1980s

1980 EVELYN BROWN (A DIARY)

CAST

2 W

SYNOPSIS

A woman’s diary entries record the solitude and dignity of her repetitive tasks working in another’s home in the year 1909. It is ‘a litany about work’ until she pays taxes and thereby becomes a person in her own right. Then, the diary stops. Dan Wagoner had given Fornés a copy of the diary of Evelyn Brown who had been born 20th May, 1854 in Melvin Village, New Hampshire. She had died 18th November, 1934 and her diary had been published in 1909. [MM]

PRODUCTION HISTORY

This has been staged once when directed by Fornés in 1980 at the Theatre For The New City, 162 Second Avenue, NYC. The Costume Design was by Monica Lorca, Graphics by Jane Dicksen, Lighting Design was by Joe Ray and the Set Design by Donald Eastman. Cast: Evelyn – Margaret Harrington, Evelyn Brown – Aileen Passloff. See Set Design, Donald Eastman Interview.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Unpublished.

1981 A VISIT

CAST

SYNOPSIS

Set in 1910, the play centers on a sweet young woman named Rachel who is about to matriculate at the University of Lansing. En route, she stops to visit the country home of the well-to-do Tyrrell family and finds herself the object of desire of virtually every member of the household, from the master to his wife to their bachelor son to the son’s fiancée to the parlor maid who first opens the door to welcome her in. And she is more than willing to be initiated in the secrets of the flesh, pausing at one moment to exclaim, “Oh, I have never been so happy in my life as I have been this day.” As one reviewer observed, “this play is not a bawdy satire on Victorian values, although it is at times satirical. It is not slapstick comedy although it is at times comic.

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (pp. 90-91). Taylor and Francis.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

With music by George Quincy, Fornés directed this twice in 1981. First, at the 4th Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, Los Angeles, California, and then with the Theatre for the New City, 162 Second Avenue, NYC.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Unpublished.

1981 THE DANUBE

CAST

1 W, 3 M

SYNOPSIS

Set in a Budapest divided between East and West, Paul, a young American man on business meets Mr Sandor, a Hungarian and is introduced to his young daughter, Eve. A Hungarian-English language tape is heard and the characters repeat the phrases in translations which are controlled, stilted, stripped down speech. Paul and Eve fall in love and marry but find that despite medical reassurances their health deteriorates. They weaken, sores appear, memories falter, goggles are worn to protect their sight and they faint. This happens against the continued formal, machine-like, dehumanizing wording of the tape. Puppets re-enact scenes as the character’s lives disintegrate. Paul and Eve attempt to escape to somewhere safe but they freeze, caught in a flash. [MM]

PRODUCTION HISTORY

This play, written for a Nuclear Free Festival, has been directed five times by Fornés. In 1981, and again in 1983 it was performed at the Theatre for the New City, 162 Second Avenue, NYC. In 1983 Costume Design was by Gabriel Berry, Set Design by Ski Holm and Glenna Price. Cast: Paul Green – Michael Seán Edwards, Mr. Sandor – Arthur Williams, Eve Sandor-Green – Margaret Harrington, Kovacs, Waiter, Doctor and Barber – Martin Treat; voiceovers – Stephen Balint and Dain Chandler.
In 1982, Fornés directed it at the 5th Padua Hills Playwrights Festival. There, its title was You Can Swim in the Danube – But the Water is Too Cold. The Sets and Costume Design by Monica Lorca. Cast: Paul – Leon Martel, Mr. Sandor – Dudley Knight, Eve – Patricia Mattick, Mr. Kovacs, Waiter, Barber – Lee Kissman.
1984 saw Fornés directing it at the American Place Theatre, 111 West 42nd Street, NYC. Cast: Mr. Sandor – Sam Grey, Paul Green – Richard Sale, Eve Sandor-Green – Kate Collins, Kovacs, Waiter, Doctor and Barber – Thomas Kopache, voiceovers W. Scott Allison and Stephen Balant. Lighting design was by Anne Militello, Costume Design by Gabriel Berry, and Puppets by Estaban Fernandez.
1984 – City Theatre, Pittsburgh PA (dir. Jed Allen Harris)
1985 – Eureka Theatre, San Francisco CA (dir. Susan Marsden)
1988 – Organic Theater Company, Chicago IL (dir. Blair Thomas)
1988 – New City Theatre, Seattle WA (dir. John Kazanjian)
1991 – Schauspielhaus, Vienna, Austria (dir. Marlene Streruwitz)
1993 – Links Hall Studio, Chicago IL (dir. Shira Piven)
1994 – Shared Experience at Wolsey Studio Theatre, Ipswich and the Gate Theatre, London, England (dir. Nancy Meckler)
2000 – Infernal Bridegroom Productions, Atomic Café, Houston TX (dir. Jason Nodler)
2001 – Genesis West, Center Stage Theater, Santa Barbara CA (dir. Michael Smith)
2003 – Kitchen Dog Theater, Black Box Theatre, Dallas TX (dir. Dan Day)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Plays, (New York: PAJ Publications, 1986).
Licensing: Broadway Play Publishing

OTHER DOCUMENTATION

Fornés was awarded an Obie for Playwriting and Direction of The Danube, Sarita and Mud.

1983 MUD

CAST

1 W, 2 M

SYNOPSIS

Mae lives with Lloyd in considerable rural poverty but Mae attends classes and is committed to learning to read and becoming literate. While Lloyd takes care of their pig, Betsy, Mae works hard cleaning, cooking, and ironing. She attempts to deal with Lloyd’s ill health and invites an older man, Henry, into their home. Seeing Henry’s supposed intellectual superiority, her mind’s hunger for knowledge and self-improvement accelerates. Henry replaces Lloyd in Mae’s bed, but when an accident disables Henry, Mae feels that both men are holding her back. She tries to leave but is shot by a desperate Lloyd who carries her back on stage. A dying Mae speaks of the light she tried to attain. [MM]

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Fornés directed this play four times. First, in July 1983 at the 6th Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, Claremont, California. Cast: Lloyd – Gregory Pace, Mae – Mary Jo Pearson, Henry – John O’Keefe.
Fornés directed it again in 1983 at the Theatre for the New City, 162 Second Avenue, NYC. Cast: Lloyd – Michael Sollenberger, Mae – Patricia Mattick, Henry – Alan Nebelthau. The Set Design was by Diann E. Duthrie and Lighting Design was by Anne E. Miletello.
Fornés directed Mud at the Omaha Magic Theatre, Farnam Street, (the second of the three spaces the OMT occupied), Omaha, Nebraska in the spring and summer of 1983. Cast: Lloyd – James Thorn, Mae – JoAnn Schmidman, and Don Fiedler – Henry. The production was revived in the winter and spring of 1986 for touring performances around Nebraska and Iowa. It also was staged at the 1986 Women in Theatre Festival, Boston when Maria Irene Fornés, JoAnn Schmidman and Megan Terry took part in panel discussions.
1985 – Empty Space, 2nd Space, Seattle WA (dir. Craig Latrell)
1986 – Court Theatre, Chicago IL
Mud was staged 11th October – 5th November 1988 at the Gate Theatre, London, England by Filthy Lucre Productions. Directed by Catherine Arakalian, the Set Design was by James Wadeson. Cast: Lloyd – Andrew Lucre, Mae – Sue Maund, Henry – James Ramsey.
1989 – InterAct Theatre Company at the Annenberg Centre for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia PA (dir. Seth Rozin)
1989 – At The Foot of the Mountain, Cedar-Riverside People’s Center, Minneapolis MN (dir. Wendy Knox)
1990 – Magic Theatre, San Francisco CA (dir. Mary Forcade)
1990 – New City Theatre, Seattle WA (dir. Maria Irene Fornes)
Fornés directed Mud 20th April – 5th May 1991 at the Stiemke Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Costume Design was by Cecelia Mason, Lighting Design by Kenneth Kloth, and Set Design by John Story. Cast: Lloyd – James Pickering, Mae – Rose Pickering, and Henry – Tom Blair.
1991 – Source Theatre, Washington DC (dir. Pat Murphy Sheehy)
1991 – Kitchen Dog Theatre, Dallas TX (dir. Dan Day)
1992 – Grazer Orpheum, Graz, Austria (dir. Bernd Hagg)
1992 – Piven Theatre at Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago IL (dir. Joyce Piven)
1993 – Horizon Theater, Cologne, Germany (dir. Jonathan Fox)
1995 – Other Theater, Judith Anderson Theater, Chelsea, New York NY (dir. Mary Forcade)
1997 – Fritz Theatre, San Diego CA (dir. Tim West)
1999 – Signature Theatre, New York NY (dir. David Esbjornson)
2001 – Genesis West, Center Stage Theater, Santa Barbara CA (dir. Maurice Lord)
2001 – Infernal Bridegroom Productions, Axiom Theater, Houston TX (dir. Jason Nodler)
2001 – Source Theatre, Washington DC (dir. Pat Murphy Sheehy)
Mud was staged 10 – 27 September 2003 at the Arcola Theatre, London, England (dir. Tiffany Watt-Smith).
2003 – The Corn Exchange, Project Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland (dir. Annie Ryan)
2007 – The Hypokrites, The Building Stage, Chicago IL (dir. Sean Graney)
2009 – Cutting Ball Theater, San Francisco CA (dir. Paige Rogers)
2009 – Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland (dir. Andy Arnold)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Plays, (New York: PAJ Publications, 1986).
Licensing: Broadway Play Publishing

OTHER DOCUMENTATION

Fornés was awarded an Obie for Playwriting and Direction of The Danube, Sarita and Mud.

1984 SARITA

CAST

3 W, 4 M

SYNOPSIS

Sarita is trapped in a destructive relationship with an older man, Julio, who treats her badly and with whom she has a child out of wedlock. Over the course of the twenty, short scenes of this play-with-music, Sarita continually tries to free herself of her love to no avail. By the second half of the play she finds respite in a new relationship with Mark, only to find herself fighting her desire for Julio once more. [MM]

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Directed by Fornés, Music by Leon Odenz, this premiered 18th January 1984 at INTAR, (International Arts Relations), Hispanic American Arts Centre, 420 West 42nd Street, NYC. Costume Design was by Gabriel Berry, Lighting Design by Anne E. Militello and Set Design by Donald Eastman. Cast: Sarita – Sheila Dabney, Yeye – Blanca Camacho, Fela – Carmen Rosario, Fernando – Rodolfo Díaz, Julio – Michael Carmine, Mark – Tom Kirk, Juan – Bambu.
1987 – Loraine Hansbury Theater, San Francisco CA (dir. Stanley E. Williams)
1988 – Reading at Soho Poly, London, England (dir. Ros Shelley)
1988 – Wisdom Bridge Theatre, Chicago IL
1991 – Unicorn Theatre Company, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge MA (dir. Kim Rubinstein)
2010 – The Catastrophic Theatre, Houston TX (dir. Jason Nodler)
2010 – Halcyon Theatre, Lincoln Square Theatre, Chicago IL (dir. Gina LoPiccolo)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Plays, (New York: PAJ Publications, 1986).
Licensing: Broadway Play Publishing

OTHER DOCUMENTATION

Fornés was awarded an Obie for her 1983/4 Direction and Playwriting of The Danube, Sarita and Mud.

1984 NO TIME

CAST

SYNOPSIS

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Premiered under Fornés’ direction at the 1984 Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, California Institute for the Arts, Valencia CA
This work originated in one of Fornés’ INTAR workshops and is an early version of what would become The Conduct of Life.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Unpublished.

1985 DROWNING

CAST

SYNOPSIS

A surrealist playlet in which a man performs suicides for a fee.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

1985 – (part of “Orchards”) Acting Company, national tour and New York NY (dir. Robert Falls)
1988 – Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles CA (dir. Roxanne Rogers)
This was directed by Fornés in 1992 at the Magic Theatre, San Francisco, California.
1999 – Signature Theater, New York NY (dir. David Esbjornson)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

In Orchards: Seven Stories by Anton Chekhov and Seven Plays They Have Inspired. New York, Alfred Knopf 1986.
Licensing: Broadway Play Publishing

1985 COLD AIR

CAST

4W, 4M

SYNOPSIS

María Irene Fornés’ award-winning adaptation of Aire Frío, the masterpiece of Virgilio Piñera, perhaps Cuba’s greatest modernist writer. The play is set in pre-revolutionary Havana during from the heat of November 1940 into 1958 and is set against historical events, private and public lives. Luz Marina, an unmarried seamstress labouring with her sewing machines, is the main breadwinner for her family. Sharing the family poverty is Oscar, a brother determined to pursue his poetry which is understood and admired by his sister. He goes away for two years to Argentina. Another brother, Luis, lives in New York but he returns to Havana as an invalid whilst macho older brother, Enrique – who has his own family to support – visits his parental home to reluctantly give a little financial help. Against these hardships and the poverty, Angel, the bullying, unemployed father, deteriorates in health becoming blind and confused whilst the long-suffering mother, Ana, is carried to her death bed. [MM]

PRODUCTION HISTORY

At INTAR, NYC; from 28th May – 9th May, 1986.
Cast: Luz Marine – Ivonne Coll, Oscar – Leo Garcia, Angel – Al Casas, Ana – Miriam Cruz, Enrique – Raol Arenas, Luis – Armando Molina, Children – Katrina Ramos and Jennifer Valle.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Piñera, V. and Fornes, M.I.. Cold air. New York, Theatre Communications Group, 1986.
Licensing: Broadway Play Publishing

1986 THE CONDUCT OF LIFE

CAST

3 W, 2 M

SYNOPSIS

The stage has five areas – the living room, dining room, hall, cellar and warehouse in a private home in an unidentified Latin American country. Orlando, a sadistic army lieutenant, makes it clear in the opening soliloquy that despite his sexual drive, he is determined to achieve advancement using his physical strength allied to ruthless ambition. Having rapidly achieved his promotion it becomes clear that he is a self-acknowledged professional torturer now using violence to subdue and destroy others. His childhood friend and colleague, Alejo, wretchedly watches Orlando’s behavior, unable to help himself or anyone else to conduct their private or professional lives better.

The women of the play are under Orlando’s control. Leticia, his wife, suffers his open contempt and verbal abuse as she struggles to voice her ideas. She speaks of wanting to become better educated, to be respected, and listened to. Their servant, Olimpia, works with expertise without recognition and it is this servant who befriends Nena, a twelve year old street girl, whom Orlando kidnaps and hides in the cellar. His repeated rape of Nena and her presence in the home becomes known to Leticia. Shortly after she realizes Nena is in their home Orlando accuses his wife of infidelity, and during his violent interrogation of her she shoots and kills him. Leticia then passes the revolver to Nena. [MM]

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Fornés had begun writing the play at one of her INTAR workshops, and it was developed further under the name No Time at the Padua Hills Festival, Claremont, California in the summer of 1984. There is an account of the Padua Hills performance by Martin Epstein in Conducting a Life, p.34. This Padua Hills production was very different from the published version of that performed on 21st February 1985 under Fornés’ direction at the Theatre for the New City, 162 Second Avenue, NYC. Costume Design was by Sally J. Lesser, Lighting Design by Anne E. Miletello, and Set Design was by T. Owen Baumgartner. Cast: Nena – Sheila Dabney, Olimpia – Alba Oms, Leticia – Crystal Field, Orlando – Pedro Garrido, Alejo – Hermann Lademann.
1985 – Theater for the New City, New York NY (dir. Maria Irene Fornes)
1987 – Moving Target Theatre, Washington DC (dir. Michael David Fox)
1988 – Organic Theater Company, Chicago IL (dir. Thomas Riccio)
From 12th October – 5th November 1988, there was a production directed by Francesca Joseph which was presented by Union 212 and Dina and Alexander E. Racolin at the Gate Theatre, London, England. The Décor was by Cathy Ryan. Cast: Orlando – Richard Lintern, Nena – Annabelle Lanyon, Olimpia – Joan Heal, Alejo – Sean Fogarty, Leticia – Norma West.
1994 – Fritz Theatre, San Diego CA (dir. Karin Williams)
1994 – Theater LaB Houston, Houston TX (dir. Edith Pross)
1996 – Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Diego CA (dir. Sam Valdez)
1996 – Gardner Stages, Los Angeles CA (dir. Dona Guevara Hill)
1999 – Cara Mia at Deep Ellum Center for the Arts, Dallas TX (dir. Marisela Barrerra)
2000 – Rooster Theater, New Orleans LA (dir. Harry Hoffman)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Plays, (New York: PAJ Publications, 1986).
Licensing: Broadway Play Publishing

OTHER DOCUMENTATION

There is an account of the Padua Hills performance by Martin Epstein in Conducting a Life, p.34.
Fornés was awarded an Obie for The Conduct of Life as “Best New American Play.”
Fornés dedicated this play ‘To Julian Beck in memory of his courageous life (1925-1985).’ See Publications Maria Irene Fornés, Plays, pp.65-89, p.65.

1986 LOVERS AND KEEPERS

CAST

SYNOPSIS

A suite of three short musical plays with Hispanic characters that recalls the traditional Spanish form of the zarzuela. The project teamed Fornes as lyricist with a trio of Latin American composers: Francisco Rodriguez, Fernando Rivas, and the famous percussionist and band-leader Tito Puente, the “King of Latin Jazz.” Rivas also arranged the music, which mixed Afro-Cuban and Latin rhythms with tangos and ballads and even a catchy tune about chicken soup. …Each of the three plays offers a sympathetic portrait of love and marriage. In a program note for the Pittsburgh production, Fornes described the characters in Lovers and Keepers as “the non-heroes in our society: the ordinary (Fred and Fina), the unfortunate (Tato), the humble and giving (Elena, Clara), the aged with a gift for life (Nick and Toña).”

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (p. 121). Taylor and Francis.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

1985 – Workshop in Woodstock NY (dir. Maria Irene Fornes)
With Music by Tito Puente, Fernando Rivas and Francisco Rodríguez, this musical was directed by Fornés in 1986 at INTAR, (International Arts Relations), Hispanic American Arts Centre, 420 West 42nd Street, NYC. Costume Design by Gabriel Berry, Lighting Design by Anne E. Militello and Set Design by Ricardo Morin. Cast: Fred – Jesse Corti, Fina and Elena – Jossie de Guzmán, Tato – José Fong, Clara and Tona – Sheila Dabney, Nick – Tomás Millan.
Fornés also directed it in 1986 with City Theatre Company at New City Theatre, Pittsburgh PA.
1989 – Blind Parrot Productions, Chicago IL and El IV Festival de Teatro Hispano, Minorca Playhouse, Coral Gables FL (dir. David Perkins)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Theatre Communications Group, 1987.

1986 THE TRIAL OF JOAN OF ARC IN A MATTER OF FAITH

CAST

SYNOPSIS

The Trial of Joan of Arc in a Matter of Faith, a theatrical adaptation of transcripts from the trial of Joan of Arc in Rouen in 1431 on charges of heresy against the Roman Catholic Church. The historical Joan has been brought to the stage innumerable times, in plays by Shakespeare, Schiller, and Shaw, in Carl Dreyer’s silent film, an oratorio by Arthur Honegger, and a modern dance by Martha Graham, to name only a few. Fornes’s treatment is perhaps the most austere. She eschewed the battlefield pageantry of the Hundred Years War and Joan’s sensational burning at the stake in order to concentrate on the inquisition conducted by Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais.

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (pp. 92-93). Taylor and Francis.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

The only staging has been under Fornés’ direction at the Theatre for The New City, New York in 1986. Costume Design by Gabriel Berry, Lighting design by Anne Militello and Set Design by Donald Eastman. Cast: Joan of Arc – Sheila Dabney, Inquisitor A – Bennes Mardenn, Inquisitor B – George Batennieff.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Unpublished

1986 THE MOTHERS

CAST

SYNOPSIS

PRODUCTION HISTORY

This was directed by Fornés at the Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, Santa Monica, California. The work became Nadine, the first act of the larger work, What of the Night?

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: Theatre Communications Group, 1987.

1986 ART (BOX PLAYS)

CAST

SYNOPSIS

Two men in business suits debate what to do as a third man eats a woman’s body. One of the observers urges some form of action to prevent the continued abuse of the woman whilst the second man chooses to remain a cool observer. [MM]

PRODUCTION HISTORY

In 1986, it was produced with other one-act plays with the Theatre for the New City and at the Hispanic Playwrights-in-Residence Laboratory in INTAR (International Arts Relations), Hispanic American Arts Centre, 420 West 42nd Street, NYC. Art was directed by Donald Squires.
Art was one of eight plays, the others being: First Vows by Manuel Pereiras; Dog by Leo Garcia; Not Time’s Fool by Migdalia Cruz; What Did You See? by Ana Maria Simo; Looking For Angels by Lisa Loomer; Snakes in the Bread Box by Lourdes Blanco; Cadillac Ranch by Jose Pelaez.
These playwrights had been Fornés’ workshop pupils and took the opportunity to confirm their thanks and admiration of Fornés in program notes.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Unpublished.

1987 ABINGDON SQUARE

CAST

SYNOPSIS

The play has thirty-one linear scenes set in New York City during 1908-1917, a period of social, political and wartime change. We see Marion, an innocent aged fifteen, under the care of Juster, aged fifty, who had taken on her care when she became an orphan. Marion becomes his child-bride living with him and her fifteen year old step-son, Michael. She struggles to repress her awakened inner life and fantasies but becomes pregnant in an adulterous relationship. Her betrayed husband ejects her from the house and refuses her contact with her baby. Not financially independent, her lover tired of her, Marion survives having pursued a need for self-development which she would not repress despite the pain for herself and others. She returns to Juster when she hears that he is ill and nurses him until his death. [MM]

PRODUCTION HISTORY

1985 – Workshop at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle WA (dir. Maria Irene Fornes)
1987 – Premier with the Women’s Project and Productions, Inc. at the American Place Theatre, NYC. Set Design by Donald Eastman, Lighting Design by Anne Militello. Cast: Marion – Madeline Potter, Michael – John David Callum, Juster – John Seiz, Minnie – Myra Carter, Mary – Anna Levine, Frank – Michael Cerveris, The Glazier – Mark Bagnall.
1988 – Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo NY (dir. Maria Irene Fornes)
1989 – Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (dir. Peter Hinton)
In the UK, it was first produced in June 1989 as a co-production in London, England between the Soho Poly and Shared Experience. Cast: Juster – Philip Voss, Marion – Annabelle Apsion, Michael – Pearce Quigley, Minnie – Helen Blatch, Mary – Veronica Smart, Frank – Christopher Eccleston. It was directed by Nancy Meckler.
1990 – Next Theatre, Evanston IL (dir. Eric Simonson)
The production moved to the National Theatre’s Cottesloe Theatre, London, England in 1990. It was directed by Nancy Meckler. Décor was by Lucy Weller and Lighting Design by Tina MacHugh.
1990 – Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney, and Melbourne International Festival, Melbourne, Australia (dir. Ros Horin)
1991 – Source Theatre, Washington DC (dir. Elizabeth Robelen)
In 1992, Fornés directed Abingdon Square, translated as La plaza chica, as a bilingual production at the San Diego Repertory Theatre, San Diego, California.
2003 – Piven Theatre Workshop, Evanston IL (dir. Jessica Thebus)
2004 – Open Fist Theatre Company, Los Angeles CA (dir. Martha Demson)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

First Published: American Theatre Magazine, February 1988.
Fornes, Maria Irene. What of the Night? : Selected Plays. 1st ed. New York: PAJ Publications, 2008.

OTHER DOCUMENTATION

In 1988 Fornés was awarded an Obie for Best American Play, Abingdon Square.

1988 HUNGER

CAST

SYNOPSIS

PRODUCTION HISTORY

As with The Mothers, this became part of What of the Night? It was directed by Maria Irene Fornes at En Garde Arts, “Three Pieces for a Warehouse,” 500 Greenwich Street, New York NY.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Unpublished.

1988 WHAT OF THE NIGHT?

CAST

SYNOPSIS

A four play epic: Nadine, Springtime, Lust and Hunger.

The first play, initially titled The Mothers, then Charlie, and finally Nadine, takes place somewhere in the Southwest where a mother named Nadine and her children live in poverty outdoors in an empty lot with a few pieces of furniture. Her babe-in-arms Lucille is sick and needs medicine or she will die. Her hapless teenage son Charlie tries to help by mugging bums, stealing their clothes, and giving them to a menacing, small-time hoodlum named Pete to sell. But the few pennies he earns are insufficient so Nadine turns to having sex with Pete for money. Her 9-year-old daughter Rainbow brings home another mouth to feed, a feisty street kid named Birdie, who marries Charlie (despite their young ages). But Birdie wants “something from life,” and in the end, she leaves, as Charlie begs her to stay and sobs and rubs his face in the dirt.

The second play, Springtime, takes place twenty years later and chronicles in fourteen typical Fornes emotigraphs the sad romance between Rainbow, now 29, and her German lover Greta, who is desperately ill. Once again, the need for medical care prompts one of Nadine’s children to turn to crime. Rainbow steals a watch from a wealthy man, who catches her and forces her into his service as part of a blackmail scheme. Unbeknownst to Rainbow, this man is her half-brother Ray, who was given up for adoption by Nadine at an early age. The love of Rainbow and Greta is sweet and tender, but Ray’s presence in their lives comes between them. One day, Rainbow catches Greta with Ray. After a long silent good-bye, Rainbow leaves, ending a second play on a sad note of failed romance.

The third and strangest play of the four is Lust, which moves from “the fringes of society to the centers of power” (Clay 1990). It focuses on Ray, now an ambitious businessman moving up the corporate ladder. He is the embodiment of the heartless greed in the world that Fornes found so troubling. He marries the boss’s daughter Helena, a high-strung woman so starved for affection that she seems barely to exist. They share a loveless marriage, as Ray becomes his father-in-law’s partner and eventually takes over his business. In the middle of the play, there is a wildly theatrical sequence that presents a bizarre, erotic dream of Ray’s. The action careens from a car-repair shop to a fire escape to a Chinese restaurant to the streets of Bolivia, as Ray has a rapid-fire series of sexual encounters. He masturbates against a bathroom mirror. He tells a woman to “measure my cock.” He forces himself to watch as a boy burns hundred-dollar bills. A crow pecks at his face. Cold, heartless sex becomes the emblem of all rapaciousness, even when the dream sequence is over and Birdie enters the play as a companion Ray has hired to care for Helena. In the end, Ray, firmly in command, stops his father-in-law from shooting himself as Helena, fragile and forlorn, talks about how her father, now a broken man, always wished he had a son just like her.

The fourth play, Hunger, takes place in the future “after an economic disaster” so severe that all but a privileged minority live in prison-like warehouses for the dispossessed. Charlie, now a portly, slow-witted man of 76, is a low-level clerk in one such shelter. Ray, now one of the fallen, lives there with his mate Reba (a name that echoes Rainbow) and goes out at night scavenging for food or things he can sell. Birdie, now a woman of means, comes from “the Compound,” the bunkered refuge of the ruling elite, to retrieve something taken by Ray. Charlie does not remember Birdie as his former wife or Ray as his brother. “It’s different now,” says Charlie. “The way a person thinks. The way a person is” (Fornes 2008: 158). An atmosphere of torpor and gloom prevails. Bodies shrouded in blankets line the walls. The characters are all damaged or wounded. Reba has a broken arm and needs medical treatment, but she will not sign a requisition form because, she says, it is better not to put your name down on paper. When Birdie returns with a loaf of bread for the others, she is handed a blanket and assimilated into the shelter. “A moment ago you felt you were different,” says Reba. “But it won’t take too long before you feel just like us” (Fornes 2008: 168). A bell sounds signaling mealtime in the shelter, and a stone Angel with a broken wing approaches and drops bloody animal entrails on the floor. Birdie gags and faints, Reba asks the Angel to bring Birdie “something she can eat,”Charlie kneels and bows his head, and Ray sobs as the lights fade to black.

Cummings, Scott T.. Maria Irene Fornes (Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists) (p. 140- 143). Taylor and Francis.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

1988 – Workshop under the title Give Us This Day, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee, WI (dir. Maria Irene Fornés)
This epic play premiered 4th March – 19th March 1989 under Fornés’ direction at the Stiemke Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Costume Design was by Cecelia Mason, Lighting Design by LeRoy Stoner and Set Design by John Story.
Cast for Nadine: Nadine – Marilyn Frank, Charlie – Steven J. Gefroh, Pete – Daniel Mooney, Leah – Marie Mathay, Rainbow – Kelly Maurer, Birdie – Catherine Lynn Davis, Joe – Steven Folstein, Panhandlers – Nomi Bence, Larry Dean Birkett, Terrance P. Flynn, Steven Folstein, Cynthia Hewett, Heather Kendall, Amy Malloy, Joan Rater, and Holly Smith.
Cast for Springtime: Greta – Catherine Lynn Davis, Rainbow – Kelly Maurer, and Ray – Daniel Mooney.
Cast For Lust: Ray – Daniel Mooney, Joseph – Kenneth Albers, Helena – Marie Mathay, Jim – Larry Dean Birkett, She – Catherine Lynn Davis, Lorraine – Kelly Maurer, Wang – Steven J. Gefroh, Girl – Amy Malloy, Wing – Marilyn Frank, Boy – Larry Dean Birkett, Crows – Steven Folstein, Terrance P. Flynn, and Birdie – Catherine Lynn Davis.
Cast for Hunger: Charlie – Kenneth Albers, Birdie – Catherine Lynn Davis, Ray – Daniel Mooney, Reba – Marilyn Frank, and Angel – Thomas Van Voorhees.
Fornés directed And What Of The Night again at Trinity Repertory Company, Trinity United Methodist Church, Providence, Rhode Island on 10th January – 11th February 1990. Previews were 5th-9th January. Costume Designer – William Lane, Lighting Designer – Anne Militello, Set Designer – John Murphy, Jr. It was performed with one twelve-minute intermission.
2010 – Staged Reading at the 2010 New York Fornés Festival, Cherry Lane Theatre, New York NY (dir. Marya Ferrer, Jacquelyn Landgraf, and Kay Matschullat)
2010 – Halcyon Theatre, Lincoln Square Theatre, Chicago IL (dir. Margo Gray)

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Fornes, Maria Irene. What of the Night? : Selected Plays. 1st ed. New York: PAJ Publications, 2008.

OTHER DOCUMENTATION

Fornes was a 1990 Pulitzer Prize finalist for What of the Night?
CAST
Nadine
- Charlie - Ed Shea, Nadine – Barbara Meek, Pete – Ed Hall, Leah – Anne Scurria, Rainbow – Patricia Mattick, Birdie – Anne Christianson, Joe – Michael Cobb.
Springtime
- Rainbow – Patricia Mattick, Greta – Ed Shea, Ray – Timothy Crowe.
Lust
- Ray – Timothy Crowe, Joseph – Ed Hall, Helena – Anne Scurria, Jim – Howard Patlis, She – Patricia Mattick, Lorraine – Patricia Mattick, Wing – Barbara Meek, Girl – Stephanie Paul, Wang – Ed Shea, Boy – Howard Patlis, Birdie – Anne Christianson.
Hunger
- Charlie - Ed Hall, Birdie – Anne Christianson, Ray – Timothy Crowe, Reba – Barbara Meek, The Angel – Michael Cobb. With Amy Alt, Stephanie Bond, Robert Castro, Josie Chavez, Jennifer Dollard, Jeffrey Gitelle, Lee Kiszonas, Tara Pomfret, Lisa Welti