Saturday, August 21, 2010

"La Vida es Sueño"

(we had balcony seats but I could still see that red crap around the guy's mouth)

Last night, I went with Rodrigo from fourth year to see a play. At first we weren’t sure which one to see, so after he delightfully observed (and insisted multiple times) that I was acting like Rainman (Rainman, Fez, what have you) we went in search. Well, he went in search, and I followed along, much like Rainman might have. A night at the theater with Rainman.

We ended up with “La Vida es Sueño” (Life’s a Dream) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. It’s a very famous piece and I had read it previously in English (Sources of World Drama!!) so I had a foggy sense of the story.

Listening, I had the frustrating experience of understanding most of the individual words, but since the verse has a complicated rhyme scheme, the word order threw me off and I was pretty lost. I basically understood what was happening, and there were a few slow, solemn speeches that I grasped quite well, but most of the dialogue went over my head.

Understanding impeded, my other senses were heightened. In other words, I spaced out and thought about things other than the words. I thought about the set a lot. They had somehow managed to haul tons of sand onto the proscenium stage, which was arranged in a circle about a foot deep and thirty feet wide. This gave extra weight to the actors’ footsteps, and in the form of footprints the landscape of the set was changed by the actions of the characters (much like in a certain production of Titus Andronicus ahem ahem.) There was also a giant mirror that descended from above at various angles, which played with the light beautifully. At the end, the mirror was turned on the audience, which was a little predictable, but perhaps would have resonated more had I understood the text this gesture accompanied. All in all, it wasn’t my favorite set ever, but I think it evoked the half-dream, half-nightmare mood that the text is after.

I can’t say that I liked this play. It’s a classic, and this was an impressive production, but none of the characters really like each other. There is a lot of rape that is presented fairly lightheartedly. It definitely doesn’t pass the feminist test (having two female characters that talk to each other about something other than their relationships with men. Emberlie, is there a better term for this?) To conclude, it is hard to watch, but not in a way that makes you grow as a person or anything. What is left for contemporary audiences to appreciate is the language, and at this point, the language left me with a sense of mental exhaustion rather than a sense of enjoyment. Still, I’m glad I went. Does that make sense?

Stay tuned for more posts soon. I’ll try to do something other than see plays. Well, technically I do other things, but do you really want to hear about tea and boliches and grammatical improvements? (note that tea was the first thing on that list. It’s serious.) Well, I’ll just keep doing what floats my boat, and I’ll write about much of it.

Besos,

Isa

P.S. Come on, dear readers, this blogpost is choc-full of shout-outs. Don’t hide the fact that you’re devoted, in a near-religious manner, to my blog! Gimme some comments. I love you!

P.P.S. I should add, en fin, that Rodrigo liked the play. I think he was a little distracted at first by his worry that Rainman wasn’t getting it, but, much like Tom Cruise, got used to it after a while.

4 comments:

  1. Nice story. I liked the play, RAINMAN, Are you gonna kill me for that?, i do not think so, cause you need me for another night to investigate the fine arts and the gastronomic way to see the Baires night life. AH, by the way, do not forget to give me your plays on Monday, i´ll love to read them.

    Kisses.

    P.D: Rent a bike, and then i´ll give you a nice tour.
    P.D: Ahora voy a ver ALA DE CIRADOS, si te interesa, avisame. Es a las 9.

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  2. WHO IS THIS RODRIGO CHARACTER.

    and why are that dudes lips so red? makes me think of blackface, and, funny, I don't really recall that being a part of the play. Or did we only read half of it and missed the whole part that included blackface. hmm.

    H

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  3. Hahaha Rainman

    The feminist test is called the Bechdel Test! It's named after Alison Bechdel, who wrote a comic strip called "Dykes to Watch Out For." One of her strips basically outlined the rules of the test: http://bit.ly/iLcBy.

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  4. Um, I want to hear about tea and boliches and grammatical improvements. You know, I've been at Vassar almost a week and still have not had a cup of tea? I was about to say "what's wrong with me", but then remembered how hot it is. Tea would be awful. Plus you mentioned pluperfect subjunctive in one of the last posts. Your spanish must be great, because I didn't even remember that existed.

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