The Conduct of Life Response

One dramaturgical choice in Maria Irene Fornes play, The Conduct of Life, that stands out to me is the reflection on society. What I mean by this is that Fornes' has each of her characters looking outside their own lives and commenting and observing the planet as a whole. For example, Orlando expresses on page 1492, " there's something malignant in the world. People take what is not theirs. I don't see hope." Fornes' chooses to allow a selfish man, like Orlando, to look beyond his own worries, and worry about the society he lives in. This dramaturgical choice has a huge effect on the story because it makes it relevant to the audience, not just the characters. The characters reflection on society forces the audience to contemplate what they are saying because the audience lives in it too. You can see this idea in action on page 1491, when Leticia speaks, " we take care of our pocket, but not of our country. We take care of our stomachs, but not our hungry." Though Leticia is only speaking this to Orlando and Alejo, she is commenting on an idea everyone in the theater would be familiar with. Fornes' dramaturgical choice affects the audience as it strikes a nerve in them to reflect on the world. On another note, the play is called The Conduct of Life because it shows people’s personal behavior of living. The play follows the journey of five characters self- behavior in life. Though it is important to note that the people around them influence the characters self-behavior. The Conduct of Life includes many striking and brilliant dramaturgical choices by Maria Irene Fornes that directly affect the audience and the story itself. As for the meaning of the play, the title could be interpreted many ways, but I believe it is to be interpreted literally. 

Triffles Response

Designing Susan Glaspell's, Triffles, as ultra minimalistic is a fascinating idea. I see where this director is coming from because I think this play has enough emotion and conflict that period costumes are not needed and could possibly distract from what is at the heart of the play. On the other hand, a minimalistic look could present problems and confusion for the audience. For example, the text implies that the play is set back in a time when women did not have a voice and worked solely in the house. The County Attorney emphasizes this culture by criticizing Mrs. Wrights lack of good housekeeping and also by Mrs. Wright worrying about her fruit becoming frozen. If historically appropriate costumes were to be used, audiences would automatically understand the culture and time period. Though, if the characters were in all black, the audience would not know what time period it was and therefore would be confused about some of the characters words and actions. Continuing with the abstract look, the director said she or he would use only simple, black blocks and chairs for furniture. This idea for the set would absolutely take value and meaning out of the play. The whole first half of Triffles presents Mr. Hale physically walking through the house and pointing out what he had seen the day before. The reality of this would appear to the audience if a naturalistic rocking chair, a naturalistic bedroom, and a naturalistic kitchen were set up. The audience has Mr. Hale to give them a visual image through words, but if the set does not physically reflect his descriptions, there will be no believability for the audience or the actor. An ultra-stripped down version of Triffles would allow the audience to focus solely on the people, but ultimately it would leave the audience feeling lost without any picture of what happened. 

Overtones Response

I have never seen or read a play like Alice Gerstenberg's, Overtones, in which each characters "alter ego" has its own, separate role and lines. I had to extremely concentrate while reading the play because I had to keep reminding myself that Margaret was only interacting and hearing Harriet, not Hetty, and Maggie was only interacting and hearing Hetty, not Harriet.  The "rules" of Overtones don't seem to be too strict. Most of the stage directions only specify who is talking to who, not who is seen.  The only exception is in the first scene, between Harriet and Hetty. A stage direction states, "From behind Harriet's chair Hetty rises slowly". This specific stage directions defines the rule that Hetty should be physically visible. Though besides this first scene, Gerstenberg allows for a lot of freedom for the production choices. One idea would be to not allow the audience to physically see Hetty and Maggie, but just hear them. I believe Gerstenberg encourages this choice by the use of Harriet's line, "Quick, put the veil on, or she'll see you shining through me," right before Margaret arrives. Even though Gerstenberg's stage directions to Maggie at one point read, " Glaring at tea things," the audience would still be able to grasp that action without it physically being done by Maggie.  Most importantly, whatever the director decides to do, the audience needs to understand that Margaret cannot hear Hetty and Harriet cannot hear Maggie. I believe, that is the main rule of Overtones because it seems by having these inside voices sharing how the characters really feel, Gertensberg is bringing up a quality that every person in society holds: thinking one thing, but saying another. Gerstenberg's Overtones is a complicated and intricate play but it offers much freedom in the way the director chooses to present it.

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