A woman struggles psychically between two places. She exists in the between, never landing fully in either place. She left a creatively stifling life with an emotionally vibrant one. Now, she enjoys a creatively free life, but an emotionally stunted, guilt/doubt ridden one in NYC, She is therefore constantly moving, never able to settle, reaching for both places at the same time. Claustrophobic. Her world seems small in either place. The longing and the distance seem large internally, but are not visually that way. The accumulation of the play, is time passing, a growing of understanding, the world opening up. An inhale, a difficult but easy solution that you never saw until you could dream it. The barrier becomes the passageway. The space opens, her emotional life is for a moment embraced in NY. An immigrant to her soul no longer.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Marc and Joseph
Marc and Joseph to me are two highly intellectual guys who are trying to figure out why they are on the planet. Excavating the meaning of their lives. Although not overtly written in the text, they are seemingly from somewhat affluent backgrounds because of the language that they use and the aptitude in expressing their thoughts. They seem totally comfortable in their world, except for the one thing that is missing to them as expressed by Joseph. Love. And I think that puts him in a place of not knowing.
I see them as grappling with their thoughts everyday. That is their job. Being poets. Being artists. Extending their brains and bodies into the space of the unknown. There is kind've an earthy intellectualism to them. As if they are acknowledging their formalistic training as well as wanting to be grounded and human. Of the world. Lindsay has said that she sees this play as being in the 60s. Yes, the beat poets were in the 50s, but I think that their look is timeless. Certainly I can see Marc and Joseph being inspired by that generation of writers.
The look in general is very clean. Unencumbered. They could very easily be just getting up out of bed and putting on their clothes to eat breakfast as going to visit a friend or to write down the block at a coffee shop. Those clean lines also have a sort of Ralph Lauren sort of ease and power to them.
Lindsay said something that has stuck with me - that they should be able to write and then go down and get some coffee and then come back. I think that their clothes should be a little bit darker. I think that represents for me the hardness of the life that they have to live in New York City. It is like as an artist in New York City you are living in complete poverty, unless you have family that can help you make it there. That is what happens.
I originally saw them as two caucasian men. Is that what they are? They represent an establishment, but also an attempt to jump out of that establishment. A rejection of a formalistic version of the world. You must do this. Order. A return to sensuality, but from the point of formalism. Reaching for it. For an impulsiveness. A hunger. They are reaching for hunger, are maybe sometimes actually hungry. But in their language, in the fact that they are only dealing with poetry, there seems to be a certain amount of affluence to them.
Joseph - I think he might be the most buttoned-up of the two of them. And thus, I am putting him in a button-up checked shirt. Reminds me a little of maybe you could be in a country lodge with that shirt. Might have two houses. There is a formality to it. Like a banker could wear it as well. But Joseph uses it to write or to paint or to go to a fancy house party.
"And sometimes when I look at her, I just stare. I always looked at her. Just thought I liked her. Until one day, it hit me. Like "bang." I love he. Oh, how I love her. Have you ever seen her dance? I know she loves me. But will she ever say it? Would she ever say, "I love you? I love you, Joe"? She loves me as a friend. But will she ever say, "I love you, Joe"? That is the poetry in his life. The real poetry.
Top - Button-up shirt. Maybe from L.L. Bean. That sort of thing.
Pants - Medium gray pants. Cotton so that he can move. Belt. Tucked in. Even at the top he is a little tucked in during breakfast. That is his thing. He is super smart and ordered. He has a mind that is built on making systems. And kind've a jack of all trades in the brain department. Can probably discuss Aristotle, Yeats, with the television show survivor in the same sentence. Probably went to a really good high school and college. Possibly Ivy League.
Marc - Also a very smart guy. A little looser. At the top we see him trying to write a good poem. Or at least trying to get advice about it. He doesn't get out of his shell until the end of the play. Maybe a little farther along than Joseph at the beginning of the play in terms of being more present. But he is also locked down in his outlook on life.
Top - Black knit cotton sweater. Doesn't want to think about the way he looks. I like it being a little bigger than what is required. He can swim in it a little. Maybe it fit him okay when he bought it, but then it stretched on him. Under the sweater he wears a tank-top t-shirt. Probably black. He likes the dark color. Probably likes sorrow. Feels it immensely in his life, probably from a lost love in his last year of college. Someone he thought he was going to marry, but then she decided to go for a banker.
Pants - Corduroy. Nothing says establishment like corduroy. Probably bought them from Brooks brothers. I'm thinking a hunter green. Belt, yes, but we don't see it. He just wears the sweater over top of his waistline.
I see them as grappling with their thoughts everyday. That is their job. Being poets. Being artists. Extending their brains and bodies into the space of the unknown. There is kind've an earthy intellectualism to them. As if they are acknowledging their formalistic training as well as wanting to be grounded and human. Of the world. Lindsay has said that she sees this play as being in the 60s. Yes, the beat poets were in the 50s, but I think that their look is timeless. Certainly I can see Marc and Joseph being inspired by that generation of writers.
The look in general is very clean. Unencumbered. They could very easily be just getting up out of bed and putting on their clothes to eat breakfast as going to visit a friend or to write down the block at a coffee shop. Those clean lines also have a sort of Ralph Lauren sort of ease and power to them.
Lindsay said something that has stuck with me - that they should be able to write and then go down and get some coffee and then come back. I think that their clothes should be a little bit darker. I think that represents for me the hardness of the life that they have to live in New York City. It is like as an artist in New York City you are living in complete poverty, unless you have family that can help you make it there. That is what happens.
I originally saw them as two caucasian men. Is that what they are? They represent an establishment, but also an attempt to jump out of that establishment. A rejection of a formalistic version of the world. You must do this. Order. A return to sensuality, but from the point of formalism. Reaching for it. For an impulsiveness. A hunger. They are reaching for hunger, are maybe sometimes actually hungry. But in their language, in the fact that they are only dealing with poetry, there seems to be a certain amount of affluence to them.
Joseph - I think he might be the most buttoned-up of the two of them. And thus, I am putting him in a button-up checked shirt. Reminds me a little of maybe you could be in a country lodge with that shirt. Might have two houses. There is a formality to it. Like a banker could wear it as well. But Joseph uses it to write or to paint or to go to a fancy house party.
"And sometimes when I look at her, I just stare. I always looked at her. Just thought I liked her. Until one day, it hit me. Like "bang." I love he. Oh, how I love her. Have you ever seen her dance? I know she loves me. But will she ever say it? Would she ever say, "I love you? I love you, Joe"? She loves me as a friend. But will she ever say, "I love you, Joe"? That is the poetry in his life. The real poetry.
Top - Button-up shirt. Maybe from L.L. Bean. That sort of thing.
Pants - Medium gray pants. Cotton so that he can move. Belt. Tucked in. Even at the top he is a little tucked in during breakfast. That is his thing. He is super smart and ordered. He has a mind that is built on making systems. And kind've a jack of all trades in the brain department. Can probably discuss Aristotle, Yeats, with the television show survivor in the same sentence. Probably went to a really good high school and college. Possibly Ivy League.
Marc - Also a very smart guy. A little looser. At the top we see him trying to write a good poem. Or at least trying to get advice about it. He doesn't get out of his shell until the end of the play. Maybe a little farther along than Joseph at the beginning of the play in terms of being more present. But he is also locked down in his outlook on life.
Top - Black knit cotton sweater. Doesn't want to think about the way he looks. I like it being a little bigger than what is required. He can swim in it a little. Maybe it fit him okay when he bought it, but then it stretched on him. Under the sweater he wears a tank-top t-shirt. Probably black. He likes the dark color. Probably likes sorrow. Feels it immensely in his life, probably from a lost love in his last year of college. Someone he thought he was going to marry, but then she decided to go for a banker.
Pants - Corduroy. Nothing says establishment like corduroy. Probably bought them from Brooks brothers. I'm thinking a hunter green. Belt, yes, but we don't see it. He just wears the sweater over top of his waistline.
Fran
With Fran, we get a sense of her being a part from them. From everyone. She is in her own world. We recognize her presence, but don't actually hear her speak until scene 5. She is like a ghost living between worlds. She is magical and is looking for magical things in life. She is looking for moments of magic that can transcend her place, can transcend her everyday life.
I think the importance of her having dance clothes on is so that we can see the body. The art is expressed on the body. We see her eyes. We see her movements. We look past her clothing. We then see her more clearly in proximity to the men in her life, Marc and Joseph. I think maybe that is the same for them as well. If we are looking at their clothing then we aren't hearing their language. The primary means of expression, for the two men, is through their words. She has to be able to move.
We are always trying to grasp where Fran is. What is she thinking? Where is she? Does she love? How is she doing in this new environment? Is she a stranger? Her clothing can also be a shield. It is the way in which she can fit in. This is what people wear here. I am like everyone else. Perhaps that is the reason why she cannot get involved with Marc and Joseph after the initial casual friendship. She is allowing a moment to happen that will bring them closer. Something unexpected. Something real and human.
She is the love that is in the world - In Luis's letter to her he says, "Let me tell you what I've been thinking. It's about love. I see it as a concrete thing. I think of it with a shape, weight, color, and movement. It's a sphere. The color is pearl grey. It floats, even if its weight is heavier than air. It takes shape a distance from the beloved. When it reaches the beloved, it touches him lightly. Then it retreats and remains at a certain distance, modestly and silently." This is how love operates in the play. Little touches. This goes along a lot with what Lindsay has been saying about how things accumulate and then it all of sudden changes. But we didn't plan for it to happen.
There is a satisfaction with her. She is an immigrant and doesn't want to have too much. I think that she would also feel guilty about it. She says, "The greatest gift a person can have is to be satisfied with the life they have. I want to feel satisfaction with the life I have. We should enjoy the life we have." That is a statement of a very grounded person. Or wise. Wise for having been put in an inconvenient situation. Perhaps being chosen to be the one in the family to succeed. Knowing that this is an opportunity, but then at the same time being disconnected from all that you love. The letters are the only lifeline to that family.
Loose grey top - This is something that she wears all the time. Comfort is her thing. It keeps her warm. It think of it having sweater material. Probably layers on top. Grey is the love from the play.
Leggings - I think that she is wearing black leggings the whole time.
She is the love that is in the world - In Luis's letter to her he says, "Let me tell you what I've been thinking. It's about love. I see it as a concrete thing. I think of it with a shape, weight, color, and movement. It's a sphere. The color is pearl grey. It floats, even if its weight is heavier than air. It takes shape a distance from the beloved. When it reaches the beloved, it touches him lightly. Then it retreats and remains at a certain distance, modestly and silently." This is how love operates in the play. Little touches. This goes along a lot with what Lindsay has been saying about how things accumulate and then it all of sudden changes. But we didn't plan for it to happen.
There is a satisfaction with her. She is an immigrant and doesn't want to have too much. I think that she would also feel guilty about it. She says, "The greatest gift a person can have is to be satisfied with the life they have. I want to feel satisfaction with the life I have. We should enjoy the life we have." That is a statement of a very grounded person. Or wise. Wise for having been put in an inconvenient situation. Perhaps being chosen to be the one in the family to succeed. Knowing that this is an opportunity, but then at the same time being disconnected from all that you love. The letters are the only lifeline to that family.
Loose grey top - This is something that she wears all the time. Comfort is her thing. It keeps her warm. It think of it having sweater material. Probably layers on top. Grey is the love from the play.
Leggings - I think that she is wearing black leggings the whole time.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
About Light in this Play
Some chopped up thoughts, ideas, impulses from meeting with Lindsay
About light in this play:
About light in this play:
Constantyly
shifting slightly
Light marks Fran's attention
Stars
out of Christmas lights.. clearly trying to be stars
When
one light dims the other is getting brighter
The
beginning of each scene lives in the previous scene
Keeping
both worlds present in time.
Drop rose
Drop letter
Drop light?
Designing
how the play moves.
Gradients
NYC
inhales as Cuba Exhales- How the light should feel
Slow
meditative breathing
The
liminal space between inhaling and exhaling
Inhaling
and exhaling light
Breath
marks time
Each
shifting of scene is different and correlates with the story
There
is never a complete darkness on stage, the light is always being shared from
world to world like breathing.
Stairs
as liminal space?
Slide
from Cuba to NY
Glass/Plexi sliding
Constantly
shifting slightly
Light marks Fran's attention
Stars
out of Christmas lights.. clearly trying to be stars
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