I like Jerry. He feels like a very specific memory, and that he is remembered in part because he reminds her of Geraldo.
I think we may need to be thinking about all these characters (or at least the New York characters--maybe even including Fran) as memories. And that that in part determines how they work and what we can (and cannot) know about them. I think it's ok that we don't, in fact, know very much about them at all. That feels important. We're working with sketches that are sketches for a reason. This perhaps relates to the fact that Joseph gets kind of obliterated when the family arrives. I think what Taibi and Flordelino were saying is right--Luis and Enrqiue feel more "real" than the New York characters.
More to say. Still thinking.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)