Brainstorming

I will be playing the mother in my adaption of Nineteen Thirty Seven. Abby will be playing the Madonna, and Nadya is playing the daughter. I think Abby deserves to play a part other than the mother, and she is a very strong actress. She was good as Asaka, and the Madonna is another "god-type" character. Nadya is a quieter actress, and I think her character starts out very quiet, but slowly finds her own her strengths. I wanted to be the mother because I admire her power.

We officially decided to have the skit run from the mother’s escape from the massacre to the mother being arrested. We will have to skip a lot of the daughter growing up, probably only including visits to the river. There is a chant the mother says (to the sun?) in the story that I would like to include. There are also a couple of flashbacks that we need to look at.

We have a lot of ideas for the Madonna. We haven’t decided if the characters on stage can see her, or if we will have an actual doll onstage as well. Is she a doll that comes to life? Or just another entity? Something we pray to? The Madonna is not the traditional madonna, as seen in the picture. I am really excited to work on her part.

Endgame Review

To be honest, I was a little scared to see Endgame. Reading the script was really weird, and frankly unsettling. It also made zero sense. However, on stage, everything came together nicely. This was due to the excellent use of lighting and sound, use of blank space, and character development.

The very beginning of the show was extremely disjointing. All of a sudden, the stage lit up bright white and a very electronic, high-pitched noise filled the theater. I figured this show was set before modern time, (I don’t know why I thought that but I did), and the electronic noise threw me off guard. However, the second the lights and sound fell, everything just seemed… mediocre. It was almost humorous, and clearly intentional. This is the only time we experienced a clear shift in the lighting. Most of the time, it was the same blue-ish gray light that lit the whole stage. I think they may have gone down when Hamm was speaking solo, but it was slow and barely noticeable. The sound varied, but happened in patterns. Whenever Clov left the room, the door slammed - loudly. Whenever Hamm wanted him back, he whistled - loudly. The alarm clock followed less of a pattern, but was very loud. The rest of the time, the sound was kind of mundane. This created an interesting vibe. On one hand, every noise was loud and disrupting. However, they happened in a pattern, and these shocking, disrupting things became part of the routine. Both the lighting and the sound contributed to a sense of patterns and becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable.

When I Mr. Aronson was my director, he emphasized using the space, and taking advantage of silence. While this may not have been translated in my performance of Gretta, i definitely saw it in Endgame. Clov was able to convey so much about his own character in the first 5 minutes of the show, while not saying anything. He established a routine of forgetfulness by forgetting the ladder at the window, dislike for Hamm by giving him dirty looks, desperation by going from window to window, searching for anything, and pain in his walk. Hamm also did a great job of this at the end. He took a lot of pauses in his monologue about Clov leaving, (everybody leaving) that did not disrupt the flow. While he was unable to physically use the space, he had incredible stage presence that shone through when he was silent.

It was evident that each actor spent a lot of time thinking through their characters. Hamm was very good at taking up space despite never moving. Clov demonstrated pain through his movement and voice. The father made a face that made him look almost… crazy? He was too happy for their situation. The mother’s voice gave a very similar vibe. I do wish we saw more of her. She was extremely talented.

Overall, I really enjoyed Endgame. It was very abstract, and makes me wonder a little about the mental state of the author, but I really liked it.

Reflection

Julia, Nadya and I did well in our final performance. I also believe that in the short(ish) amount of time we had, we worked hard and accomplished what we wanted to. The concept of our scene came across to the audience, but could have been further developed with more character work, scene work, and addressing unanswered questions.
At first, we wanted the mothers to be sisters. That would have been a really interesting connection to make between the two stories, and tie perfectly into the lost/missed connections we read about in Krik? Krak!. Unfortunately, we did not develop that plot line enough. We could have added more reflection on their childhood, and how different that was than their own children. There was also some miscommunication in that some of us thought we were sisters and others thought we were just friends. It did not show in the performance, but it did inhibit us from really developing our characters.  I personally still thought we were sisters.
My own character could have used more development, because I was not sure her thoughts on her child becoming more American. This is partially because the book never really expresses the mother's side of the story. It does seem like she does so much to support her daughter in America, and she is never seen outright getting upset with her for not conforming to Haitian culture. However, she is still doing work (that she probably doesn't need to do) while her daughter is rising up in the world. I decided to lean towards the side of support, but I know that my character did not have clear, strong feelings on either side of the debate.
In fact, I think the beliefs of both other women could have been further explored. Julia's character, the Night Woman, could have had a much stronger interruption and could have been clearly affected by the other women's ungratefulness. I don't think that is Julia's fault, because we should have written it better into the script. Nadya's character, the mother from Caroline's Wedding, was clearly against the "Americanization" of her children, but that could have escalated into an argument between the two mothers, instead of one (me) pushing aside disagreement to help her friend.
If we had a bigger performance space and the tools to really work on this scene, I would definitely have the Night Woman further away from the action, until the very end, when she interrupts. I also would have thought about my blocking a little more. I could have used body language to better show how I felt about my daughter becoming Americanized. I also could have reacted more, especially when the Night Woman interjected at the end. It just felt kind of awkward, which I am sure the audience could see. She also didn't interrupt right in the middl of a line, which made the inturrpution look like less of an interruption and more like a cue.
None of this means I didn't like my script, or that we did poorly. I really liked our idea of having Julia off to the side until she interrupted. I also liked our choice to include a connection to Lili, playing along with the theme that would have been present if they were sisters. Finally, I loved portraying the  connection between mother and daughter in Haiti vs. America, and how that changes, and why.

Top 5

1. Mom in my own: I really love the legend of the Wings of Fire.
2. Neighbor in Abby's: She is a character that hasn't been explored before.
3. Madonna in my own: The contrasting religion would be interesting to explore
4. Lili in Kathleen's: I like the idea of telling the story through time, and watching the relationship break down.
5. Mom in Abby's: The power vs. gender question here is really interesting.

Adaption

I want to adapt Nineteen Thirty Seven. The strength between the mother and daughter was really interesting in that story, but what really pulled me in was the mothers escape from the war with the Dominican Republic and the legend of the wings of fire. I want to adapt that to stage with two, maybe three actors. They would be the mother, daughter, and maybe the Madonna. The plot would be telling the story of the wings of fire. I would have to make it either really detailed or add the story of her arrest. I think the Madonna would be almost like a god or something, or some know all of everything?? Maybe a fortune teller?? And I really like Ms. Guarino's idea of using fabric and dance, but I personally cannot dance or choreograph so I don't know if it would work. I would have them both tell their own stories, and try to understand each other better. The daughter can tell of her confusion as a kid, and the mom of her escape. At the end, right when they come to a conclusion, the mom would be taken away. I need some walk on parts to play the police. I am really not sure how well this would work, and if they are talking to each other or the audience, so I will need some help from fellow actors on brainstorming and writing a script. It would be also really interesting to play with color, clothing, and lighting in this scene. Since what stuck with me in this scene was the legend of fire, I would want reds, oranges, and yellows. It would be really cool to have some white as well,  because they discuss the theme of angels often. I would like to see these colors in costumes, lighting, and makeup. (Especially with the madonna??)
For costumes, I don't want it to look modern at all. I want thick cloth and a dirty appearance. I am not sure how much we can do with lights, but I want it to be very dark, with lights mostly in the center. If possible, maybe use some orange slides to get a warmer light? (I know I have to be careful with colored slides because of how they impact color on stage)
In terms of dialogue, I really want to include the call and response game used to identify the women. I also really want the last lines of the story. Maybe I'd put those in the beginning.
I want to highlight the mystical and magical aspects of Nineteen Thirty Seven. Perhaps they could be combined with the magic in Night women and Between the Pool and the Gardenias. It's a really interesting side of Krik? Krak! to explore. My goals with this proposal is to have the mom, daughter, and the Madonna retell the legend of the wings of fire.
Clearly, I don't have one way this could end up. It truly depends on the actors interested.

Endgame background

• Originally written in French
• Translated into English by the author
• More authentic translation
• "humorous portrayal of death"= interesting dynamic
• After reading the script, it did not seem humorous, I am interested in seeing how that plays out on stage
• Beckett had a bleak background
• Also possible influence of Irish theater?
• "The Dead" had a very ominous theme despite being about a party
• also lacked a concrete theme
• Beckett's absurdist theater is not about symbolism 
• but can't it be interpreted that way?
• I think the show is full of unintentional symbolism, but we should not read too far into the lines
• ESPECIALLy because he translated it himself to insure nothing was lost in translation
• "People are afraid of Beckett" is very interesting
• he wrote shows for more than a crowd
• The cast is extremely talented
• Reg E Cathey won an Emmy for House of Cards
• Lynn Cohen was in Sex and the City and Hunger Games
• Brian Dennehey has won MULTIPLE Tony Awards

Krik? Krak! thoughts

“Krik? Krak!” is a storytelling/riddle solving game played in Haiti to pass time. The way I understand it is one person says “Krik!” and another says “Krak!,” and then the person who said “Krik” gives a riddle to the one who said “Krak” in response. We see this type of call and answer game throughout the short stories, for example in “Nineteen Thirty Seven,” when the daughter identifies the identity of another women through a series of questions with prescribed answers. This is also seen in “Caroline’s Wedding,” as the game Grace and Caroline are taught by their mother. The one true example of “Krik? Krak!” (besides the epilogue) is in the first story, Children of the Sea. They play the game while on the boat, and use it as an escape from reality. However, other call and response games played through the story bring the characters closer to reality, specifically the society of woman with flaming wings.

This dynamic of using storytelling to escape and understand reality is demonstrated in all of Edwidge Danticat's writing.Therefore, I believe that it says something deeper about Danticat herself, and her reason for writing. I am sure every author has heard “why do you write?” a thousand times, and sometimes the answer is scripted, and sometimes it is inspirational, and other times it is simply “because I can.” However, if you asked Edwidge Danticat that, I believe she would direct you to her stories. Her stories tell the tales of oppression, escape, and hope. While writing them, she is given an escape from the outside world, but perhaps more importantly, she is able to get in touch with herself.

Not many authors think of reading and sharing stories as a “call and response,” but I disagree. For a book to be a book, somebody has to read it. Somebody has to “respond.” There is more to stories than the words on the page, somebody has to give them meaning. Using Krik? Krak! As a title shows the reader that they are just as involved as the author is, an important sentiment that we don’t commonly see. I do think it is important to recognize that the readers determine the book, and it was an incredible idea of Edwidge Danticat to use her power and appeal to the people.

The epilogue was especially interesting. The significance of “Krik? Krak!” and storytelling clearly shine through. There is talk of 999 women who sacrificed everything to give the narrator a chance. She begs her mother to let her write and gets nowhere. She talks about the time they all spend to braid hair, and describes it as close to her heart and very sentimental. She then relates braids to stories. Each strand is a piece of a story, and individually they may not mean much, but together they look like a gorgeous braid. Danticat looks at those 999 women as strands in her braid. Storytelling means the world to Edwidge Danticat. Choosing to use a Haitian game/version of storytelling as her title shows us how Edwidge Danticat depends on storytelling.