Production Concept
This website is in partial completion of a 2013 Dramaturgy course at Boston University's College of Fine Arts.
Questions? Concerns? Comments? For more information, click the "contact" link at the top right of the page.
***DISCLAIMER: this is a hypothetical production.***
Questions? Concerns? Comments? For more information, click the "contact" link at the top right of the page.
***DISCLAIMER: this is a hypothetical production.***
The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea by Cherríe Moraga will be featured in the 2013-2014 season of El Teatro Campesino (E.T.C.), a theatre based in San Juan Bautista, California that also plays in various locations in the Silicon Valley. E.T.C. works to demonstrate “a more just and accurate account of human history, while encouraging the young women and men of a new generation to take control of their own destiny” (“Mission & History”). Founded in 1965 by Luiz Valdez on the picket lines of Cesar Chavez’s United Farmworkers Union, El Teatro Campesino mainly creates art for the Hispanic working class of California, whom Moraga explicitly and consistently expresses is her target audience.
This production of The Hungry Woman will be directed by Adelina Anthony, friend and past collaborator of Cherríe Moraga. She has directed The Hungry Woman three times previously with different theater companies. Her work on the play garnered her B"est Theatre Director and listing as on of the top ten Best Productions of the Year" (Anthony). Not only does she have the credentials and skill set to direct The Hungry Woman, but Anthony also brings a personal connection and drive to tell this story as a Chicana lesbian artist, activist, and educator.
Anthony and the creative team at E.T.C. will use an enforced minimalism to play The Hungry Woman. Given the scope of the play, a basic vocabulary––which will be determined in the rehearsal, but will include items such as dowels and rope––will best demonstrate the key images and symbols for the audience to identify and follow. Criticism of past productions questions the clarity of the script itself because of the numerous references and allusions made in the play. Minimalism will help the audience hone in on the content and meaning of the play, allowing the play’s awesome size and connections to aid their experience, rather than distract them. Minimalism will also help keep ticket prices low, allowing more working class people to see the production.
El Teatro Campesino chose to produce The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea because the play’s criticism of the patriarchal systems that oppress Chicanos especially resonates with E.T.C.’s audience. The play’s ideas about the affects of the Chicano Movement on gender and sexuality, the significance of Aztlán in Chicanmiso, and the relationship between belonging and identity parallel the socio-political aspects of Chicano working class Californians. ETC’s Hungry Woman leaves us to question how Chicanos can find unity through a love of self and community in the face of cultural divisions inherited from ancestors and foreign conquerers.
This production of The Hungry Woman will be directed by Adelina Anthony, friend and past collaborator of Cherríe Moraga. She has directed The Hungry Woman three times previously with different theater companies. Her work on the play garnered her B"est Theatre Director and listing as on of the top ten Best Productions of the Year" (Anthony). Not only does she have the credentials and skill set to direct The Hungry Woman, but Anthony also brings a personal connection and drive to tell this story as a Chicana lesbian artist, activist, and educator.
Anthony and the creative team at E.T.C. will use an enforced minimalism to play The Hungry Woman. Given the scope of the play, a basic vocabulary––which will be determined in the rehearsal, but will include items such as dowels and rope––will best demonstrate the key images and symbols for the audience to identify and follow. Criticism of past productions questions the clarity of the script itself because of the numerous references and allusions made in the play. Minimalism will help the audience hone in on the content and meaning of the play, allowing the play’s awesome size and connections to aid their experience, rather than distract them. Minimalism will also help keep ticket prices low, allowing more working class people to see the production.
El Teatro Campesino chose to produce The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea because the play’s criticism of the patriarchal systems that oppress Chicanos especially resonates with E.T.C.’s audience. The play’s ideas about the affects of the Chicano Movement on gender and sexuality, the significance of Aztlán in Chicanmiso, and the relationship between belonging and identity parallel the socio-political aspects of Chicano working class Californians. ETC’s Hungry Woman leaves us to question how Chicanos can find unity through a love of self and community in the face of cultural divisions inherited from ancestors and foreign conquerers.