Installment #1 / April 1 '09 – 32 hours from SHOW TIME!How does one raindrop flood the yard? How does a child spill into herself? Raising Medusa poses these questions and images early on in the play. The central Mother and teenage daughter characters also wrestled over: "Who, exactly, has abandoned whom?" "Who ARE you?" "Why must you love me so damn much?"
It has taken four years and an assortment of characters, including a feisty Greek Chorus, to begin to answer those questions for myself and an audience. This process resulted in a huge leap of genres for me as well – from publishing essays, articles and poetry to writing a full-blown, two hour play. Here’s the "back story."
Being primarily a poet, I initially envisioned writing a series of poems and monologues voicing a mother's emotional struggle as her only daughter grew into a rebellious teen. After writing about 15 poems – some published in fine journals such as The Southern Poetry Review and Southwest Review -- I realized something vital was missing. Like me (mother of two daughters) the mother in my poems needed to stop, drop & listen -- to her daughter’s distinct perspective and experiences.
This insight opened the door to the daughter’s voice, producing some tense point-counter point poems between the pair. Next came the idea of including a wise, feisty Greek Chorus to negotiate between them. In keeping with Classical theatre, my Chorus would also cast this conflict into a larger, universal arena, plus provoke Mother and daughter to express the messy truth about their flawed but oh-so-human conditions.
Next came the idea of evoking the image and persona of the mythological Medusa -- the ultimate symbol of a beauty to beast metamorphosis in Western literature. By this point, I realized I was dealing with a number of intriguing characters and a nascent plot. In fact, my imagination and characters were no longer content to merely squat on the page. They demanded a stage on which to strut and fret, rise and fall.
With this seemingly impossible, but delicious, concept in mind, I approached Jody Hovland of Riverside Theatre. I knew Jody a bit, having seen her act in numerous Riverside productions. Also, my husband, composer Don Chamberlain, teaches with her at Cornell College. He has produced the sound / music for various Shakespeare dramas and other plays for them. After reading my new group of poems and monologues, Jody felt the writing and themes were strong and fresh. She could not exactly promise, “If you write it, they will come [see it at Riverside].” However, she urged me to attempt a play combining these characters and the poems. Iowa City playwright and actor Maggie Conroy also came to my aid, offering valuable feedback as I lumbered through three in-depth revisions of the script.
In two days, this odyssey from poet to playwright, page to stage, will come to fruition. I’m deeply honored to have Riverside and our five terrific actors help me birth this play. My husband is contributing a riveting fusion of sound and music, too. In addition, many thanks to the NEA Foundation; the grant we received has affirmed the play’s worth and helped to fund the production. How did I get this lucky??? Pinch me, somebody!
-Barbara Lau
Barbara Lau’s first book of poetry, The Long Surprise, won the 2000 X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize. Her poems also have appeared in The Southern Review, The Iowa Review, Southwest Review, North American Review, River Styx and other journals. Originally from Austin and San Antonio, she holds a MFA / Poetry from Warren Wilson College, an MA in Literature from the Univ. of Illinois, and a BA from the Univ. of Texas. She teaches at Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids. She received an NEA grant to complete and stage her first play, Raising Medusa, in April 2009. Lau lives in Mt. Vernon, IA with husband Donald Chamberlain and amazing daughters Grace & Lily.
No comments:
Post a Comment