|
2000 Letters From Cuba
unpublished
Click here to read an extract of an interview granted 21/3/00 at Queen Mary, University of London with Caridad Svich.
Synopsis
Fran, a young woman who understands herself via music and movement, is a dancer in Manhattan where she shares a student apartment with Joseph and Marc, two earnest youths, who believe themselves to be in love with Fran. A janitor, Jerry, visits for dance lessons. Fran exchanges letters, which drift down to her from the roof, with her older brother, Luis, who is present above on a horizontal Cuban rooftop with his son Enrique, and family friend, Gerardo, under a star lit sky. Fran and Luis' correspondence recounts everyday experiences of their lives philosophically and with a longing tenderness. Fran reads of her nephew Enrique's birth early in this ninety-five minute play and towards its close he is a young man excitedly stepping through a magic panel into Fran's apartment to be joined in dream-like sequences by his father. The cast assemble in the apartment to joyously sing Guantanamera
____________________________
Directed by Fornes at the Signature Theatre, 555 West 42nd Street, NYC it was - along with Drowning, Mud and Enter The Night which were directed by others - part of a season devoted entirely to Fornes' works when she was Playwright-in-Residence. Costume Design was by Teresa Snieder-Stein, Lighting Design by Matthew Frey, and Set Design was by Donald Eastman. Cast: Luís - Chris de Oni, Fran - Tai Jiménez, Marc - Matthew Floyd Miller, Joseph - Peter Starrett, Jerry/Gerardo - Peter van Wagner, Enrique - Rick Wasserman.
Fornes was awarded an Obie Special Citation for Letters From Cuba
A 66 minute video of this production can be seen at the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York Public Library. See Billy Rose Theatre Collection.
Other Playwrights-in-Residence at the Signature have been Romulus Linney, Lee Blessing, Edward Albee, Horton Foote, Adrienne Kenney, Sam Shepard, Arthur Miller and John Guar. For further information see www.signaturetheatre.org |
|
|
|
Filming in Cuba
Photo right Raphael Fornes, "Cuco", brother of Irene Fornes.
©2005 Alison Forbes.
Click on image to enlarge.
Michelle Memran looking over the Cuban filming of her documentary sent a hurried email, 9th January 2005: |
|
|
|
i just watched the scenes from the rooftop, where we shot Pancho Garcia an actor reading three letters that Irene and Cuco translated together from English to Spanish and argued extensively about the proper words, phrasings, then forgot and argued again when we did the readings. all done while laughing. laughing. and on the last day the last morning i had Cuco reading his own letters and Irene directed him and then he tried to throw the letter off the balcony and have her catch it below. it landed in a tree. on the ground. a neighbor picked it up. Irene stuffed the papers under her belt and said "Cuco speak louder and don't look in the camera. "again." |
|
|
