María Irene Fornés
Encyclopedia
María Irene Fornés is a Cuban-American avant garde playwright and director who is associated with the establishment of the Off-off-Broadway
movement in the 1960s. Fornes themes focused on poverty and feminism. In 1965, she won her first Obie Award
for Promenade and her second for The Successful Life of Three. She was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
with her play And What of the Night? Other notable works include Fefu and Her Friends, Mud, Letters from Cuba and Sarita
.
.
In 1954, Fornés moved to Europe to study painting. There, she was greatly influenced by a French production of Samuel Beckett
's Waiting for Godot
even though she never read the play nor did she understand French. This event shifted her creative ambitions towards playwriting.
. They encouraged each other to write. Her first play was titled The Widow (1961). Her next major piece was There! You Died, first produced by San Fransisco's Actor's Workshop in 1963. An absurdist two-character play, it was later renamed Tango Palace
and produced in 1964 at New York City's Actors Studio
. The piece is an allegorical power struggle between the two central characters: Isidore, a clown, and Leopold, a naive youth. This play established Fornés' theatrical production style, in which she was involved in the entire staging process. Like much of her writing during this time, Tango Palace stresses character rather than plot. In the wake of this, Fornés' reputation grew in avant-garde
circles ,and she became friendly with Harriet Sohmers Zwerling
, Norman Mailer
and Joseph Papp
. Her work was later championed by Performing Arts Journal (later PAJ).
In Fefu and Her Friends, Fornés deconstructs the familiar stage, removing the fourth wall
and staging scenes in multiple locations throughout the theater. First produced in 1977 by the New York Theater Strategy at the Relativity Media Lab, its story concerns eight women who, on the surface, appear to be engaging in mishaps with men, and it climaxes in a murder scene. It is a feminist play that focuses on female characters and their thoughts, feelings and interrelationships and is told from a woman's perspective. Fornés portrays these characters as real women, in a shift in her play-writing style to realism and naturalism in settings, characters and situations.
Another notable play, Mud, was first produced in 1983 at the Padua Hills Playwright's Festival in California. Set in a poverty-stricken environment, they play explores the lives of Mae, Lloyd and Henry, who all involved in a dysfunctional love triangle where gender roles are reversed. Fornés contrasts those who are content and those who seek more in their lives. The play exemplifies her familiar technique of portraying the female character's rise opposed by male characters. Education plays a central role of Mae's decision making process and her relationship with Henry. The piece also explores the way the mind experiences poverty and isolation. Letters From Cuba had its premiere with the Signature Theater Company in New York in 2000. The play focuses on a young female Cuban dancer living in New York who corresponds with her brother in Cuba. The play is the first that Fornés identified as being drawn from her own personal experience of nearly 30 years of letter writing with her brother.
Fornés became known in both Hispanic-American and experimental theater, winning nine Obie Awards in the playwriting and directing categories. She also taught playwriting. She continues to direct plays. Fornés received an honorary Litt.D. from Bates College in 1992. Playwright Nilo Cruz
studied with Fornés, who recommended him to Paula Vogel
.
1996. Print.
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
movement in the 1960s. Fornes themes focused on poverty and feminism. In 1965, she won her first Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for Promenade and her second for The Successful Life of Three. She was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
with her play And What of the Night? Other notable works include Fefu and Her Friends, Mud, Letters from Cuba and Sarita
Sarita (play)
Sarita is a play/musical by Maria Irene Fornes. It was originally performed at INTAR, 420 West End Street in New York City on January 18, 1984...
.
Early life
Fornés was born in Havana, Cuba, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 15 after her father, Carlos Fornés, died in 1945. She became a U.S. citizen in 1951. When she first arrived in America, Fornés did not speak any English and worked in a ribbon making factory. Unsatisfied with this work, she took classes to learn English. Later, she became a translator. At the age of 19, she formed an interest in painting and began her formal education in abstract art. During this time, she studied with artist Hans Hoffman in New York City and Provincetown, MassachusettsProvincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
.
In 1954, Fornés moved to Europe to study painting. There, she was greatly influenced by a French production of Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
even though she never read the play nor did she understand French. This event shifted her creative ambitions towards playwriting.
Career
In 1957, Fornés returned to New York City and roomed with writer Susan SontagSusan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, feminist and political activist whose works include On Photography and Against Interpretation.-Life:...
. They encouraged each other to write. Her first play was titled The Widow (1961). Her next major piece was There! You Died, first produced by San Fransisco's Actor's Workshop in 1963. An absurdist two-character play, it was later renamed Tango Palace
Tango Palace
Tango Palace is a solo album by Canadian jazz pianist Paul Bley recorded in 1983 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Eugene Chadbourne awarded the album 3 stars stating "An alarm mechanism goes off at the sight of another solo album by this artist; the...
and produced in 1964 at New York City's Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
. The piece is an allegorical power struggle between the two central characters: Isidore, a clown, and Leopold, a naive youth. This play established Fornés' theatrical production style, in which she was involved in the entire staging process. Like much of her writing during this time, Tango Palace stresses character rather than plot. In the wake of this, Fornés' reputation grew in avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
circles ,and she became friendly with Harriet Sohmers Zwerling
Harriet Sohmers Zwerling
Harriet Sohmers, later Zwerling , is an American writer and artist's model. She lived in Paris in the 1950s as part of the bohemian expatriate scene centered around James Baldwin, with whom she shared space in a magazine called New Story.She translated a novel by the Marquis de Sade for Maurice...
, Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
and Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
. Her work was later championed by Performing Arts Journal (later PAJ).
In Fefu and Her Friends, Fornés deconstructs the familiar stage, removing the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
and staging scenes in multiple locations throughout the theater. First produced in 1977 by the New York Theater Strategy at the Relativity Media Lab, its story concerns eight women who, on the surface, appear to be engaging in mishaps with men, and it climaxes in a murder scene. It is a feminist play that focuses on female characters and their thoughts, feelings and interrelationships and is told from a woman's perspective. Fornés portrays these characters as real women, in a shift in her play-writing style to realism and naturalism in settings, characters and situations.
Another notable play, Mud, was first produced in 1983 at the Padua Hills Playwright's Festival in California. Set in a poverty-stricken environment, they play explores the lives of Mae, Lloyd and Henry, who all involved in a dysfunctional love triangle where gender roles are reversed. Fornés contrasts those who are content and those who seek more in their lives. The play exemplifies her familiar technique of portraying the female character's rise opposed by male characters. Education plays a central role of Mae's decision making process and her relationship with Henry. The piece also explores the way the mind experiences poverty and isolation. Letters From Cuba had its premiere with the Signature Theater Company in New York in 2000. The play focuses on a young female Cuban dancer living in New York who corresponds with her brother in Cuba. The play is the first that Fornés identified as being drawn from her own personal experience of nearly 30 years of letter writing with her brother.
Fornés became known in both Hispanic-American and experimental theater, winning nine Obie Awards in the playwriting and directing categories. She also taught playwriting. She continues to direct plays. Fornés received an honorary Litt.D. from Bates College in 1992. Playwright Nilo Cruz
Nilo Cruz
Nilo Cruz is an Cuban-American playwright and pedagogue. With his award of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play, Anna in the Tropics, he became the first Latino so honored.-Early years:...
studied with Fornés, who recommended him to Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel is an American playwright and university professor. She received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, How I Learned to Drive.-Early years:...
.
Writing style
Fornés' plays address social and personal issues, while removing the playwright from the work itself. Her writing style employs avant-garde techniques developed in the early years of the Off-off-Broadway movement. Her experimental techniques include modern form, feminist perspectives, realism and allegorical elements. The spectator's identification and empathy with characters is seen as the core of Fornes' theatrical philosophy. She viewed the theater as a place in which to stage experience so that the spectator can "receive" that experience and achieve "identification."1996. Print.
Plays
- The Widow (1961)
- There! You Died (1963) (produced as Tango Palace in 1964)
- The Successful life of 3: A skit for Vaudeville (1965)
- Promenade (music by Al CarminesAl CarminesReverend Alvin Allison "Al" Carmines, Jr. was a key figure in the expansion of Off-Off-Broadway theatre in the 1960s.Carmines was born in Hampton, Virginia...
) (1965) - The Office (1966)
- The Annunciation (1967)
- A Vietnamese Wedding (1967)
- Dr. Kheal (1968)
- Molly's Dream (music by Cosmos Savage) (1968)
- The Red Burning Light, or Mission XQ3 (Music by John Vauman) (1968)
- Aurora (music by John FitzgibbonJohn FitzgibbonJohn Fitzgibbon may refer to:*John Fitzgibbon, 1st Earl of Clare , Attorney-General and Lord Chancellor of Ireland*John Fitzgibbon, 2nd Earl of Clare , Privy Councillor and Governor of Bombay*John Fitzgibbon...
(composer)) (1972) - The Curse of the Langston House (1972)
- Cap-a-Pie (music by José Raúl Bernardo) (1975)
- Washing (1976)
- Fefu and Her Friends (1977).
- Lolita in the Garden (1977)
- In Service (1978)
- Eyes on the Harem (1979)
- Evelyn Brown (A Diary) (1980)
- Blood Wedding (adapted from Bodas de SangreBodas de sangreBlood Wedding is a tragedy by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed in Madrid in March 1933 and later that year in Buenos Aires...
by LorcaFederico García LorcaFederico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
) (1980) - Life is a Dream (adapted from La vida es sueñoLa vida es sueñoLife is a Dream is a Spanish language play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. First published in 1635 , it is a philosophical allegory regarding the human situation and the mystery of life. Focusing on Segismundo, Prince of Poland, the central argument is the conflict between free will and fate...
by de la BarcaPedro Calderón de la BarcaPedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño usually referred as Pedro Calderón de la Barca , was a dramatist, poet and writer of the Spanish Golden Age. During certain periods of his life he was also a soldier and a Roman Catholic priest...
) (1981) - A Visit (1981)
- The Danube (1982)
- Mud (1983)
- SaritaSarita (play)Sarita is a play/musical by Maria Irene Fornes. It was originally performed at INTAR, 420 West End Street in New York City on January 18, 1984...
(music by Leon Odenz) (1984) - No Time (1984)
- The Conduct of Life (1985)
- Cold Air (adapted and translated from a play by PiñeraVirgilio PiñeraVirgilio Piñera Llera was a Cuban author, playwright, poet, short-story writer, and essayist.Among his most famous poems are "La isla en peso" , and "La gran puta" . He was a member of the "Origenes" literary group, although he often differed with the conservative views of the group...
) (1985) - A Matter of Faith (1986)
- Lovers and Keepers (music by Tito PuenteTito PuenteTito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
and Fernando RivasFernando RivasFernando Rivas is a Cuban-born composer, pianist, arranger and producer.He graduated from the Juilliard School of Music where he studied with National Arts Award recipient David Diamond. He has worked extensively in film and theater, as well as in broadcast media and advertising. Mr...
) (1986) - Drowning (adapted from a story by ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
) (1986) - Art (1986)
- "The Mothers" (1986; revised as Nadine in 1989)
- Abingdon Square (1987)
- Uncle Vanya (adapted from the play by Chekhov) (1987)
- Hunger (1988)
- And What of the Night? (four one-act plays: Hunger, Springtime, Lust and Nadine) (1989)
- Oscar and Bertha (1992)
- Terra Incognita (music by Roberto SierraRoberto SierraRoberto Sierra is a composer of contemporary classical music.Sierra studied composition in Europe, notably with György Ligeti in Hamburg, Germany...
) (1992) - Summer in Gossensass (1995)
- Manual for a Desperate Crossing (1996)
- Balseros (Rafters) (opera based on Manual for a Desperate Crossing, music by Robert AshleyRobert AshleyRobert Ashley , is a contemporary American composer, best known for his operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques. Along with Gordon Mumma, Ashley was also a major pioneer of audio synthesis.Ashley was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
) (1997) - Letters from Cuba (2000)
Awards
- 1965 Obie Award for Distinguished Playwriting: Promenade and The Successful Life of 3
- 1977 Obie Award for Playwrighting and Directing: Fefu and Her Friends
- 1979 Obie Award for Directing: Eyes on the Harem
- 1982 Obie Award for Oustanding Achievement
- 1984 Obie Award for Playwrighting and Directing: The Danube, Sarita, and Mud
- 1985 Obie Award for The Conduct of Life
- 1985 American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
- 1986 Playwrights U.S.A. Award for translation of Cold Air
- 1988 Obie Award for Abingdon Square
- 1990 New York State Governor's Arts Award
See also
External Links
- María Fornés website
- María Irene Fornés at Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
- Her championship season - playwright María Irene Fornés
- Profile of Fornés at Brown University