Guiding Concept and Vision for Fefu and Her Friends

In her 1984 essay "The Economy of Tenderness," Bonnie Marranca states:

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"Fornes is an unabashed moralist, which is why her thinking is so suited to the epic style she has been developing as a writer and director in recent years, at least since Fefu and Her Friends. Epic dramaturgy is rooted in the medieval morality play, which produces a synthesis of theatrical and spiritual style. If Brecht used this form to proselytize for his secular relgiion of communism, and the expressionists for the rebirth of the modern man, Fornes makes it her own to represent the spiritual lives of women - the kinds of choices they make and why." 

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In scholarly work and casual observation from peers alike, Maria Irene Fornes has often been compared to Bertolt Brecht's Epic Theatre technique. Brecht, a German playwright and dramaturg, was a prolific theatre practioner in the twentieth century who developed and articulated practices which eschewed Aristotelean conventions and sought to build a theatre practice that would allow the audience to engage more thoughtfully with the work and, through techniques such as the "V-effect" and gestus, make the familiar new again. Power and class were central to his work and he placed emphasis on demonstrating the social status and position of his characters. 

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With these concepts in mind, I think that Fefu and her Friends is a deeply social play and it is worth exploring how epic theatre practices might inform the rehearsal process and performances. These eight women are all squeezed under the weight of the oppressive patriarchal forces that press upon them, and this affects every aspect of their lives and relationships. The standard, Westernized/Americanized way of rehearsing and presenting this play does not seem to allow for as rigorous engagement with this spectacular play. I want a more muscular approach, one that pushes back against the weight of the forces at work in the world of the play and which successfully demonstrates the positions of these women. The play is set in 1935. Was it any different in 1977? Would it be any different in 2021? 

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Next, I would like to make this process an active and joyful embodiment and exploration of intersectionality in not only casting, but also in thought. In 2019, I saw a production of Fefu and Her Friends at Theatre for a New Audience, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, and perhaps my favorite aspect of this production was the commitment to a diverse ensemble which reflects the world in which we live. From the perspective of a practitioner, employing deeply thoughtful consideration to assemble a cast of actors who represent different races and cultural backgrounds as well as expressions of sexuality and gender identity is essential. It is embedding different perspectives into the process to allow for a richer, more transcendent creative experience for not only those in the rehearsal room, but for those audience members who will bear witness to their performance. The argument that this is New England in 1935 is not strong enough to stand. Amelia Workman, who played Fefu in the TFANA production, observed the magnitude of this choice to American Theatre magazine, stating:

 

"It’s quite incredible, because these women did exist, we just didn’t read about them, we didn’t see them on television, we never saw them on stages. But women like this did exist and do exist, and I think representation matters, and seeing people that look like you in different kinds of life, aspects of life, experiencing different things with different kinds of people is important in the path forward in terms of understanding each other."

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Everything that is most worth achieving is worth the work to get there. My final approach to this play is rooted in what perhaps may be the most difficult aspect of the production to secure: the space. The space of this play is everything. The space defines the play, defines the experience, defines the meaning that the audience is left to grapple with during and after the performance. To me, this play is a glorious opportunity to explore site-specific theatre in all of its challenges and obstacles. Fornes first directed this play in a New York City loft, and perhaps interpreters of her work are missing out when we try to squeeze this play into a theatre with four large walls. In this production, I envision the use of a non-theatrical space, either in a loft to honor the original production or in a home. I find much inspiration in the 1986 remount of Fefu and Her Friends by the experimental feminist theatre group At The Foot of the Mountain, which Fornes staged in an aging firehouse. In that production, she made use of every architectural element available to her - the windows in the garage doors, the staircases, the outside. I know that I want every aspect of the space to be explored, to allow whatever perceptions about the play's limitations to instead become defined as limitless.

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Supplemental Reading:

Wordscapes of the Body: Performative Language as Gestus - Deborah R. Geis

The Real Life of Maria Irene Fornes - Bonnie Marranca

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