Next to Perfect

Hey.* I’ve been making up my mind, day after day on what exactly to base my final post on, and considering Next to Normal is a musical that I love as much as I can, I want to give it the credit and thoroughness it deserves. So anyway, I’ve made up my mind and decided that one thing I know I can do is open the door and shed light on the choice and rhythm found in this musical, which is like duh. It’s gonna be good.

The choice I’d like to discuss is one that I never fully realized until reading the script and visually noticing the parallels between Dan/Diana and Henry/Natalie. The most obvious parallel is during “A Promise” considering Henry echoes Dan’s lines and the stage directions state, “Two couples.” Another prominent instance of this is in “Hey #3” when Natalie sings, “Crazy, I might end up crazy” as the fear that she and Henry will take on the struggles of her parents’ relationship is constantly on her mind. My personal favorite instance of this parallel occurs during “Light,” in which Dan and Henry are written to sing in unison. It is practically undetectable when listening to the recording, but it gives a sense of hope that Henry and Natalie can become what Dan and Diana might have been, as if fate is giving the Goodman family a second chance at love.

The rhythm in “Hey #3/Perfect for You (Reprise)” is incredibly intricate and brilliant, as the tension/release is continual throughout the song. Henry is “at the dance, alone, standing there,” and the song begins with a simple piano riff. The orchestra slowly joins in and crescendos as the anxiety that Natalie truly has left him mounts, only to be released as his “vision in blue” is spotted and his heart skips a beat. The song continues at a conversational volume and pace until Natalie realizes that “[she] might end up crazy,” listing off the terrible things that she might end up doing in a year, or ten years, or a life. The tension reaches its limit, noted by the cymbal’s crescendo, the dissonant violins, and Natalie’s frantic speed likened to that of Diana in the end of “Just Another Day.” But then, the music just suddenly stops, as Henry holds his girlfriend and promises to make himself perfect for her. The “Perfect for You (Reprise)” is soft, smooth, and calming as Henry serenades Natalie, and the song ends with Henry and Natalie harmonizing in a major key for once, finally ending a duet with melodic closure. 

*I thought you’d like to know, I’m in a competition with Michael Guillot to see how many song lyrics I can sneak in.

     

Show and Tell #3: Clit Notes

            For my final show and tell post, I decided to read Clit Notes by Holly Hughes, as the title seemed intriguing and in the words of Dr. Fletcher, “When else will you get the opportunity to read something called Clit Notes for a grade?” This piece was written in 1991, and while I’m hesitant to call it a play, this piece of performance art was first performed by Hughes herself in September of 1993 (Variety). I cannot find any information on other productions, but this play can be found on the North American Women’s Drama database or in Clit Notes: A Sapphic Sampler along with a few of Hughes’s other works (Database).
            This piece is a collection of autobiographical monologues detailing Hughes’s childhood and home life, personal growth as an artist, and experiences with growing up and just living everyday life as a lesbian in today’s society. The narrator opens the piece with a question, asking, “The first time I was in love with a woman?” and proceeds to comically anecdote her crush on a middle-school social studies teacher and the time she learned the true meaning of lesbianism from Dr. David Reuben’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex. Next, she discusses her father’s cancer and opens up about her parents’ lifelong refusal to accept her sexuality and her career as an artist. The next scene focuses on her time as a Red Lobster waitress, detailing her struggles as a feminist in a “patriarchal capitalist society,” as well as her ability to use “Performance Art as A Tool for Social Change” in the company talent show. A new scene opens describing her fiery personality as a child and her penchant for mischief, including the time she cut her friend’s hair using toenail clippers and the time she “made out with [her] mom.” The final scene details her first experience with theatre, painting sets for The Sound of Music as punishment, and closes with a discussion on her girlfriend and their time existing in a society that’s quick to condemn.
       An interesting dramaturgical choice made by Hughes is the extended metaphor of a professor teaching a class. In the stage directions for the opening of Scene 2, Hughes writes, “She is speaking as though she were a distinguished professor giving a lecture at the famous Performance Artist Correspondence School,” clearly presenting the idea of a teacher with her students. Considering much of this piece is the Narrator teaching lessons through directing personal stories and social commentaries to the audience, the professor analogy is a fitting role for the Narrator. She tells the audience that her first crush on a girl happened to be on her 8th grade teacher, so it is possible that the Narrator is trying to entice the audience and bring them into her world in the same way that her teacher sparked her knowledge and awareness of her world.
       The most strikingly noticeable dramaturgical choice that Hughes makes is that there is only one performer on stage the entire piece, the Narrator. Since the Narrator is speaking as Hughes herself, it can be said that there is only one character that is apart of this production instead of having separate actors playing her parents, teachers, coworkers, and girlfriends. I think this choice is made for the greater emphasis to be placed on the story and “lessons” themselves, rather than to make a spectacle of the piece when that is not the most effective method for Hughes’s story to be told. The anecdotes that are shared with the audience, such as the stories of childhood antics and romantic moments spent with her girlfriend, are then more personal and heartwarming.

Topdog/Underdog

            It has taken me a few days to come up with a solid answer for this blog post, and now that I’ve had the time to fully process this play, I’ve realized that there is a lot more in common between three-card monte and the Lincoln assassination then I previously believed. Both the card game and the Lincoln arcade game heavily toy with the idea of the manipulation of power.

            When Lincoln is teaching Booth how to properly play three-card monte, he stresses that “It may look like you got a chance but the only time you pick right is when the man lets you.” In order to lure unsuspecting customers into betting their money, the hustler has to let the mark believe that he or she has a legitimate chance at winning. The same principle applies to the Lincoln game at the arcade – no matter how many times the “shooter” tries to murder him, the power will always lie with Lincoln. It is up to him to decide whether or not he goes along with the act. No matter how the variables of both games play out, the “dealer” will always come out on top because it is the dealer’s job to ensure it.

            The relationship between Lincoln and Booth is a constant power struggle, except there is no real winner in this case. Lincoln makes the money while Booth provides a place to live, Lincoln holds a steady job while Booth holds a steady relationship, and the list goes on. Each brother holds “checks” on each other to ensure that one cannot overpower the other, but there seems to be an unspoken agreement that Lincoln has the real command, considering Booth snaps and shouts, “Only so long I can stand that little brother shit,” and “Think you can fuck with me, motherfucker think again…” which just goes to show that regardless of how powerful one is when playing a game, life is an entirely different game.

Water By the Spoonful

           The scene where I find the largest blending of the two worlds is Scene Seven, when Odessa and John meet with Elliot and Yaz at the diner. John, also known as Fountainhead, is predominantly from the Cyberworld along with Odessa “Haikumom,” and this is the first time we meet them in the “real” world and see them interact with the “real” people, Elliot and Yaz. In this moment, we learn that Odessa abandoned her sick children, leading to the death of her daughter. Elliot shares that she “couldn’t stick to something simple like [give water to Elliot and Mary Lou]” and that she just “had to have her thing,” which is assumed to be drugs. When asked for money to buy flowers for Aunt Ginny’s funeral, she prompts Elliot and Yaz to go find her computer and pawn it.

            Keeping with the motif of dissonance, this scene demonstrates how broken Odessa truly is and how much she struggles in her everyday life. Running the chatroom, we only see a front of how “put together” she is, supporting and leading her group of recovering addicts by spouting off haikus and words of encouragement. Hudes includes this particular moment because it demonstrates that no matter how content, insightful, and encouraging someone might be on the Internet, the real world is an entirely different place. John and Odessa partake in a cordial and professional conversation until Elliot and Yaz interfere, establishing that the chatroom is simply an alternate universe of sorts, and that reality will always take precedence over a façade. We finally see Odessa for who she actually is, breaking the illusion and creating dissonance over what is a warped perception and what is the stark truth.

'Tis Pity She's a Whore

            When musing over the memorable moments of this play, the scenes that seem to stick out in my mind all revolve around death. Whether it be literal death, the death of Giovanni and Annabella’s innocence, or the death of relationships, this play is filled with it. Seeing as daggers are not a valid option, the next best thing I can picture is a shot of Giovanni and Annabella kissing in the center of a large ballroom amidst all of the other characters dueling with rapiers and creating havoc in the background. As for a color scheme, I picture a black and white shot with red being the only color displayed. Annabella and Giovanni should each be wearing something red, and the only bits of red shown in the background are drops of blood trickling from swords and bodies. 

            The quotes I’ve chosen can all go along with this image, so the same picture can be used for all three posters. The first quote is spoken by the Friar in the first scene, and I think it is the “quote of the play” so to speak. He warns, “For death waits on thy lust,” and I think this bit of foreshadowing sums up the play as a whole. The next quote comes from Act III, Scene vi when Putana tells Giovanni that Annabella is pregnant. She states, “’Tis too late to repent now,” and although this quote has significant meaning in context, this serves as a turning point in the play, as there are no more opportunities to avoid the consequences of Giovanni and Annabella’s relationship. The last quote comes from the final scene as Giovanni exclaims, “Fate or all the powers that guide the motions of immortal souls could not prevent me!” This quote in context places an emphasis on his sister’s murder, but when looking at it as a catchphrase for the show, it can mean that his relationship with his sister is destined to happen, along with all of the death and heartbreak that it causes.

I'm Commenting on Comments: Part 3

House of Trials
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
Water by the Spoonful
Topdog/Underdog
Next to Normal
Next to Normal: Redux

House of Trials

            One of the supposed conventions found in House of Trials is the play’s poetic form, from its formatting to its rhyming couplets and verses. To begin with, the play is formatted in that of a poem instead of the usual format of printing line after line, which indicates the way that the lines are to be spoken and presented. The lines are supposed to flow and follow melodic patterns and rhythms as opposed to just being spoken aloud, and the majority of all Spanish Golden Age plays probably follows this convention. Another piece of evidence to attest for this convention is the play’s rhyming scheme, as some of the verses are rhymed and each scene ends on a rhyming couplet. For example, the first scene ends on Doña Ana’s line:

            “Love, since you tempt me with this destiny,

                 do not deny the rewards of this opportunity.”

Each scene ending follows this pattern, adding to the poetic form of this play.

            Another convention found is the characters’ hyperawareness of them being a part of a play, especially Castaño and Celia. In the opening scene, Celia comments on Doña Leonor’s monologue by exclaiming, “That’s great! A monologue in the middle of the night,” providing the first example of characters acknowledging their presence in a piece of theatre. Although this first instance is stated by Celia, Castaño is usually the one who speaks to the audience in this manner, as he has several instances of talking about the plot. For example, at one point he exclaims, “The plot thickens!” and although this is known as a common expression, its use in a play adds an extra element of the characters’ consciousness. Another example of this is Castaño stating that “the idea for a plot just struck [him],” which indicates that he is fully aware of the consequences of his actions in regards to the progression of the play. This convention is not one that is seen often in today’s theatre, but is something that is possibly a fad of the Spanish Golden Age. 

Show and Tell #2: Mud

The play I chose to read is Mud: a Play in 17 Scenes by the Obie-Award winning playwright Maria Irene Fornes. It was first written and produced in 1983, and the play saw its premiere as a summer stock production at the Padua Hills Playwright’s Festival in California with Fornes as its director (Database). Today, this play is frequently produced by University theatre programs and regional theatre companies across the country. Mud is most easily accessed through the North American Women’s Drama database (Database).

       The story follows three uneducated, mentally unstable housemates living in rural America, and the play follows the progression of their relationships and daily struggles. Mae is a housewife-like figure who lives with Lloyd, who is her mentally and physically ill “sibling with benefits.” Although Mae takes night classes in hopes of bettering her reading skills, she finds Henry and brings him into their home to help read a note from Lloyd’s doctor. Soon after, Mae decides that she wants Henry to move in with them, as she realizes she loves him and “wants [his] mind” (Fornes 21). This adjustment sparks much jealousy and hatred in Lloyd, considering Mae asks Henry to take Lloyd’s spot in her bed and suggests that Lloyd sleep on some newspapers spread out on the floor. The tension between the two men constantly mounts, as their health slowly deteriorates and the two grow more desperate for money, medicine, and caretaking. When the difficulties of living with Lloyd and Henry becomes too much, Mae decides that it is time for her to free herself from all restraints and move out in order to make a better life for herself. After Henry and Lloyd exclaim “Mae” for two pages in a variety of tones, Lloyd decides the only logical way to prevent her from leaving is to *SPOILER ALERT* shoot her (Fornes 52-53). The play ends with Mae declaring that she is a starfish. 

One interesting dramaturgical choice Fornes makes is the childlike structure, syntax, and vocabulary of the characters, as well as the inverse relationship Henry and Lloyd have in regards to intelligence. Especially in the first few scenes of the first act, there is a ton of repetition between Mae and Lloyd, and the sentences don’t really exceed more than four or five words. Exchanges generally go along the lines:

Lloyd: What do you learn?

Mae: Subjects

Lloyd: What is subjects?

Mae: Different things.

Lloyd: What things?

which really brings out the childlike ignorance found in both Mae and Lloyd. Another interesting occurrence regarding the language of the play is the inverse relationship Lloyd and Henry possess when it comes to speaking. In other words, in the scenes where Henry is more “intelligent” (and note that intelligent is in quotations), Lloyd’s lines seem to get dumber and vice versa. After Henry’s injury, he regresses to the repetitions and three-word sentences similar to those that Lloyd spoke in the first act, and in comparison, Lloyd seemed to be the more educated one. While all this is happening, Mae’s lines start to get more and more complex, displaying her newly-acquired literacy skills. 

Another interesting choice is the extended metaphors of a starfish and a hermit crab. In Act I, Scene 6, Mae reads a description of a starfish as a part of her lessons, and the passage she reads reflects the qualities that can be found in herself. For example, she states, “The starfish is an animal, not a fish. He is called a fish because he lives in the water” (Fornes 26). This can be interpreted to mean that she is not willing to define herself by where she lives or what her background entails, but she is working to make a better life for herself by getting an education. Further evidence for this metaphor can be found in the last scene, as her dying words begin with, “Like the starfish…” (Fornes 52). To go along with this, Henry and Lloyd are compared to hermit crabs in similar manners, as Mae reads, “…he lived in empty shells that once belonged to other animals” (Fornes 30). Although these metaphors do not really relate to the plot or characters in any other ways other than this, these were an almost unnoticeable touch to the complexity of the characters and their relationships with one another.

Eurydice

            The first take I have on this production centers around the quote, “How will you remember?” as much of the play focuses on Eurydice’s trouble remembering Orpheus and her father teaching her the ways of the underworld. This quote comes from the first scene in the first movement and is spoken by Orpheus when asking Eurydice what she can do to ensure that she will never forget how much they love each other. Although this quote comes from one of the more upbeat scenes in the play, the concept that evolves from this quote would place more emphasis on the scenes in which Eurydice struggling in in the underworld with her father trying to teach her “human” things. Her scenes with Orpheus in the beginning suddenly become more precious, as these are the only memories she has to cling onto. This concept also places a lot more emphasis on an individual’s mind rather than the characters’ relationships, as these relationships mean nothing once a person completely lets go and resigns to forget.

The second quote I would want to use is “I hope he finds you,” which comes from Eurydice’s letter to Orpheus’s next wife in the final scene. In the context of the play, Eurydice is telling Orpheus that she hopes a worm will be able to find him and give him the letter she has written, but this quote truly captures the essence of the play. For those already familiar with the myth, this quote would solidify their knowledge of the story and entice them to partake in a retelling of the classic tale. For those patrons who would go into the show blindly, it would foreshadow the most important aspect/scene of the production. Instead of putting an emphasis on Eurydice’s challenges in trying to remember the real world and her former life, this quote places more focus on the aspect of true love, specifically the idea that Orpheus’s devotion to her is what will set her free from the underworld. Therefore, the production would place more focus on hope and the anticipation of Orpheus reuniting with his wife rather than the frustrating aspects of Eurydice losing her memories and trying to hold onto the few she has.