The Conduct of Life

The Conduct of Life, written by Maria Irene Fornes, is play that takes the reader through an emotional fun house. Between the talk of torture and acts of violence and rape, the reader is constantly hanging on for dear life because no one knows what will happen next. One of the reasons why Fornes is able to keep her readers on their toes, besides all the violence, is do in part to how short some of her scenes are. The shortness of each scene leaves the audience asking for more and wondering how the scene may be resolved. Her scenes are short and simple, but not sweet. Another interesting dramaturgical choice that Fornes choose was deciding to go into great detail in all of her stage directions, including an entire scene dedicated to just a stage direction. In Scene 5 of the play, Fornes writes, “…He looks around the room for Nena. Believing she has escaped, he becomes very still and downcast. He turns to the door…” This example is just one of many details she goes into great detail. Allowing Fornes to go into great detail for just a stage direction does not leave much room for either the actor or director to play with the script. Instead, Fornes has turned this play into one that can only be enjoyed while being read.

            Maria Irene Fornes cleverly named her story The Conduct of Life because the characters in her play conduct themselves in different ways in the presence of people they fear or do not know. An example being when Leticia walks in on Nena and Olimpia talking and allows Nena to stay seated at the table. As soon as Leticia walked into the room Nena began conducting herself in a different manner. Nena did not speak; and constantly looked to Leticia for permission no matter what Olimpia said to Nena that it was okay to do.  What Fornes is trying to say with the title is that people in today’s society act differently in front of those they do not know or fear.

Trifles

The story of Trifles is a very properties and scenic detailed show. When reading the play, there are numerous properties called for within the story. Not only does the script call for a number of properties, but it also goes into great detail of the scenery. For the purpose of performing a show with an ultra minimalist design concept, this would be a difficult play to perform. However, each character when speaking about a property or piece of scenery describes it in detail. With that in mind, while it would be difficult to perform, if directed properly I believe it is doable. One of the many befits of having an ultra minimalist set is that it allows room for the audience to interpret the description of a property or scenic piece to something they are familiar with. The downside to having a set made up of just black chairs and black blocks for properties is that not every single person is as imaginative as the next person. That being the case, some people will have a difficult time replacing the black block or chair with what is actually supposed to be represented, thus loosing major pieces of the story. Although this does allow for the audience to focus on the acting overall, it does however detach the audience from the show. Even though some people will be able to substitute the emptiness for detail they will not be able to fully ignore every bit of missing detail. If the show is given to an experienced director, I believe that this show could in fact be staged without the script loosing any meaning whatsoever. 

Overtones

The play Overtones was written in 1913, which was during the era of Sigmund Freud. This is important to note because during this time period a lot of attention was dedicated towards the study of the mind and how it worked. After reading Overtones, I believe this is also evident throughout the story. While Harriet cannot see Hetty, Hetty can see and, in fact hear, Harriet. The same is true for Margaret and Maggie. Even though neither Harriet nor Margaret ever talks to Hetty or Maggie directly, they still hold conversations with their counterpart. The reason they are still able to hold a conversation is because their counterpart is in fact an embodiment of their true self. In short both Harriet and Margaret are at times having conversations with themselves. It is this reason why Margaret cannot hear Hetty and Harriet, Maggie. Through the use of unique staging and perhaps the playing of previously recorded lines, the audience would be able to understand the relationship between each character and also grasp that Hetty and Maggie are just images of the inner selves of Harriet and Margaret. Although the script never says Hetty and Maggie, the reader is lead to believe that they can interact with each other. This becomes clearly evident at the end of the play, when Hetty and Maggie attack each other because their hate for each is so strong. The reason they are able to physically touch each other is because of the fact their outer selves shake hands. It is by the action that they are giving their inner selves permission to break the barrier of separation and attack out of pure hatred for each other. Overall, the story of Overtones is an example of how much one hides their true self from others on a daily basis and no matter how one may appear on the outside, their inner self could be completely different.