FLY BABIES / PIOJOS - Fact and Fiction - a matter of script

WELCOME TO MY BLOG 

Performing in Game Over.  Photo: Erika Rojas
Segment 5 of 6

Schools in panic, summer camps on the defensive, 

turntables unrealized, a teacher turned duchess, 

an actor turned king...all of this  and more

has been covered by previous segments of my blog. 

Ultimately, it all leads to the challenge ahead of me.

FLY BABIES / PIOJOS - 2010-11 continued

Blocking a scene at Pregones' Casa Blanca

 Elise Hernández (singing), with  Shadia Fairuz and Omar Pėrez

Playing: Desmar Guevara, Anthony Carrillo

Photos: Erika Rojas, Video: Rosalba

In 2010 Pregones scheduled the premiere of Fly Babies / Piojos for the Fall of 2011. I began to feel the pressure. The 20 minute showcase we had shown in Remojo two years before had set a direction. But what to do with all the information gathered over the years, what to use, what to discard and most importantly, how to deliver it to the audience? At some point one needs to stop searching. So I stopped...for a while. I don't do conventional plays but my route was perhaps too unconventional, even for me.

2011 - Workshop Production

As the Summer of 2011 approached I saw another opportunity to advance the project. In summary, I had five key characters on track: Chic (lice consultant), Dr. Reyes (entomologist), Liberty (activist), Demetrio (actor) and Georgette (opera singer). Other characters would surface later. With some fine tuning I could present at least 40 minutes worth of monologues and songs at Pregones'  annual block party, which includes outdoors concerts and indoors presentations. It was clear by now that the monologues and songs would be performed in interaction between the characters. This interaction was addressed in Diversity, a musical scene that finally hinted at a common story in the production. 

August 7, 2011 - Workshop production of Fly Babies / Piojos

We decided to go ahead and present a workshop production of...no title! We had always called it Piojos, the Spanish word for 'lice', but I was inclined to use an euphemism instead of the literal 'piojos'. We had been using fly babies as a working title, courtesy of our colleague Arnaldo López. Fly babies imply wings, which lice don't have, flying insects, which lice are not. In short, lice - even baby ones- are the opposite of a fly baby. Perfect!

The Ensemble gets into the action

August 7, 2011 - Workshop production

Pregones Ensemble is integrated by actors and musicians who work consistently with the company. The creative process adjusts depending on the type of project. In this case, I mostly needed them to approach the characters and the music the way Desmar and I were proposing. Their task was to infuse their own spark, question choices when necessary and contribute to the aesthetic development of the piece. I needed to see the material on its feet.

Our team was completed with Anthony Carrillo (percussion), John Benitez (bass),Tony Vargas(movement) and Jessica Moya (projections). Our budget could cover 9 days of rehearsals. Everyone was game, but a bit worried. There was a lot of material to cover. But I got everyone to relax by assuring them that we would present to the audience only the material we could cover during those 9 days. It worked.

On the day of the performance we even had one of our actresses say to the audience: "the next scene, called Diversity, is incomplete; we are not sure where we are heading with it, but thought it would be fun to share with you where we are at". The audience loved it and responded accordingly.

Fast forward: Eventually the scene would begin like this:



Shadia Fairuz (Georgette)
and Elise Hernández (Chic)

(Music. Georgette enters, followed by Chic. Georgette seems in a trance.)

GEORGETTE: (in a whisper) ...or to a secret place…where no one knows who we are…do you understand?...

CHIC: Surely you understand the cost involved…

GEORGETTE: Tomorrow. At midnight. I will have a confidentiality agreement prepared. You must show up at the airport in an unmarked van and discreet clothing. A private plane will take you to our villa. It is secluded. My daughter, her nanny...and I will there.

During the nine days of rehearsals we sharpened some of the characters and explored some potential relationships. At the end of each day I would go home to rewrite, reshape and bring back fresh dialogue or ideas.

For example, in an early version of one of the characters I had a self taught 'duchess' be an expert on lice. But the character had to have a reason to possess all this knowledge.  I knew I couldn't discard the world of lice and the branch of science that studies them. Turning the play into a speech about lice was not an option. In my previous segment I wrote about Dr. Reyes. Yes, the Duchess came back as Dr. Reyes, and because working in ensembles often means aligning text with specific actors, 'she' came back as a 'he'. Here Dr. Reyes greets a group of parents :

DR. REYES

Omar Pėrez as Dr. Reyes - Workshop production

Good evening. I am an Entomologist. En-to-mo-lo-gist! (word scrolls across screen) Cockroaches, mosquitoes and   lice---oh, my! For an entomologist, running across these creepy crawlies is a dream come true. What am I saying! They are not creepy. They are crawling wonders! (pauses, amazed at the thought; music) I live and work in many places. Here, there, everywhere! I have studied the lives of very famous, and of very infamous historical figures. Writers, kings, gorillas! (at the sound of a siren, Dr. Reyes exits.)

Q & A - Someone finally pops the question

A standing ovation is always encouraging and that is exactly what we received. Everyone was on their feet, cheering and clapping. We had about 40 minutes of material, with strong performances, fun and provocative songs and a glimpse of an emerging common theme.

After the performance I invited the audience to a conversation about the project. Some members of the audience shared their own experiences and others asked about why I had decided to write a play about lice (this question surfaced again and again).

And then, finally the question came: "will these characters connect with each other through a story?"

I answered honestly: "I don't know". Then I asked: "Do you need a single story?" Several answers: "not really", "yes, for sure", "it is expected" etc.

But I knew the answer already: although each character had her/his own individual conflict, I needed something much stronger to bring it all together.

Oh, No! This is my idea!

A NY Times article about the booming business of high end lice consultants (not an abuela) triggered all kinds of thoughts, but mostly it felt like a threat. Because when The NY Times says it, people pay attention! I panicked at the thought that someone might see what I had seen for nearly 15 years...that a musical could be made out of it. Not that it happened. Because really, not too many people dare.

Next Segment:  The Last Stretch 
En route to the premiere

BONUS VIDEO

Jesús Martínez (Actor/Louis XIV), Cast and Magic Hands
singing  "El Rascador" (The Scratcher)

 

Photos: Erika Rojas