Enne's Theatrical Flight

WORLD THEATRE MIDTERM; FALL '24

[zennesamuel]

Clotilde. (The Archive and The Repertoire)

An object of my family's history that I would place in The Archive as a tangible representation of our lineage, stories, and survival are my great grandmother's rings. They are on my hands nearly every day, going through sinks and towels and hair and showers. Caressing fur and faces. Clinking against glasses and yanking snags into sweaters that I cannot bring myself to care for more than the metal lacing the bases of my fingers. They belonged to Clotilde Ruiz. My Puerto Rican queenpin who I appear more like every year. I think of her often, though she did not know me. And though she did not know me, she knew of me. More than knew of me, she predicted my existence as though I were the second coming of Christ or the harbinger of the apocalypse. All while selling cocaine and dying in her hospital bed. As for The Repertoire? A careful oral history of our oldest cookbook. Arroz con pollo guisado, coquito, home remedies for illness or headache or menstrual cramp or broken heart. And it is my job to remember. It is your job to remember. It is everyone's job to love and remember in case they do indeed require comfort food or do indeed fall ill or do indeed find themselves aching to be held. This knowledge is important, because in order to understand us, you must first see us. Hear us. Eat our food and sleep in our rooms and know the smell of metal mixed with our skin, though much of our jewelry has not rusted through its inheritance. It is the most expensive thing I own. I speak of the metal of blood. In order to understand us I must ask you some very important questions.

De que es tu cadena? De oro?

[zennesamuel]

Thyestes (Poetry In Translation)

[zennesamuel]

Thyestes and Wondering If I Am Crazy Enough to Do That

Thyestes. Oh Thyestes. Oh, Rome. My goodness. I thought Titus Andronicus was among one of my bloodiest favorites. Thyestes contributed an incredible amount to the development of the Tragic Drama, but what really gets me going about it is the manner in which the cycle of revenge is perpetuated. So beyond juicy. The initial betrayal and escalation of violence is horrifyingly brilliant. From the seduction of Atreus' wife, to Atreus feeding this man his own children. This thing is full of quintessential Roman bloodshed. In this cyclical nature of revenge, there are so many branches. Fate and stoicism, moral decay and corruption, family and honor, power and ambition, violence and retribution, and the public vs. private sphere. It begs the question: How did we get this far? I may or may not have an answer. Feelings occur without our permission, and unfortunately can lead us into seriously nasty work. Betrayal is the catalyst for everyone's horror in this play. Betrayal, leading to psychological descent, which lends itself to a desire for finality, and even the taking of someone's legacy. I often wonder when interacting with pieces of this nature if I am capable of a Banquet of Sacrifice myself. Enne Samuel is NOT murdering anyone's children or cooking and feeding them to their parents. However, I wonder what the sensations of being driven to such madness are, and if I have ever felt close to either man or monster.

[zennesamuel]

Antigone and Ismene (at The New Diorama)

[zennesamuel]

Antigone and her Ghost: Haunting as Resistance

Let's talk about Antigone. I have plenty of thoughts, but I will try to be concise. There are plenty of themes, of course. Greek tragedy was for the populous of the state (which is SO relevant. So relevant.) Antigone is a timeless expression of the ethical dilemma. I could talk about individual vs. state, civil disobedience, fate vs. free will, gender roles and traditional vs. subversive femininity, familial loyalty vs. authority, the consequences of pride, divine law, and so on. Wow. What I want to talk about in this moment is actually none of these things. What I want to talk about is the act of haunting the narrative. The character of Antigone herself haunts the narrative as a symbol of defiance through an unwavering commitment to what can be considered "true" justice. She challenges the authority of her hardass uncle until she literally dies. She is a moral compass, bridging the gap between humanity and divinity and their conflicting laws. She foreshadows and embodies the very concept of tragedy and her lineage's legacy of unwavering suffering. Her presence in this story extends beyond her physical form. I see her everywhere. I see her in Claudia (Interview With the Vampire), in Lady Macbeth, in Anna Karenina, in Sethe (Beloved). I see her in the faces of every woman with furrowed eyebrows and unrelenting stubbornness. Till death do Antigone and I part.

[zennesamuel]

Storytelling Theatre (interlude: Theatre is Everywhere)

The tradition of storytelling theatre is not one that I can pinpoint an origin for. Human beings have been sitting in caves, around hearths or dinner tables, at bus stops and street corners, at clinics and restaurants and telling one another stories since the dawn of our existence. The kind of storytelling theatre that I am referring to feels a little bit more like what we would know now to be slam poetry. I think of being eleven years old, having internet access to myself, and navigating from Google.com to the Button Poetry Youtube channel. Pressing play on any video with a thumbnail of someone in the throes of making a passionate declaration, faces contorted in joy or pain or relief. I would watch and I would listen and absorb the story of another human being on this Earth deep into my consciousness. Storytelling as theatrical performance has existed since we have. I think of listening to my grandmother as she stood in the kitchen and recounted the days of her childhood on an island that I do not know well enough, back when a gallon of milk was fifty cents and you could send your ten year old to buy you cigarettes at the drugstore with a handwritten note and a smile. I think of my friends and I, shouting at one another in public where anyone could hear, over a long finished meal, about the debauchery we all got into the weekend prior. All storytelling is theatre, and that means that theatre is everywhere.

[zennesamuel]

Traditional Chinese, Russian, and Brazilian puppet theatre

[zennesamuel]

Puppet Theatre Around the World, a Pleasant Surprise

There are so very many different types of puppet theatre around the world! Here, I will create a sort of "tasting menu" of differing experiences that we have examined. I'd first like to venture to Brazil for Mamulengo: The Theater of Laughter. Local Brazilian puppet shows like these exist primarily in the state of Pernambuco, combining witty and humor with music, storytelling, and heavy political satire. These puppets are typically handmade from wood or cloth and depict a wide range of stock characters. (I see some Comedia del Arte here, folks!) Short sketches draw from popular culture, folklore, oral traditions. The performances are lively and scathingly critical of the government, power dynamics, and the struggles of the working class; they also carry influences from a variety of cultures through their colonial history. Next, let's take a trip to the continent of Asia. Now, there is a wide variety of categories of puppetry in Asia, but one that I found particularly intriguing were shadow puppets. When I think of shadow puppets, I think of the ones that we were taught to make with our hands as children. The puppets from Asia that I am referring to are flat and transparent. They are crafted from leather or paper, and are rather ubiquitous across several Asian countries (India, Thailand, China, etc.) Seeing shadow puppetry as a performance and cultural display rather than a simple children's game opened my eyes. It shows me that the simplest of elements can create an elaborate story. Finally, Russia and Czechoslovakia. Specifically, Russian and Czech folk theatre and puppetry. Morality plays in figurines. These performances prioritize adaptations of stories of old. Greek tragedies like Elektra, or Shakespeare. There are also puppetry performances that discuss serious social justice issues such as medical propaganda and political strife. I had no idea that puppetry could hold space for such elaborate plotlines and can provide such insight into the darker corners of the world around us.

[zennesamuel]

Visual examples of Igbo and Yoruba masquerade respectively.

[zennesamuel]

Nigerian Masquerade, Village Differentiation, and Cultural Education

Igbo and Yoruba masquerade theatre was not something that I had any prior knowledge of, but the craftsmanship of it is something phantasmic. It also serves as a rich testament to the importance of oral traditions and storytelling prioritized over written documentation of ritual. The similarities between Igbo and Yoruba masquerade theater are not lost on me: their patrilinear societies, their celebration of the importance of the ancestors, beliefs in life after death of the physical body, and roots in religion and community as a space for performance. However, what has become most significant in my study of it is the idea of the circle in which ritual, theatrical performance, life on Earth, and life in the Otherworld intersect. Igbo and Yoruba masquerade theater serve the purpose of not only entertainment in villages, but as a vehicle for socialization and education, with the mask as a material representation of ancestral presence, symbolic of the spirits of the community, both in the past and in its current climate. The bridge between the members of these kingdoms and the Orishas cultivates health, protection, and prosperity. I think that one of the things that makes this form of ritual so compelling is its vitality to the overall culture of Nigeria, not in spite of but because of its variations throughout different sections of the country.

[zennesamuel]

Mak Yong performers in the midst of their dance.

[zennesamuel]

Mak Yong and the Art of Spectacle as Cultural Preservation

I believe that the Mak Yong is a wonderful example of keeping cultural traditions alive whilst adapting them for ever-changing times. The Mak Yong dance theater is an essential expression of Malay and Indonesian values, beliefs, and traditions. The art form holds its roots in several centuries and countries: India, China, and their indigenous populations. However, Mak Yong is not simply an art form; it is a living document of cultural heritage and resilience. Mak Yong was previously banned due to colonial influence and religious opposition. During the British colonial period, traditional art forms were often viewed as uncouth and inappropriate, and colonial forces cracked down on performances that were considered politically sensitive or subversive to the norm. In more recent periods, such as the 1990s, the Malaysian government also imposed bans on the art of Mak Yong due to its associations with mysticism and conflict with conservative Islamic groups, who viewed the art form as conflicting with the purity of the religious culture. The bans on Mak Yong, especially those committed by the government of its own region, are the most interesting thing about it to me. Particularly due to the fact that in spite of all of the restrictions imposed upon it, its cultural importance and elaborate displays of beauty remain intrinsically timeless. It's increasing spectacle is an act of resistance that cannot be summarized in words.

[zennesamuel]

Rabinal Achi performers, facing one another.

[zennesamuel]

Rabinal Achi, Gender Roles, and Keeping The Spirit Alive

At its core, Rabinal Achi is a tale of honor, conflict, war and its consequences. It is also a coming together of ancestral heritage and modern audience. The text of the play itself is written in K'iche', a language original to the Maya, and the preservation of its sacred history is invaluable in an ever changing world. This assertion of indigenous traditions in Guatemala is unlike anything I have ever laid eyes on previously in terms of its dedication to the preservation of pre-colonial Latinx history. The rich history of Rabinal Achi is impossible to ignore. It is a showcase of language, music, dance and declarations in an act of cultural continuity. As one of the very few enduring pre-Columbian dramatic texts, there is much insight into the social and political systems of Mayan civilization, reflecting the values of the region and time period. Specifically the subversions and archetypes of gender. The male characters in this piece, particularly the protagonist and antagonist, embody the idea of the quintessential warrior, and their conflicts represent not only their personal differences, but also greater concepts of power, courage, honor, and authority. However, there is one character, an enslaved person, who bends the notions of masculinity. They are represented with the moustached face of a man, but wears traditional women's garb. They are the comic relief of the piece, but their presence is much greater for contemporary audiences who are making an effort to decolonize gender as a whole. Female characters are few and far between here, but represent the natural elements of Mayan society, such as unity and lineage. All of this is to say that Rabinal Achi continues to be a pillar of resistance in Guatemala, and across the Latin American community, particularly for those of us who are gender non-conforming and for those of us who continue the work to keep our pre-colonial history alive and well.

[zennesamuel]

An image of performers in the Ta'ziyeh

[zennesamuel]

The Martyrdom of Hussein, the Ta'ziyeh, and Theatrical Mourning

It feels strange to ruminate on the ritualistic, theatrical commemoration of Hussein’s martyrdom. The act of the performance during Muharram transcends our modern sensibilities of grief, morning, and remembrance. This is more than a passion play. This is a narrative of sacrifice that revives the historical events, and its requirement of audience participation via weeping allows for engagement on both an emotional and spiritual level, affirming and reviving the identity of those who watch. I want to discuss the overarching themes of moral integrity regarding the text and ritual of the Martyrdom of Hussein. This is a principle that can resonate universally, but is particularly important in the context of Islamic society. The sacrifices of Hussein are representative of a fight against tyranny and the prevailing of justice, but they also represent the release of sin via catharsis. I believe and declare that this emotional release is the largest and most important piece of the puzzle that is this religious ritual. The process of group-based mourning builds community and encourages empathy amongst the population of spectators. The inclusion (well, requirement really) of weeping at the Ta'ziyeh is also paramount for the cultivation of personal piety and spiritual reflection, bringing togetherness to the forefront of one man as a symbol of hope and cleanliness.