FLY BABIES / PIOJOS - the sequence Part I

 WELCOME TO MY FRIDAY BLOG

Segment 3 of 6

After each performance of Fly Babies / Piojos audience members liked to share their "piojos" stories. Some were compelled to approach me privately. I was jokingly called 'insane', asked what do I really have inside my brain, what do I eat for breakfast, and other provocative and funny questions. I was told that the play is clever many, many times. But more often than not, I was asked why I chose to write about "piojos". Blogs, articles and interviews have so far focused on that question. It's made me think back to those first thoughts that germinated the idea of a play about lice. 

15 years to create a play? Really? Not exactly, but...

Generally, it takes me --and I suspect others too-- time to react, for observations to sink in until a concrete idea emerges for a play. Mind you, I have the unusual good fortune of belonging to a theater company and an ensemble. Pregones affords me the opportunity to develop and, more often than not, also stage the work.

The following are benchmarks of my thought process, leading to the moment in which I voiced that I wanted to create a play about lice.

1996 - The OMG! Factor

head louse

My daughter was in fourth grade at this really nice elementary public school in Manhattan. Parents were called in because there was an outbreak of lice at the school. OK, so lice are a pest and really something we don't want on our heads or on our bodies, but the reaction of some parents were not in proportion with the problem, I thought.

"Ohhhh myyyy gggggoood!" said a mom who came running into the school with a shower cap and gloves on. I thought she had just come in from a kitchen nearby. She looked around in desperation: Did the school have a plan? I looked around too, but I could tell we were the plan! The teacher that made the initial call assumed that the Latina mothers knew more about lice than everyone else. They looked at us expectantly. Click! First seed planted. Hmmm... This moment eventually translated into a 6-minute musical scene. Here's a sample:



Rosal  Colón, Jesús Martinez
 Shadia Feiruz, Omar Pėrez

Diversity! Diversity!

Bring in the flocks

Of all who clean

And just walk in

Who knows from where!

But at what cost?

Lice!

Diversity! Diversity!

What other burdens

Shall we bear

In the name of 

Diversity! Diversity!

For the record: lice are very democratic. They don't discriminate, though head lice prefer straight hair. They change color to match the host's hair.

1998 - In good company... Again!

My daughter and her best friend, whose mother is one of my oldest friends, have lice and we plan a lice removal party at home. Just the four of us, each mom with her daughter sitting on the floor, between her legs, a table with all the gear + instructions. We begin to segment their hair, taking strand by strand, squeezing out again and again, until we had a choreography of sorts. We had a good laugh. The girls didn't find it funny. Click! Second seed planted. This was the initial inspiration for the song Ocho Tramos (Eight Tracks). Here's a bit of the scene, played during an open rehearsal:

In video: Elise Hernández, Rosal Colón and Shadia Fairuz; music: Desmar, Guevara, Alberto Toro,
Anthony Carrillo and Ben Willlis

Translation: "examine the scalp, squeeze out each louse using your index finger and your thumb, break it with your fingernails, make sure you hear a 'click', drop the louse in a glass of water and throw it out the window".

 1999 - Summer Camp... Of course!

I remember joking about my 'three-act opera about lice' when we were told that kids, including my daughter and her friend, needed to be checked for lice before boarding the summer camp bus. My daughter got on the bus, but her friend didn't. She was staying with us, as her parents were in Spain. We rushed home, had her hair cut, did the treatment and drove to Massachusetts so she wouldn't miss camp. I paid attention to the instructions and found myself humming while reading them. Click! There could be an entire scene with sung instructions. Perhaps this was a sign of the opera diva that would emerge 11 years later.

2000-2003 - Blackout!

No doubt the topic of lice went in and out of my brain throughout this period. But I can't remember or find notes that document specific thoughts about the play. During this period Pregones toured to Rotterdam and then to Paris. No sign of lice, or so I thought.

2004-2005 - A visit to Louis XIV via Philly 

Jesús Martinez (Louis XIV) and Cast

Pregones was building our new theater, while rehearsing The Red Rose at studio we had remodeled next door.  I can't recall what brought lice "back" into my life, but something did. I needed to travel to Philadelphia and, at the urging of my colleagues I grabbed my notes and scribbled through the entire trip, seriously thinking about the kind of play I wanted to make. I also brought an article that had gotten my attention during a visit to Spain. The Duchess of Alba had had a history with lice! Click! That was too tempting. I thought, maybe there are other monarchs with lice!

Once in Philly, at the hotel, I searched online and King Louis XIV of France emerged as one of the most famous 'piojosos' of the 17th century. A dictator by nature (is there such a thing?), he was an aggressive ruler, used lavish wigs under which a colony of lice had fun, and is credited for commissioning the invention of the scratcher. You can't make these things up! But I thought having a character that would just play Louis XIV would be limiting to the story... though I had no idea what the story was yet! Click! The role of an aspiring actor who has been cast as Louis XIV could do the trick. It was a sweet ride back to NY. 

2005-2011 - Next Friday! Next Blog!

Bonus Video

Sound (Milton), Projections (Jessica), Choreographer (Tony) and Musicians warm up

Photos: Erika Rojas, Soldanela Rivera and Rosalba. Rosalba took the videos.