1960s

1961 LA VIUDA/THE WIDOW

CAST

4W 6M

SYNOPSIS

Based on correspondence from 1899 to 1902 between Fornes’s great-grandfather in Cuba and a cousin in Spain, just after the Spanish-American War led to Cuban independence, the play centers on a woman in her seventies named Angela, who dictates a series of letters in which she asserts from afar her legal rights as the widow of a husband from whom she was estranged for decades. (In Spanish)

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (p. 10). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

1961 – Produced first in New York
1963 – Broadcast as a radio play by the Universidad de México

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Published in 1961 in Havana in an anthology of contemporary Cuban plays.

1963 TANGO PALACE

CAST

SYNOPSIS

Leopold, ‘an earnest youth’, emerges from a sack into the ostentatiously padlocked room of Isidore, ‘an androgynous clown’, who leaves his shrine to meet Leopold. Isidore’s room is furnished with curious and antique objects, perhaps representative of bourgeois taste, a possible utopian world. Isidore attempts to choreograph Leopold’s every move, asserting that his is the lone authoritative voice to be absorbed as he instructs Leopold about the objects whilst reading his script from cards which Isidore then casts aside. Leopold rejects the humiliation and powerlessness of being co-opted into the culture laid out for his meek acceptance. Instead, he insists upon taking the radical path, rejecting authority’s correctness to commit himself to freedom of thought by following his inner voice, learning through his own efforts. Characterised by playfulness and vaudevillian humour, the characters are engaged in a power struggle as Isidore, the matador, manipulates Leopold into taking up the role of the bull as he invites Leopold to die for truth. Amongst pleasure, pain, love and hate their sado-masochistic struggle moves towards Isidore’s death. His death is creative, potentially liberating as Isidore appears as an angel, an angel with its back to the future, looking over history to beckon Leopold forward to resume the battle.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

First presented under the title There! You Died on 29 November 1963, as directed by Herbert Blau with the Actors Workshop, at San Francisco’s Encore Theatre. Set and Costume Design by Judith Davis, Lighting Design by Dan Dugan. Cast: Isidore – Robert Benson, Leopold – Dan Sullivan.
Tango Palace was eventually directed by Fornes and co-directed by Michael Smith a decade later at the Theatre Genesis, NYC.
1964 – Actors Studio, East End Theatre, New York NY and Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy (dir. John Cappelletti)
1965 – Firehouse Theatre, Minneapolis, MN (dir. Maria Irene Fornes)
1997 – 7 Stages Theatre, Atlanta, GA (dir. Andres Cato)
2010 – Staged Reading at the 2010 New York Fornes Festival, Cherry Lane Theatre, New York NY (dir. Gisela Cardenas)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Playwrights For Tomorrow, Vol.2, (University of Minnesota, 1966)
Subsequent Publication/Anthologization History: Fornes, Maria Irene. Promenade and Other Plays. 1st ed. New York: PAJ Publications, 1987.

OTHER DOCUMENTATION

The original Promenade cast recording of the 1969 production at the Promenade Theatre, NYC can be found on CD, RCA Victor 09026 63333 2. This CD’s accompanying booklet is of interest giving quotes from Fornes and others. It also includes photographs of those involved. This 1969 production ran 4th June-18th January 1970 when it closed after 259 performances.
Off Broadway Cast Listing
Fornes was awarded her first Obie for both The Successful Life of 3 and Promenade as ‘Distinguished Plays’.

1966 THE OFFICE

CAST

3W, 1M

SYNOPSIS

The Office takes place around Christmas-time in the offices of Hinch, Inc., a shipping company in sharp decline since the recent death of its founder. The action centers on the bumbling, neurotic office manager Albert Pfancoo, who hopes to lead the business back to prosperity. He is beleaguered by three comic female figures: Princess, Hinch’s plump, sensuous widow; Miss Punk, a strait-laced spinster secretary who refuses to be fired; and Shirley Bisbee, the misfit girl-Friday he wants to hire in her stead. The comedy takes a strange, magical turn when it turns out that a Portrait of the late, lamented George Hinch can talk and soon confesses love for Shirley. The play ends with Shirley alone and uncertain whether to go or stay.

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (p. 27). Taylor and Francis.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Written by Fornés with music by Robert Prince, and directed by Jerome Robbins. It previewed April 21st of 1966 for a projected Broadway premier on 12th May at the Henry Miller Theatre, NYC. However, it closed without officially opening ten previews later on 30th April. Cast: Tony Lo Bianco, Elaine May, Jack Weston and Ruth White.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Unpublished

1967 A VIETNAMESE WEDDING

CAST

4 M/W plus audience participants

SYNOPSIS

Fornes created this piece for Angry Arts Week, a New York City festival of protest against American involvement in Vietnam. The text begins with a disclaimer: A Vietnamese Wedding is not a play … The four people conducting the piece are hosts to the members of the audience who will enact the wedding, and their behavior should be casual, gracious, and unobtrusive. What follows is a scenario for a theater event that uses four facilitators and ten audience members to act out a Vietnamese wedding ceremony.

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (p. 30). Taylor and Francis.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

It premiered 4th February 1967 at Washington Square Methodist Church, NYC under Fornés’ direction as part of the anti-Vietnam war protests of Angry Arts Week. The readers then were Remy Charlip, Aileen Passloff, Florence Tarlow and Maria Irene Fornés. The play was performed again in 1967, 1968, and twice in 1969. In its published form, where the readers are listed, Fornés’ directions are: ‘A Vietnamese Wedding is not a play. Rehearsals should serve the sole purpose of getting the readers acquainted with the text and the actions of the piece. The four people conducting the piece are hosts to the members of the audience who will enact the wedding, and their behaviour should be casual, gracious, and unobtrusive.’ Maria Irene Fornes, Promenade and Other Plays, pp 117-125, p 120.
1968 – The Changing Scene, Denver CO
1969 – Cafe La MaMa, New York NY (dir. Maria Irene Fornes)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Fornes, Maria Irene. Promenade and Other Plays. 1st ed. New York: PAJ Publications, 1987.

1967 THE ANNUNCIATION

CAST

SYNOPSIS

PRODUCTION HISTORY

For this play Fornes drew upon the Gospels of Saint John and Saint Luke and upon some writings of Rilke.
Premiered in 1967 under Fornes’ direction at Judson Poets’ Theater, Judson Memorial Church, NYC. There would seem to have been no other performances.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Unpublished.

1968 DR. KHEAL

CAST

SYNOPSIS

Dr. Kheal, the only one-character play Fornes ever wrote, takes the form of a half-hour mock lecture given by a learned professor. Dr. Kheal holds forth on a variety of subjects, asking rhetorical questions for which he always has ready answers, illustrating his ideas with charts, figures, and equations, abusing his imaginary students for their stupidity, and concluding with a little song about a spider. Each time Dr. Kheal takes up a new subject, he writes its name on the blackboard. On Poetry. On Balance. On Ambition. On Energy. On Speech. On Truth. On Beauty and Love. On Hope. On Cooking. Coming early in Fornes’s career, this list can be seen as a cheeky prolegomenon to the body of work to come, an outline of themes and principles that will surface in her plays again and again. There is the persistent aesthetic concern with harmony, balance, lyricism, and beauty, and there is the dual preoccupation with language and with love, two metaphysical webs in which her characters are often caught.

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (p. 28). Taylor and Francis.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

This premiered at the Judson Poets’ Theatre, NYC, directed by Remy Charlip. David Tice played Dr. Kheal. Remy Charlip also directed a fundraising production in aid of the Caffe Cino at the New Dramatists Workshop where Dr. Kheal was played by Phillip Bruns. The play went on to be performed elsewhere in the city and the US, plus England, Canada, Australia, amongst others. It was not directed by Fornes until 1974 at the American Place Theatre, NYC.
1968 – New Dramatists Committee, New York NY (dir. Remy Charlip)
1968 – Village Gate and Judson Memorial Church, New York NY (dir. Remy Charlip)
1968 – Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge MA (dir. Gordon Rogoff)
1968 – Act IV, Provincetown MA
1968 – The Changing Scene, Denver CO (dir. Michael Smith)
1973 – Theatre Genesis, New York NY (dir. Maria Irene Fornes and Michael Smith)
2010 – Staged Reading at the 2010 New York Fornes Festival, Cherry Lane Theatre, New York NY (dir. Gisela Cardenas)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Fornes, Maria Irene. Promenade and Other Plays. 1st ed. New York: PAJ Publications, 1987.

1968 THE RED BURNING LIGHT OR: MISSION XQ3

CAST

1W, 3M

SYNOPSIS

The Red Burning Light Or: Mission XQ3 excoriates American imperialism and what in the 1960s was known as “the military-industrial complex” by presenting it in the form of a traveling burlesque revue that one character calls “our democratic caravan of love.” Drums roll, cymbals crash, and a buffoonish General Kikkeelost, more master of ceremonies than military commander, introduces his invading army as “the show … that leveled … the world!” The cast marches out and performs a patriotic opening number, during which a sexy young lady in khaki panties, Private Lily, keeps saluting in a way that pops her shirt open, exposing exposing her breasts. “Oops, me little titty’s showing,” she squeals. The General warns her to keep it clean, but by the end of the opening number, the entire cast is displaying all manner of crude and lewd behavior, bumping and grinding, burping and farting, scratching their asses and picking their noses. This sets the stage and the tone for a series of slapstick bits, running gags, clownish sex acts, and upbeat musical routines, all in the service of the omnivorous American war machine and its mission to spread “enlightenment, truth, peace, and, in one word, our message, around the world.”

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (pp. 32-33). Taylor and Francis.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Produced in 1968 by the Open Theatre for a European tour to Zurich, Milan, and Copenhagen, the production was directed by Fredric de Boer with choreography by James Barbosa.
Originally named The Red Burning Light of the American Way of Life, the play was also called The Red Burning Light Or: Mission XQ3. Fornés directed a production at Cafe La MaMa, Experimental Theatre Club, 74th East 4th Street, NYC in 1969. The production was co-directed by Remy Charlip, Ken Glickfield, Frederic de Boer, and James Barbosa. Cast: Private Macoo – Ralph Lee, ? – Remy Charlip. Music by Richard Peaslea and John Bauman.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Unpublished.

1968 MOLLY’S DREAM

CAST

6W, 1M

SYNOPSIS

Set in an old-fashioned saloon, the action centers on a waitress named Molly, who starts off alone onstage, drinking a cup of coffee, smoking a cigarette, and reading a romantic story in a pulp magazine. A Young Man appears, and they exchange meaningful glances. He turns and walks away. She puts her head down on the table and drifts quickly off to sleep, and the rest of the play is Molly’s dream. It begins with the entrance of Jim, as handsome as a fairy-tale prince and played by the same actor as the Young Man; he is trailed by five fawning females known as the Hanging Women, jilted lovers who cling to him like ivy. Soon, Molly is hanging around his neck as well, offering her love. When he rejects her, she transforms into a version of Marlene Dietrich in Blue Angel, complete with German accent, top hat, and sultry demeanor. After a musical interlude in which Jim asks again and again, “Am I the wrongdoer or the wronged?”, the action grows even more surreal. Alberta, a 27-year-old incarnation of child star Shirley Temple, enters and tap-dances about. She rejects Jim’s advances in favor of the cowboy John, who wears “holsters with guns from his ankles to his armpits.” In his pursuit of Alberta, he transforms first into Dracula and then into Superman. They sing songs of love to each other, kiss, and exit the stage in a wedding procession, trailed by the Hanging Women. Alone again, Molly and Jim speak of what might have been and he leaves. She puts her head down and sleeps again. The Young Man from the beginning of the play enters again, orders a drink, watches Molly sleeping, picks up his bags and leaves. Only then does she awaken from her dream. She stares at his empty seat as a blue spotlight narrows around her and fades out. The man of her dreams turns out to be just that.

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (pp. 44-45). Taylor and Francis.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

With music by Cosmos Savage, which is now thought to be lost, this premiered at Boston University Writers Conference, Tanglewood, Massachusetts on 23rd July 1968, directed by Ed Setrakian. It has been directed twice by Fornes. First, in December 1968 with the New Dramatists Committee, NYC when there were five readings rather than performances. Music by Cosmos Savage with accompaniment by David Tice, Lighting Design by Therese King. Cast: Molly – Julie Bovasso, Mack – Jim Cashman, Young Man – Ray Barry, John – Leonard Hicks, Alberta – Crystal Field, Hanging Women – Kay Carney, Penny Dupont, Carol Gelfand, Margaret Impert, Alice Tweedy.
Fornes directed it again, in June/July 1973, with New York Theatre Strategy, Manhattan Theatre Club, NYC for a production dedicated ‘To the memory of Leonard Hicks’. Lighting Design was by Joanna Schielke, and ‘Magic Touches’ by Willa Kim. Cast: Molly – Kay Michaels, Jim – John Bakos, Mack – John Wyler, John – Bernard Barrow, Alberta – Lois Dengrove, Hanging Women – Margie Benzac, Lynn Bowman, Collette Dabney, Barbara Rohrer, and Muriel Gehman, who was replaced for the 23rd June performance by Beverly Jones. At the piano were David Tice and Cosmos Savage.
Molly’s Dream was staged in NYC in June 2003 when it was directed by Daniel Aukin at the SoHo Rep, 46 Walker Street, NYC. Lighting was by Marcus Doshi, Set and Costumes were by Louisa Thompson, Choreography by David Neumann. The Composer was Maury Loeb and there were three musicians for piano, violin and guitar. Cast: Molly – Bo Corre, Mack – Matthew Maher, Jim – Dominic Bogart, John – Patrick Boll, Alberta – Toi Perkins, Hanging Women – Erin Farrell, Shannon Fitzgerald, Jessica Hency, Debra Wassum and Casey Wilson.
This Soho Rep production was awarded an Obie Special Citation, in May 2004.
2003 – Boston Theatre Works, Tremont Theatre, Boston MA (dir. Dani Snyder)
A production of Molly’s Dream by Goldsmiths College, was staged at Studio 2, Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London from the 4th to 6th June 2004. Director – Emily Flouton, New Music – James Goldsmith.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Fornes, Maria Irene. Promenade and Other Plays. 1st ed. New York: PAJ Publications, 1987.