María Irene Fornés

"When I’m not doing something that comes deeply from me, I get bored. When I get bored I get distracted and when I get distracted, I become depressed. It’s a natural resistance, and it ensures your integrity.” -María Irene Fornés

María Irene Fornés (1930-2018) was an extremely prolific playwright, director, and leader in the avant-garde and off-off-Broadway theatre movements in the US. She wrote more than 40 plays, and directed the vast majority of her original productions. She also famously directed other work, including plays by Ibsen and Chekhov.

Fornés was born in Cuba, and immigrated to the US in 1945, at the age of 15, immediately following WWII. She was dyslexic and did not have very much education — she dropped out of high school and did not go to college. She was not much of a reader as a young person, and got most of her inspiration from things she saw and heard. Many of her characters reflect a desire to learn and become literate.

Fornés started her artistic career as a painter and discovered writing — as the story goes — when she was encouraging Susan Sontag, her lover at the time, to finish a forthcoming book. To demonstrate the easiness of writing, Fornés pulled a cookbook from the shelf, opened to a random page, and began a short story based on the first word of each sentence. "There are two of you," she later said, "one who wants to write and one who doesn't. The one who wants to write better keep tricking the one doesn't."

In addition to writing dozens of plays and winning nine Obie Awards (among many other honors), Fornés was a foundational teacher of playwriting, particularly in the Latinx community. She was the director of INTAR’s Hispanic Playwrights in Residence Lab for 14 years, and taught such legendary artists as Nilo Cruz, Lisa Loomer, Migdalia Cruz, Josefina Lopez, Eduardo Machado, and many many others.

"Her work has no precedents; it isn’t derived from anything. She’s the most original of us all."

- Lanford Wilson

"Every time I listen to Fornés, or read or see one of her plays, I feel this: she breathes, has always breathed, a finer, purer, sharper air."

- Tony Kushner

"In the work of every American playwright at the end of the 20th century, there are only two stages: before she has read María Irene Fornés and after."

- Paula Vogel

Highlighted Play: Mud (1983)

A production still from Mud. A man in dirty clothes and suspenders stands on a chair, left, with an aggressive expression and holding a clenched fist. Right of him, a woman in a dirty dress stands behind a shirtless and distressed man who appears immobile. The woman strangles the shirtless man from behind.

Mud at New City Theater (2015). Photo by Anya Kazanjian. Production directed by John Kazanjian.

Characters

Mae: A spirited young woman in her mid-twenties. She is single-minded and determined, a believer.

Lloyd: A simple and good-hearted young man in his mid-twenties. He is ungainly and unkempt. His shoulders slope, his stomach protrudes, some of his teeth are missing. At the start of the play, illness contributes to his poor appearance.

Henry: A large man in his mid-fifties. He has a natural sense of dignity, a philosophical mind He can barely read.

Setting

All scenes takes place in the small, simple country home of Mae and Lloyd. Mae and Lloyd grew up in this home together, though they are not brother and sister; Mae’s father took Lloyd in as a child, and Mae and Lloyd continued living here together after her father passed away.

Synopsis

Mud centers on three characters: Mae, Lloyd, and Henry. Mae and Lloyd are poor and uneducated; Lloyd is illiterate, and Mae is in school and attempting to learn how to read. She has a strong desire to learn and grow beyond her present circumstances. They grew up together in poverty, but are not really siblings, and sleep together as adults, though they are not really lovers. When Mae needs help reading a pamphlet about Lloyd’s worsening illness, the slightly better educated (and older) Henry comes into their lives. Attracted to his “mind,” Mae asks Henry to live in their home and take Lloyd’s place in her bed. After Henry takes a fall and becomes paralyzed, Mae finds herself with not one but two dependent men holding her back. She tells both men that she is going away to pursue her dreams of a clean and noble life, and meets a tragic end when Lloyd shoots her to prevent her from leaving their home.

An Interesting (And Relatable) Anecdote

When Fornés started writing Mud, she hadn’t intended to set the play in the country. But when she left for Claremont, California to rehearse the original Padua Hills Festival production, for which auditions had already been scheduled, only the first scene of Mud was written. In attempt to gather some inspiration and continue writing, Fornés joined some colleagues on a trip to a local flea-market. When she got there, she saw two inexpensive chairs, a cheap wooden ironing board, a very cheap antique hoe, an axe, and a pitchfork. Fornés could not resist these visually compelling and budget-friendly props, so she decided to purchase the items and set the play in the country. Ultimately, this meant that in the world of Mud, Mae would iron and Lloyd would work the land. “We had to put on these plays for hardly any money, so when you find something cheap, then you write a play about that” (BOMB, 1984)

Possible Contextual Applications

Classroom/Community: Mud offers a wealth of scene-work opportunities to advanced high school or undergraduate/graduate actors. The text is challenging in its simplicity, and asks actors to make honest, simple, grounded choices. Mud can also function as a good introduction to Fornés’ style.
Classroom/Community: Discuss gender roles in 1980s theatre/literature, and how gender roles are approached in Mud.
Classroom/Community: Discuss the statement that Fornés may be making about learning. What is the role of learning in this play?
Classroom/Community: Discuss the traumatic effects of poverty, and how this topic is approached in Mud.
Classroom: What is the purpose of the frozen images at the close of each scene? How do they aid in the storytelling? How could frozen images be created to express key moments in other works?

Mud: Sample Activity

Age Range: Late high school through college/pre-professional

Timeframe: 1-2 class periods (45-90 minutes)

Like all Fornés plays, Mud is extremely visual and written with a distinct stage picture in mind. At the same time, it is psychological. Mud asks actors-in-training to develop tensions (and intentions) that are deeply rooted under the surface of a deceptively simple text. As an exploration of tension within the structure of the simple stage picture, and of truthfulness when dealing with seemingly over-the-top characters, a late high school through college-level acting instructor could facilitate the following activity in class and/or scene work:

Still Photograph Exercise

According to Fornes’ stage directions, “At the end of each scene a freeze is indicated. These freezes will last eight seconds which will create the effect of a still photograph. When the freeze is broken, the actors will make the necessary set changes and proceed to perform the following scene.”

Students will be split into pairs or trios and given a scene number.
Their task will be to identify the events and subtext of the scene, and devise an impactful closing tableau (still image).
They will perform the last 3-5 lines of the scene, ending the scene by freezing in this devised tableau.
Their frozen image will be photographed by the instructor.
Photographs (digital or printed) will be distributed so that each group receives a photograph of a tableau other than the one they performed.
Next, students will be asked to freeze in the positions of the actors in this new photograph, leading into a short improvised “moment after” scene.
- Depending on their level and familiarity with the text, students should receive 10 minutes, but no more, to read and prepare for this improvised scene so that they have the opportunity to engage with the themes of the play. Their acting work in the improvisation should be inspired by their physical position during the tableau, should feel spontaneous, and should take them by surprise.
- Closing questions:
  - How were your physical choices informed by tension/intension in your original scene?
  - How did the tableau you embodied inform the improvised scene that followed?
  - In what ways are physical position and text/subtext intertwined?
  - Upon completing this exercise, why do you think Fornés directed actors to freeze at the end of each scene in Mud?

Two Other Pivotal Fornés Plays from the 1980s

Sarita

Original production image sourced from the Cuban TheaterDigital Archive.

Characters

Sarita: a spirited young woman, 13-21

Yeye: her friend and neighbor, 13-21

Fela: her mother, 35-43

Fernando: Fela’s tenant, 60-68

Julio: Sarita’s lover, 15-23

Mark: Sarita’s husband, 20-24

Juan: A friend and drummer

Synopsis

Sarita is a play with music centering around the experiences of a young, passionate Latinx woman as she navigates love interests and family through her youth in the South Bronx. Sarita is only 13 at the start of the play, but still expresses a strong sexual desire for her boyfriend Julio. A few scenes later (marking a chronological year), she is pregnant by Julio, and refuses an arranged marriage to a much older man as suggested by her concerned mother. As the play continues, we see Sarita struggle with her strong desire for Julio, a man who continuously leaves her for extended periods. She starts a relationship with a white-collar businessman, Mark, but continues to cheat on him with the emotionally abusive (and unemployed) Julio. Again and again, Sarita’s passion seems to stand in the way of the good and obedient life she thinks she is supposed to lead. The play ends after she stabs Julio to death in a fit of rage and pain, and is sent to a mental institution.

Possible Contextual Applications

Classroom / Community: Read the play as part of a study on slut-shaming and silencing of female desire. What is the role of female desire in this play? Why does Sarita describe herself as a “savage” for her attractions?
Classroom: Examine Sarita through a feminist lens. In what ways does this play challenge expectations about female behavior, female sexuality, and motherly instincts? In what ways is Sarita punished (or punishing herself) for her desires? Is she a positive female character? Is this a feminist play?
Classroom / Community: Examine the toxic relationships in Sarita. Who has the power in the Sarita/Julio/Mark love triangle?
Classroom / Community: How does Fornés present the cultural differences between Mark and Sarita, and highlight Mark’s whiteness? Is Sarita’s Latinx heritage relevant to the event’s of the play? In what ways?
Classroom: The songs in Sarita are simple and rely heavily on acting. These may be good options for “Acting a Song” or “Singing for Actors” courses.

The Danube

The Danube at Catastrophic Theatre (2015). Photo by George Hixson. Production directed by Jason Nodler.

Characters

Paul Green: A well-meaning American, 30

Mr. Sandor: A Hungarian bureaucrat and Eve’s father, 50

Eve Sandor: Mr. Sandor’s daughter, 24

Mr. Kovacs: Mr. Sandor’s friend, 48

The waiter

The doctor

The barber

The Language Tapes

The conceit of The Danube is that the audience is stepping into an abstracted series of Hungarian language-learning tapes. In fact, the whole play was inspired by real tapes that Fornés found in a used book shop. Several scenes are framed with actual language tapes. The dialogue, particularly at the start of each scene, is deliberately stiff and obvious in fitting with this genre.

Synopsis

The Danube starts as a very simple romantic drama about an American in 1938 Budapest who courts and falls in love with the daughter of one of his colleagues. As each scene progresses, however, often accompanied by formally recorded Hungarian translations, we see these two lovers grow mysteriously sicker and sicker. The initially linear plot switches gears and becomes abstract, incorporating explosive declarative monologues, symbolic imagery, and puppetry. Ultimately, it seems Paul and his cohort have fallen sick as a result of some form of nuclear exposure. The play ends when Paul and Eve leave Budapest, shortly after revealing that they are in possession of a firearm, and proclaim that they will be dying very soon.

Possible Contextual Applications

Classroom: Use The Danube as an accompanying text to classroom study of the Cold War or Cold War-era literature. What is the historical/cultural world in which this play starts? How does Fornés distort that world with nonlinear fantasy sequences and metaphorical images?
Classroom: As a playwriting exercise, ask students to use language tape source materials to inspire their own series of scenes.
Classroom: How is illness used as a literary symbol in The Danube? How is the progression of the characters’ illnesses handled? Why is it depicted in this way?
Classroom / Community: How is frozen image employed in The Danube? Create a series of images that, when dramatized, tell a complex story.
Classroom / Community: How does Fornés approach cultural/language differences in The Danube? Highlight areas in which the characters reflect upon their national identities and the characteristics of their home countries. Are these reflections accurate depictions?

Fornés’ Body of Work

1960s

La Viuda/The Widow (1961 - in Spanish, also broadcast as a radio play)
Tango Palace (1964 - originally produced as There! You Died in 1963)
The Successful Life of 3 (1965)*
Promenade (1965 - with music by Al Carmines)
The Office (1966 - unpublished, with music by Robert Prince)
A Vietnamese Wedding (1967 - interactive piece described in stage directions as “not a play”)*
The Annunciation (1967 - unpublished)*
Dr. Kheal (1968)
The Red Burning Light Or: Mission XQ3 (1968 - originally The Red Burning Light of the American Way of Life, music by Richard Peaslea and John Bauman)
Molly’s Dream (1968 - music by Cosmos Savage, now thought to be lost)*

1970s

The Curse of the Langston House (1972 - unpublished)*
Aurora (1974 - music by John FitzGibbon)*
Cap-a-pie (1975 - bilingual, music by José Raúl Bernardo)*
Washing (1976)*
Fefu and her Friends (1977 - set and performed in multiple rooms)*
Lolita in the Garden (1977 - music by Richard Weinstock)*
In Service (1978 - unpublished)*
Eyes on the Harem (1979)*

1980s

Evelyn Brown (A Diary) (1980 - unpublished)*
A Visit (1981 - unpublished, music George Quincy)*
The Danube (1981)*
Mud (1983)*
Sarita (1984 - music by Leon Odenz)*
No Time (1984 - developed into The Conduct of Life in 1986)*
Drowning (1985)*
The Conduct of Life (1986)*
Lovers and Keepers (1986 - music by Tito Puente, Fernando Rivas and Francisco Rodriguez)*
A Matter of Faith (1986)*
The Mothers (1986 - unpublished, became Nadine, part of And What of the Night in 1989)*
Art (Box Plays) (1986 - unpublished)
Abingdon Square (1987)*
Hunger (1988 - became part of And What of the Night? In 1989)*
And What of the Night? (1989 - consists of Nadine, Springtime, Lust, and Hunger)*

1990s

Oscar and Bertha (1991)*
Terra Incognita (1991 - music by Roberto Sierra)*
Enter the Night (1993)*
Ibsen and the Actress (1995 - unpublished, developed into The Summer in Gossensass in 1997)*
Manual for a Desperate Crossing (Balseros/Rafters) (1996 - unpublished, music by Robert Ashley, libretto about young people crossing to the US from Cuba on rickety rafts)
The Summer in Gossensass (1997 - unpublished, developed from Ibsen and the Actress)*
The Audition (1998)*

2000s

Letters from Cuba (2000)*

*Original production directed by María Irene Fornés

Obie Awards

1965 Distinguished Plays (Promenade and The Successful Life of 3)
1977 Playwriting (Fefu and Her Friends)
1979 Directing (Eyes on the Harem)
1982 Sustained Achievement
1984 Playwriting (Mud, Sarita, The Danube)
1984 Directing (Mud, Sarita, The Danube)
1985 Best New American Play (The Conduct of Life)
1988 Best New American Play (Abingdon Square)
2000 Special Citation (Letters from Cuba)

Pulitzer Prize Nomination

1990 (And What of the Night?)

Additional Resources

Bibliography

Cummings, S.T. Maria Irene Fornes. New York: Routledge, 2013

[cunytv75]. (2016, July 11 - originally taped 1990, May 29). Spotlight - Maria Irene Fornes, part 2. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-dLxUVdCHA

Delgado, M.M. & Svich, C. Conducting a life: reflections on the theatre of Maria Irene Fornés. Lyme, NH: Smith and Kraus, 1999

Fierberg, R. (2018, August 23). 7 things you never knew about America’s ‘greatest and least known dramatist’. Playbill. Retrieved from http://www.playbill.com/article/7-things-you-never-knew-about-americas-greatest-and-least-known-dramatist

Fornes, M.I. and Frame, A. (1984, Fall). Maria Irene Fornes. [Interview]. BOMB, No. 10 pp. 28-30. New Art Publications. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/40425247

García-Romero, A. The Fornes frame: contemporary Latina playwrights and the legacy of Maria Irene Fornes (Chapter 1: Maria Irene Fornes). Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2016. pp. 3-24. Project MUSE. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/.

Kent, A.B. Maria Irene Fornes and her critics. London: Greenwood Press, 1996

Maria Irene Fornes Plays. (n.d.) From http://www.mariairenefornes.com/plays.html [Website]. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20080509114650/http://www.mariairenefornes.com/plays.html

Marranca, B. (1984). The real life of Maria Irene Fornes. PAJ: A Journal of Performing and Art, 8(1) pp. 29-34. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/3245402

McNulty, C. (2016, March 31). Do you know the plays of ‘theater god’ Maria Irene Fornes? Festival Irene is your chance. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-maria-irene-fornes-20160331-column.html

Memran, M. (Producer & Director), & Fox, J. (Producer). (2018). Maria Irene Fornés: the rest I make up[Motion Picture]. New York: Women Make Movies

Memran, M. (2002, October 1). Moment to moment: with Maria Irene Fornes. The Brooklyn Rail: Critical Perspectives on Arts, Politics, and Culture. Retrieved from https://brooklynrail.org/2002/10/theater/moment-to-moment-with-maria-irene-fornes

Moroff, D. Fornes: theater in the present tense. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996. pp. 17-32; 57-94.

Reagan, A. (2017, July 5). Maria Irene Fornes, world builder. American Theatre. Retrieved from https://www.americantheatre.org/2017/07/05/maria-irene-fornes-world-builder/

Robinson, M. The theater of Maria Irene Fornés. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1999.

Shewey, D. (1999, November 9). Her championship season. The Advocate. Retrieved from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Her+championship+season.-a057155932

Sontag, S. Maria Irene Fornes Plays (Preface). New York: PAJ Publications, 1985. pp. 7-10.

Svich, C. (2009). The legacy of Maria Irene Fornes: a collection of impressions and exercises. PAJ: A Journal of Performing and Art, 31(3) pp. 1-32. Retrieved from https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/pajj.2009.31.3.1.

[Women Make Movies]. (2018, April 5). The rest I make up - a film about Maria Irene Fornes. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut6_LeYuHtQ

Ybarra, A. Latinx theater in the times of neoliberalism (Chapter 2: Havana Is (Not) Waiting: Staging the Impasse in Cuban American Drama about Cuba’s Special Period). Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2017. Project MUSE. Retrieved from https://muse-jhu-edu.proxy.library.nyu.edu/book/55917

Web page created by KC Wright (2018)

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