Tzompantli

On Aztec acting styles:

The skulls of sacrificed god-actors were strung together on the temple “skull rack.” And their blood was offered to the lips of stone icons. Thus, Aztec sacrificial actors were not just mimetic victims. They became holy objects, before and after death, sacred puppets who absorbed a particular god’s power and personality through symbolic costumes and props.

...The divine power in these god-actors rejuvenated the sun and earth and all of Aztec culture. Without that theatre, the Aztecs believed their world would end. (SUNY Press)

Thanks to Sara Fay for this inspiration.

Let's make a tzompantli with the skulls of those who haven't learned their lines by Saturday!!! Aaaaaarrrrggghhhh!!! :)

And thanks to Sofia for this motivation, as we head into tech weekend!

The Stance

Thank heavens James, our Don Juan, remembered Delsarte. We have opened up a whole new door into the performance of the play within the play, adding a vocabulary inspired by Delsarte's approach to acting.

As Margarite Coutolen, our director, is such a fan of all things French, it comes as no surprise that her style is informed by the influential Francois Delsarte, who in the mid-19th century developed an acting style that attempted to connect the inner emotional experience of the actor with a systematized set of gestures and movements. According to wikipedia sources, this “Delsarte” method became so popular that it was taught throughout the world, but particularly in America, by many teachers who did not fully understand or communicate the emotional connections behind the gestures, and as a result the method devolved into melodramatic posing.

The fun irony is that the 'worst' actor in the play according to Margarite is Calixto, the Engineering student who's acting style is too natural for her taste. One might say his acting technique is ahead of its time, more in line with a Stanislavskian, early 20th century approach.

Luckily, Margarite is more than willing to break his bad habits and train him to be as good as Guillem the Great!

After almost three weeks of rehearsal, we head into our first run-thru this Sunday. The process of developing the script has moved wonderfully quickly, the actors are excellent improvisers and thoughtful storytellers. They are also terrific musicians, singers and dancers! We've thrown a lot their way in the past three weeks, new songs, new dances, the challenge of inventing our tale out of thin air in the style of the late 19th century, and all in two languages! They are true champions.

Kudos to our design team who are working diligently to create their pieces of the puzzle with limited information that changes daily as this new work emerges into being. It's been a flurry of activity this week. Tonite Hal arrived with a new corrido that he wrote; on Tuesday Maria refined the choreography of the chotis and polka, adjusting it to the set that was now taped on the floor by Gavin; Mark is in the scene shop, building the set with Becca; and Sarah has crafted her props list from the latest version of the script posted up on the wikisite by Estela. It's a team effort by an excellent team.

So, tomorrow Friday, we'll take a look at the scenes based on Wednesday night's improvs, and create the transitions between the scenes. I'm truly grateful that we have such a great troupe that can catch everything we throw at them and toss it back with grace and beauty...

Tonite they sounded so good at music rehearsal that they began looking for a name for their band. Hal suggested: Los muertos agradecidos!

L'shana tova...

Five days before rehearsals are scheduled to begin and Thank God for the excellent conversations with our designers that have helped clarify so many elements of this show! And we are cast, to boot. A sweet day, thank God.

We discovered that we need a scene where Don Juan teaches our shy actor, Rafael, how to woo a lady, and that the duel may in fact be a dance-off. Learned that the impact of the French upon Mexican history in the 19th century, most evident after the Mexican Independence, is an important ingredient in the creation of the Revolution in the early 20th century. Although France made European fashion and manners alluring, it was Emperor Maximilian, ruler of Mexico from 1864 to 1867, who upheld several liberal policies proposed by the Juárez administration – such as land reforms.

Back to dramaturgy, a new question came up, go Tim, how is Don Juan visible to the living? We bounced a couple ideas around. What do you think?

Who are We?

We have a great cast for this production, singers, dancers, actors, musicians, all rolled into 6 or 7 ~ one remains to confirm!

However, it recently dawned on me that while we have roles for all 6 or 7 within the play Don Juan Tenorio (which serves as the play within the play), we have not identified the roles in the greater framework (Viva Don Juan!) that is really the heart and soul of our production. And so, here are some ideas for our 3 men and 4 women:

We have DON JUAN, of course, the spirit come back to the land of living looking for his altar. Finding none (for who would wish to honor the scoundrel?) he decides to infiltrate the upcoming production and change the ending, thereby redeeming his once good name.

His daughter, ISABELA, an actress who plays the role of Doña Ines in the play.

Her confidante, BRIGIDA, another actress who performs (as luck would have it) Brigida, the nurse who betrays Doña Ines.

The poor actor, RAFAEL, who's in love with ISABELA but too shy to let her know. He plays Don Gonzalo (Doña Ines' father) in the play.

JAIME, the actor who plays Don Luis in the play, who learns of ISABELA's inheritance and wishes to take advantage of her generosity.

CARMEN, the founder of the theatre troupe who encourages BRIGIDA to tell ISABELA the truth about her origins.

FRANCINE, the fiancee of JAIME, who plays Doña Ana, the fiancee of Don Luis (as luck would have it). She grows jealous when JAIME turns his affection toward ISABELA.

Everybody has a song to sing, and several will dance. I imagine.

It's a start...

The Father of Invention...

And so the journey begins to be chronicled. Thanks to a great conversation with Lisa Coye, our Muertos researcher and dramaturge, we landed on the story.

Don Juan, the spirit, has returned to celebrate Dia de muertos but as in past years, no one has built an altar for him. Why would anyone? Don Juan has a terrible reputation, he was a womanizer, a man who used his vast wealth to buy his way into the hearts and beds of countless women, betraying them and dishonoring their families. He was a scoundrel and cheat in other ways, all for the sake of his glory. Now dead, no one honors him or longs for reunion on Dia de muertos. This bothers Don Juan deeply, because he loved life and wishes for nothing more than to be able to enjoy the pleasures of life if only once a year on the Day of the Dead.

Don Juan knows that the source of his trouble is the play written by Jose Zorrilla in 1844, Don Juan Tenorio. It has painted him as such a rogue that there's no room for redemption (even if the play offers one through the actions of Dona Ines at the very end of the play). Don Juan must find a way to undo the harmful effects of Zorrilla's play.

By this time, 1890 or so, the play is now a seasonal favorite, performed annually for Dia de muertos celebrations. A rag-tag acting troupe arrives at the town square to practice their version of Don Juan Tenorio for the upcoming procession.

Don Juan decides to intervene, to join the troupe and change the ending of the play. He manages to sidetrack the actor who would've played DJ and inserts himself into the company.

Meanwhile, we meet the actors of the troupe, including the young ingenue who'll play the role of Ines (Don Juan's fiancee whom he ruined, but who forgave him). Don Juan is struck by her resemblance to Ines, who died. The ingenue is accompanied by her closest friend and confidante, the woman who raised her since she was a baby. As our ingenue approaches marrying age, her confidante reveals to the ingenue that she is none other than the daughter of Don Juan! Apparently Ines gave birth just before she died from shame.

Furthermore, the ingenue is now an heiress to Don Juan's vast fortune.

Righteous girl that she is, she doesn't want any part of the money or his name, she despises everything he stood for, including his licentuousness and ego.

Don Juan, on the other hand, is deeply hurt. He had no idea he was a father, and it touches something in him, a sense of paternal responsibility for this lovely child even though she will have nothing to do with him.

While the girl's identity and fortune were being revealed to her, the conversation was overhead by another actor (who plays the role of Don Luis, Don Juan's enemy), who grows keenly interested in her beauty and potential inheritance. He decides to go after her, seduce her, marry her and share her wealth.

When Don Juan learns of this, he recognizes the actor is a true Don Juan, a thief and scoundrel, and vows to protect his daughter from him. Don Juan battles Don Juan and the father wins.

Our ingenue recognizes that her father is not the devil he's been purported to be, there is a happy reunion, and she promises to build him an altar from that point forward.

Viva Don Juan!