My Thesis, is coming along

Here's the beginnings of a detailed description of my staging process:


I went through a very rigorous process of trying to inform myself about this piece before I ever thought I wanted to stage it. I spent a semester working on an independent study project that focused on the contemporary literature in Mexico. What started off as an overall look at identity in Mayan literature, refocused itself to the discussion and analysis of many perceived feminist Mayan plays.
I found this play hidden in an anthology of many others. At times it seemed disjointed with mixed messages. After reading it through a number of times, I began to fall in love with it. So, I took a risk and asked my department if I could focus my thesis around a production. They stepped behind me in full support. So, I began taking the script with me wherever I went. Coffeehouses, parties, bars, bathrooms, car rides, doctor’s offices. This play hasn’t left my side or mind since I picked it up in the fall of 2007. Luckily, with the deposit of this thesis, I can finally put it to rest. However, there are a few key moments that I decided to engage other people with this play as to help inform me about all its idiosyncrasies. I held four separate staged readings of this play before I held auditions. There is more to come on that later. The first was a rough read through with some friends, in which we laughed at how poorly some of their pronunciations were. The next step was to invite some people out to read through this play who didn’t know me or the script as well as others. With the advent of technology, emails, and facebook postings, I was able to compile a group of ten people to read through this script with me. We sat for about an hour after its reading discussing vision, themes and characters. This was a very helpful brain storming session for me. After that, I decided to explore more. I wanted to know how audiences who have little to zero knowledge of Mayan culture would interpret this play. I wanted a more innocent view. So, I decided to take this play into a High School. With two separate Junior Honor’s English classes I managed to squeeze in two cold staged readings with them. I also spent much of that same day reading Romeo and Juliet with the Freshmen English classes that allowed me to dazzle them and expose them the lighter side of Shakespeare. Although, hardly theatrical, these students provided me with the insights of what should be drawn out of this piece, how to capture a bit of innocence in its seemingly hopeless world and how to make it clearer for my audiences.