No more WAITING

By Daniel A. Olivas

“What harm have you done to them? You are as much of this country as you are of México. But you are not home in either place. Ni de aquí, ni de allá.” 

                                                                                            –Isabel, in WAITING

***

On Saturday, I sat in the courtyard of the Atwater Village Theatre to watch the world premiere of WAITING, the one-act pandemic version of my play, WAITING FOR GODÍNEZ. All pandemic protocols were followed (i.e., masking was strongly recommended, ticketholders sat in “pod” seating with their respective groups, no reception afterwards, etc.). The production, which runs each weekend through August 15, stars Shanelle Darlene, Carolina J. Flores, Valentina Guerra, Amir Levi, and Raul Vega Martinez. Produced by Playwrights’ Arena and directed by Daphnie Sicre, I sat in awe as five talented, hardworking actors brought my play to life. I will never forget the experience.

Jon Lawrence Rivera is the founder and artistic director of Playwrights’ Arena which is dedicated to discovering, nurturing and producing bold new works for the stage written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights. Daphnie Sicre is an assistant professor at Loyola Marymount University in the Theatre Arts Program where she teaches directing, and theatre for social justice.

Many wonderful theatermakers have a hand in bringing my play to the stage. The associate producer is Natasha Kaiserman. Costumes are by Mylette Nora, and the sound and set design is by Matt Richter. Letitia Chang serves as the production’s stage manager.

Inspired by Samuel Beckett’s iconic Godot play and our country’s anti-immigrant policies, this play explores the meaning—and absurdities—of identity and belonging.

Here are a few photos from our dress rehearsal and also a small, informal celebration after the world premiere where most of the actors, the director, and some loved ones joined in. The first weekend sold out, so if you wish to see this production, visit this link for ticket information.

 

More Bounty

Manuel Ramos





CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Chicana and other lesbians are needed to make submissions to a publication on Latina Lesbians to be edited by Chicana lesbian writer Juanita Ramos and published by the nonprofit Sinister Wisdom, a journal by and for female-born lesbians. With a focus on how Latina lesbians define activism and other issues, submissions can be a poem, song, letter, essay, short story, interview, journal entry, photograph, art work, etc., in Spanish and/or English. You can submit up to five entries, including written pieces and art work. Each written entry must not exceed 2,500 words. Submissions are due no later than November 1. For details, send an email to Juanita Ramos at companeras1994@yahoo.com

CATÁSTROFE
The Center for the Studies in Beckett and Contemporary Theatre Practice (Colorado State University) will present Samuel Beckett's play, Catastrophe in English and Spanish in Fort Collins and Denver, Colorado, including at El Centro Su Teatro on October 8 at 8:00 PM. The plays are directed by Eric Prince and José Luis Suárez-García. La Bloga has a special affection for Beckett, as shown by some of our previous posts, and this bilingual presentation of this particular play should be an excellent event.

LOS LOBOS SHOW TO BENEFIT ALMA MATER
Earlier this year an arson fire destroyed the auditorium at Garfield High School in East L.A. On October 14, Los Lobos will perform a benefit concert to raise funds for the reconstruction of the auditorium. The school sustained an estimated $30 million in damage. The band, whose original four members are all Garfield graduates from the early 1970s, will headline a bill with other Chicano artists including Tierra, Little Willie G of Thee Midniters and El Chicano. The event at Gibson Amphitheatre will also feature the Tex-Mex band Little Joe y La Familia and Upground.

FACE 2 FACE IN A FRENZY - ZARCO GUERRERO
I got the following info from Denver artist Jerry Vigil. Jerry also let us know that some of his most recent art can be seen in I Want Your Skull Fanzine, Issue Three, now on sale. Click on the links to find out more about Jerry or the magazine.

Face 2 Face in a Frenzy is especially geared to schools and prevention programs. It is an educational tool that addresses the many problems facing our youth today. Master Mask Maker Zarco Guerrero brings ancient archetypes to life in this freaked out and extremely funny folly featuring a curious cast of hand carved characters. Face 2 Face reveals the power of the mask to transform. The artist miraculously metamorphoses before our very eyes into multi personalities. Each masked character delivers a passionate and provocative monologue laced with poetry and song. The issues of diversity, discrimination, aging, substance abuse and nonviolence are but a few of the important themes addressed in this most artistic adventure. Face 2 Face is a maniacal one man masked melodrama that mirrors the mystery of the heart and mind in a myriad of fantastic faces. It's family friendly, and suitable for all audiences.

October 31st, 2007, Doors open - 6:30 pm
Performance: – 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Ricketson Auditorium, 2001 Colorado Blvd
Free but call to reserve tickets: 303.322.7009 or 1.800.925.2250

CHICANA NIGHT
The Hudson Valley Writers Center will host Chicana Night on October 28, beginning at 4:30 PM. Sergio Troncoso, who is on the board of this prestigious institution, told La Bloga that this year's event includes Alicia Gaspar de Alba and Helena María Viramontes. The writers will read and answer questions, and their books will be on sale. Suggested donation to attend is $5.00. Go here for all the details.

FLORICANTO PRESS ANNOUNCES NEW RELEASES
This press let us know that it has several new books including Papi Chulo by Carlos T. Mock, previously discussed here on La Bloga by Lisa. The message said:

"Floricanto Press's new releases include books in the Latina Series, and our new Gay Latino series. It also includes books about contemporary socio-political discourse, social commentary, and colonial literature (1600). Floricanto Press is definitively presenting a diverse view of Hispanic and Latino culture, including multiple voices of the literary and social spectrum to be found in the Latino community."

Click here for more about this press and its books.

LISA ALVARADO
Speaking of Lisa Alvarado -- she posted some of her fine poetry on her website and let us know that selections from her latest poetry volume, Raw Silk Suture, will be featured in the upcoming Ocho 15, edited by Francisco Aragón. You owe it to yourself to read Lisa's moving and powerful words.

INTERNATIONAL ACCORDION FESTIVAL
The International Accordion Festival kicks off October 12 at 6:30 PM at the Arneson River Theatre in La Villita in San Antonio, TX, with Santiago Jiménez, Jr, Chango Spaziuk, and Brandan. $5.00 admission. The Festival continues through October 14 featuring renowned artists from around the world playing just about every kind of accordion music you can imagine. Click here for details.

I have a couple of reading events coming up that I should mention: On October 11 at about 7:00 PM I'll speak at a gathering of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, at the Chicano Humanities & Arts Council (CHAC). Wine has been promised. On October 20, around 6:00 PM, I will join Emma Pérez for a reading and program presented by El Laboratorio, the literary collective organized by Professor John-Michael Rivera. The reception includes food and drink, in addition to mingling with the authors.
CHAC - 772 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 303-571-0440
The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar, 404 S. Upham St., Lakewood, CO 303-934-1777

Later.

Más de Don Samuel Beckett -- Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett: All That Fall, Act Without Words, Krapp's Last Tape, Cascando, Eh Joe, et al

These twenty-nine short plays of Beckett’s struck me with their raw literary power. Beckett is a poet first and his plays reflect the stripped down language of poetry, its ability to telegraph a world of emotion and content with the least amount of words. His work reduces theatrical action to its most minimal form, generating vast amounts of meaning from the smallest gesture. I attempt in my own work to infuse movement with meaning that deepens the text or becomes, in conjunction with music, the tool by which the narrative is communicated.

The constant theme running through all these short pieces is impermanence, loss, and kind of regeneration. Everything disintegrates into something else and the major struggle of existence is finding a way to cope with this. Most of Beckett’s characters deal with it through cynicism and bitterness or through the false sense that they have control over the situation, which can turn on a dime into despair and inertia.

In a performance trilogy I've been working on, I'm trying to address the illusion of childhood safety, a safety that can be shattered in a instant. REM/Memory introduces the audience to that disintegration at the most personal, most physical level. The woman in the piece tries to unsuccessfully deal with the incest wound much like a Beckett character, through bitter sex, alcoholism, and emotional brutality, reaping a harvest of despair as a result. Bury The Bones attempts to portray the depths to which that wounding is not merely personal, but endemic to the culture. We witness violence as powerless voyeurs day in day out, and learn to inure ourselves to it, its prominence a staple of popular culture. It's alluring, the way these staples have elements of pleasure fused to it. I'm not immune--I love the so-called ‘action’ genre, the adrenaline rush. Frankly, I seek it out, even though I feel both attraction and repulsion. In working with this material, I try to exploit my own reaction to violence, reveal it as shared currency with audiences, and explore its implications with others in discussions post performance.

Where there's divergence in Beckett’s world view and my own centers around my belief in the power of spiritual transformation as both process and end. In the trilogy's finale, there is literally and figurative a resurrection. The means of that rebirth for me is a woman-centered cosmology, one with its origins in a sensibility of sensuality, bounty, feminine bonding and relationship. Using the structure of the Catholic mass, I hope to draw the audience into a later discussion of communal spirituality, the use of ritual and the value of theater in the development of such a practice. It's not my intent to proselytize the audience regarding a specific religious belief, however. I'm interested in drawing audiences into a shared experience where their own hunger for spirit can be experienced and fed, their own desire for transformation.

Reflecting again on the technical value of this book, the importance of spare language and tight, potent imagery is reinforced. Less is more, as the old adage goes, and is the hallmark of Beckett’s literary genius. For all the bitterness of his characters, there's still a strong sense of humor for the human predicament. I try to bring humor to bear as well, ironic humor, perhaps, graveyard humor certainly, but a humor that communicates a sense of life going on in the worst circumstances.

A Beckett play is poorly mounted when there's no balance between comedy and despair. If played too slapstick, then the weight of the human condition dissipates and Beckett's meaning losses it’s force. If played too heavily, the hopefulness that is subtly woven through his language gets lost, and he's seen as no more than a bitter and cynical playwright with a chip on his shoulder. The key for actors and directors is in finding the true wants of each character and acting them as real actions, alive in the moment. The language will take care of itself without the need for over or underacting. Ultimately, Beckett should be read as poetry, with all the sensuous, subtle nuance of the best poetics, not a TV sitcom.

ISBN-10: 0802150551
ISBN-13: 978-0802150554

Lisa Alvarado