The House of Trials

One possible convention of the Spanish Golden Age comedia could be the characters’ asides to the audience. This practice is different from what we have read in the well-made play so far. In The Glass of Water, for example, the characters stay within their own world. The characters only speak to each other and do not break the fourth wall. However, in House of Trials, the characters often break the fourth wall to tell the audience what they are really thinking. When the characters in Love! Valour! Compassion! break the fourth wall, it sometimes appears to be a way for their future selves to narrate information that they learned later. However, in The House of Trials, the characters’ asides are always in the present moment, conveying the characters’ limited knowledge at one particular time and place. Since this play is full of secrets, the characters must constantly deceive each other. When the characters make asides to the audience, the playwright is able to let the audience know the characters’ true thoughts and increase the dramatic irony.

Another possible convention of the comedia could be the dialogue written in verse. In The Glass of Water, the characters speak in naturalistic prose. However, in The House of Trials, the characters speak in poetry, going out of their way to tailor their language to certain conventions. In the footnotes, the translator goes into detail about the different verse forms Sor Juana uses. For example, in footnote 12 at the end of Act I on page 68, the translator describes the romance form, which is the form used for “81.6% of the lines in The House of Trials.” The translator explains that the romance form consists of four-line stanzas with assonant rhymes at the end of the second and fourth lines. Since I haven’t read the original Spanish text, I don’t know how Sor Juana’s original dialogue would sound. However, after reading the footnotes about the verse forms, I get the impression that the dialogue might sound less naturalistic than that of the well-made play. 

Show-and-Tell Post: "Wine in the Wilderness"

Basic Information

Wine in the Wilderness, written by Alice Childress in 1969, was first performed in Boston, Massachusetts. Part of the series “On Being Black,” this performance was televised on WGBH-TV (http://www.seattlepi.com/ae/article/Wine-in-the-Wilderness-expands-black-theater-1205671.php). I accessed this play through the North American Women’s Drama library database.

You can access it here.

Basic Plot

Wine in the Wilderness takes place in the Civil-Rights Era and revolves around Bill, a black artist, and his quest to complete his current project. Bill is working on a triptych that makes a statement about black womanhood. The first painting represents “black girlhood.” The second painting, “Wine in the Wilderness,” is Bill’s ideal African woman, beautiful and noble. The third, unfinished painting will represent what society has done to the black woman. Bill seeks a vulgar, unfeminine model who beyond hope. Bill’s friends introduce him to Tommy, a potential model who doesn’t know Bill’s intention for the painting and falls for the artist. As the night begins, Tommy seems like Bill’s negative stereotype of black women. However, when Tommy hears Bill describe “Wine in the Wilderness” to an art dealer, she believes that he is talking about her. She then allows her natural beauty to shine, and Bill begins to return her feeling. The next morning, Bill’s friend reveals the artist’s original intention for her. Tommy then criticizes Bill and his friends’ privileged attitude toward the masses. Tommy shows her new grace and asserts that she is “Wine in the Wilderness.” Bill realizes that Tommy is the true ideal of black womanhood and begins a new triptych, this time with Tommy as “Wine in the Wilderness.”

Dramaturgical Choice #1

Childress’s first significant dramaturgical choice is to devote a considerable amount of stage time to the discussion of African-American history. Bill educates Tommy about various activists who fought slavery and discrimination. This information impresses upon Tommy and the audience the history that weighs upon the world of the play. This play, which begins with an offstage riot, takes place during the Civil-Rights Era. This society shapes the characters’ perspectives. For example, Cynthia says, “For a time I thought I was about to move into another world, the so-called ‘integrated’ world, a place where knowledge and know-how could set you free and open all the doors, but that's a lie. I turned away from that idea. The first thing I did was give up dating white fellas.” This discussion of history shows the creation of the society that influenced the characters’ worldview.

This emphasis on black history also reinforces Tommy’s statement toward the end of the play about black solidarity. Tommy says, “If you feelin' so brotherly why don't you say ‘my’ sister? Ain't no we-ness in your talk. ‘The’ Afro-American, ‘the’ black man, there's no we-ness in you. Who you think you are?” During Tommy’s harsh speech, she criticizes the characters’ places relative to the black community and their greater struggle in the Civil-Rights Era. Since the context of the Civil-Rights Era shapes the characters and situations, it is logical that Childress lays the historical foundation in the dialogue.

Dramaturgical Choice #2

Another significant dramaturgical choice is Tommy’s name, both her nickname (Tommy) and her given name (Tomorrow). “Tommy,” a name traditionally used for men, emphasizes Tommy’s lack of femininity. Bill declares Tommy the perfect model for a painting that should represent a woman who is, “ignorant, unfeminine, coarse, rude…” Both Bill and Cynthia tell Tommy that she needs to act more feminine. While the characters never openly observe this, there seems to be an implicit connection between Tommy’s nickname and her lack of femininity.

Tommy’s given name, Tomorrow, is also significant, foreshadowing her character growth. At the beginning, when Bill describes the unfinished third painting, he says, “there’s no hope for her.” However, over the course of the play, Tommy finds her natural grace, beauty, and confidence. She asserts that she is the true “Wine in the Wilderness” when she says, “Bill, I don't have to wait for anybody's by-your-leave to be a "Wine In The Wilderness" woman. I can be it if I wanta,... and I am. I am. I am.” When she sheds her role as the third painting, it implies that there is hope for Tommy’s “tomorrow.” 

Comments Part 2

Silence Will Fall When The Question Is Asked--Eurydice

Silence Will Fall When The Question Is Asked--Love! Valour! Compassion!

Shakin' Down & Breakin' Down Doc Fletcher's 'Play'list--The Glass of Water

Stephanie's Script Speculations--Love! Valour! Compassion!

Shakin' Down & Breakin' Down Doc Fletcher's 'Play'list--Eurydice

Sue's script analysis blog--Love! Valour! Compassion!

Eurydice

“How will you remember?” could represent one interpretation of Eurydice. This quote comes from Scene 1 of the First Movement on page 215 when Orpheus asks Eurydice how she will remember that he loves her. This quote first seems harmless as Orpheus and Eurydice engage in lighthearted banter. However, I chose this quote because it takes on new meaning as the characters in the underworld struggle to remember their loved ones. Since this production would be centered around the concept of memory—specifically loss of memory—there could be more emphasis on empty space in the physical setting and dialogue. This would be a solemn production with empty spaces, long pauses, and echoes to mirror the memory loss that the characters experience. I imagine that this poster could feature the string room, thin white lines against a black backdrop. I associate this string room with memory, since it is built as Eurydice is on her way to gaining her memories. On the other hand, the house is unraveled when Eurydice’s father is on his way to forgetting his memories.

The second interpretation of Eurydice could be summed up with, “Being sad is not allowed! Act like a stone.” This quote comes from page 231 of Scene 7 in the Second Movement when the stones are advising Eurydice against uncovering her memories. I chose this quote because it captures the absurd images that could be highlighted in this second interpretation. This production could have a livelier energy, emphasizing the absurdity of the stones’ dialogue and the child’s persona. In this production, the actors would engage in rapid dialogue and speak with high energy and tension. Like the first production, this interpretation could be unsettling, but in a different way. I think that this poster could feature three laughing stones, tumbling over one another, pursued by the child on his tricycle.