Show & Tell Post #1-Eighty Six

Not too long ago, my boy Mike Augustine (swag) suggested that I read Eighty Six by Javon Johnson because it was just “one of those things.” He said he read an electronic source, so I searched for it. I found it on the Black Drama website, which is an archive for well, black drama. Anyway, if you’re interested in reading this play, the link that follows should take you directly to the table of contents (I went through through LSU Libraries to find it, so you may need your PAWS log in info). The piece is contemporary, published in 2001 and according to the site, it has been staged in New Orleans, Pittsburg, Montgomery and Atlanta. Eighty Six is about three adolescent African-Americans living with/working for a mortuary owner because he’s their best chance for survival. Each day, a body comes in and someone has to cut it. This wasn’t an issue initially, but as time has passed, the body counts begin to rise at a startling rate and the youngsters start to wonder if they’ll ever get out of their situation, while pondering why they are still alive. Brayboy, the youngest of the three (17) and only female is probably the most optimistic person in the play. She knows the deal, but she keeps her head up (along with her Alize) and constantly encourages her friends to change. CJ, Brayboy’s brother (19) and Ace, her admirer/ex (20) are two of those guys who have it all figured it out, but feel helpless and continue their fall. Crook is the owner of the place; he’s intimidating and frightening but never says a thing. In fact, he rarely acknowledges the kids he took in at all. Long story short, too many bodies come in and they run out of room, Crook dies, Bray boy dies and then no one dies. It’s really deep stuff-I suggest it. One dramaturgical choice that’s extremely powerful is the location of both the story and the plot. Everything on stage takes place in one room with four doors and windows. One door leads to the bedrooms and another to a bathroom. The other doors are vital to the play; one leads downstairs to the basement where the dirty work is done and the other to the main entrance, where the dirty work for the dirty work is done. It’s a jungle outside the “home”; these people are living in the streets and when they walk outside, there’s a strong possibility, almost guarantee that they will get shot-hints everything happening in one location. This is a strong choice because it isolates the audience/reader and really puts an emphasis on what’s going on inside compared to what’s occurring outside. Brayboy, CJ and Ace all know each other, but they don’t know why they know each other; they don’t have outside family/friends and barley have any legitimate memories of loved ones. To them, this is the only safe place in the world and ironically, it’s where the dangerous come to “live”. Choosing to have just the room on stage is brilliant to me, because the cut scenes down stairs and the shot scenes outside are as brutal as you (the audience/reader) wants it to be, and that can only add to the play. Plus, it adds those feelings of trapness, hopelessness and emptiness. Another dramaturgical choice that stood out to me was the character of Crook. Crook appears to be a nice guy, but he just can’t relate to the three youngsters he took in. CJ and Ace don’t particularly like him, but Brayboy doesn’t care because she knows he took them in, so she’s dedicated to him. Crook is sort of an extension to the plot; like he’s relevant, but it isn’t about him. There’s a moment in the script when one of the boys stand up to Crook, but for the most part he just goes about his business until he’s shot. To have someone like that in a play like this adds another dimension to the creepiness.

2nd Hornby Post on The Conduct of Life

A choice that caught my attention in The Conduct of Life was Fornes deciding to bring up what happened between Alejo, Orlando and Felo but not actually telling the audience/reader what occurred. The events aren’t portrayed on stage and I don’t believe they’re mentioned in detail again, they’re merely talked about. We can assume from the references made that what went down wasn’t pretty and was probably unnecessary; we could also assume that the men were just doing their job and Alejo bitched out. Unfortunately, we don’t know and I believe that’s significant to the rest of the plot. Not to question her choices because I respect that woman-she does what she likes and likes what she does, but she basically put rape on stage, so why not torture? Is that too much? Or does portraying whatever went down take away from the rest of the plot? This scene not only foreshadows what’s to come (possibly), it changes our perspective on the two men and Leticia. Keeping along those lines, I had some difficulty discovering an example of sequence that appeared irrelevant on the surface but full of value. I believe scene 8 fits this description, along with the choice thing as well. In this scene, Leticia is rehearsing something she memorized, apparently out of the book that Olimpia has. It seems like Olimpia is making sure she’s off book, but when Leticia asks her if she’s right, Olimpia struggles to tell and Leticia makes fun of her, claiming she can’t read. Initially, I didn’t understand why that scene was where it was, or its purpose. After reading it again, and seeing its position, I still don’t get it. It’s between a rape scene and the scene when Leticia is leaving-if anything, I guess it’s to show that Leticia isn’t very educated, but she knows more than her “masters” if that makes sense.

Hornby Post on The Conduct of Life

One thing that seems to pop-up constantly in Fornes’s The Conduct of Life is the fear/change in Orlando’s recent behavior. Throughout the play, references are made towards Orlando’s actions, most of which are disapproving. For example, in Scene 6, Aljeo describes how the job has altered his mindset and he states that Orlando is vicious. Orlando claims that he did nothing out of the ordinary, but Aljeo disagrees and tells him that he was scared and hopeless after he saw Orlando torture Felo. Later on in Scene 16, Leticia speaks to Mona via telephone and she’s in a panic. She knows her husband is different and she’s scared; at the same time, she’s conflicted because she practically raised the man, so she feels obligated to stay and help. Both of these scenes foreshadow the final moments of the play, when Orlando is interrogating Leticia and attempts to rape her and…you know the rest. The previous scenes hints at the reader/viewer that eventually, Orlando is going to get carried away with his gestures and it may cost him or someone else (like it did Felo and Nena). I’ve been watching Hey Arnold lately and I’ve noticed that a lot of episodes that are based on Oskar Kokoshka use this technique. Oskar is an extremely lazy, self-centered man who mooches off of his wife for most of the series, but the cartoon as a whole always has an optimistic message with a positive outcome. For example, in “Oskar Gets a Job”, Arnold helps Oskar apply for jobs. Most of the employer’s laugh in his face because he’s a 38 year old man with an 8th grade education, but one guy gives him a shot at being a paper boy. Arnold wakes up at 6 a.m. to make sure Oskar delivers the papers, but he has an excuse on the first day, so Arnold does the route. Next morning, different excuse, same result; Arnold sees through Mr. Kokoshka’s lies and tells him he’s a loser and a cheat. The rest of the boarding house agrees, causing Oskar to prove them wrong and actually do the task the next morning. I know this isn’t the best example, but I feel like foreshadowing, reflecting and mirroring happens in everything all the time. I think motif in a script can be different from motif in a production, but that’s only due to how it’s interrupted; I feel like there’s substantial wiggle room in each.

How I Learned To Drive Response

The Greek chorus thing sort of threw me off the first time I read it a couple years ago. If I had to guess, I’d say that Vogel uses the Greek chorus to sort of lighten the mood with the heavy material. From reading the production notes, she seems pretty lose about how she wants the chorus to be used, as long as they assist in creating the atmosphere. The fact that everyone in the play except Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck are played by chorus members is pretty significant; I think she made this decision because the play revolves around those two. Obviously, they’re vital to the plot, but the other members of Li’l Bit’s family are pretty nonexistent. The people that she trusts most kind of ignore her and even though Peck molests her, he’s probably the most supportive and closest “friend” she has. The chorus is there to mix up perspective and everyone in the chorus is not really type-casted. For example, the Teenage Greek Chorus is suggested to be a 21-25 year old women who could past for eleven years old, but she always plays the role of Grandmother. It adds another dimension to what’s wrong in this world. I really don’t know, but that’s my guess. I thought the way that Vogel chose to tell Li’l Bit’s story was a bit confusing the first time I read it as well. The flashbacks were a little scrambled, but effective none the less. The play goes back in forth in time and in a sense, we kind of see the end of Bit’s relationship with her uncle before it truly begins. Personally, the way the story is arranged has a strong effect on my opinion of Uncle Peck. I’ll never like him for obvious reasons, but I do feel some sympathy for him because I don’t know if something was really wrong with him or if he was just a monster. My feelings about Li’l Bit change as well and I don’t know if those things would happen if the events were arranged in chronological order.