My Dramaturgical Lecture in a TFM Class

Over the summer, Professor Mark Freeman asked me if I would be interested in presenting a lecture in his TFM 150 Screenwriting class. He was hoping I could shed light on our adaptation of Desire. He was specifically interested in the context of Desire in O'Neill's life, the process of a stage adaptation, and the relevance of our adaptation in the world today. I created a PowerPoint for the students and we discussed the plot, relationships, how to translate O'Neill's specific stage directions to the screen, and I graphed for them a chart of everyone's desires in Part 1, Scene 4. I learned so much and I hope they did too.

Here's the text from one of the slides that discussed working rehearsal themes, Randy's focus for the play, and relevant issues in the play that relate to current events.

Working rehearsal ideas:

–From extreme poverty comes extreme cruelty; great poverty unchecked can cause catastrophic events

•Is O’Neill’s play still relevant?

• –Do we still struggle with abuse, violence, and poverty?
• –Does the majority of America still turn a blind eye to poverty? Or do we pretend it’s not there because we see such wealth?
• –Is our culture fated to continue the cycle of greed?
• –Is it possible to find a balance between tradition and new age or will there always be a constant battle?
• –If we cannot recognize the signs are we fated to repeat our mistakes?

From the Costume Designer...

The costume research for this show is largely based on real people in the 1930’s South. Many shows rely on costume technicians to custom build costumes from the ground up, however ours is purchased and pulled from storage. These "dirty and simple" costumes are juxtaposed against a beautiful Missouri backdrop. Our designer is working to emphasize the bleakness of our setting and the community's poverty through a process of distressing and aging the costumes. She particularly focused on raw images from the Depression and influential movies like Reds and The Great Debaters. To browse a photo library she used, check out this link and click on the FSA/OWI Photos link: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fsainfo.html.

I have scanned some pages out of the costume design book. You will see images from fashion magazines, costume books, (even sample swatches!), and actual old pictures that she heavily relied on to convey the mood and era of each design. Following, are her renderings (still in progress) for each of the costumes in the show.

Eugene O'Neill, the man

As I've been preparing the Dramaturg's note for the program, I decided to go back and take a closer look at our Nobel and Pulitzer prize winning author. At a glimpse, Eugene O'Neill had a tough life: he abandoned his first wife, his second wife was addicted to potassium bromine, he disowned his daughter, one of his sons was an alcoholic, the other was a heroine addict, and both sons committed suicide... in the words of our stage manager, Chandra McColgan, "no wonder he's killing babies."

For more information on this literary master, check out www.eoneill.com.
Here, you can check out their study companion - particularly, the commentary is very interesting. If you've taken D.J. Hopkin's 460A class, it is definitely worth taking a few moments to read.

From the Sound Designer: DESIRE and the Blues

While the Ozarks in 1926 weren't a core location for the development of the blues, this musical style encompasses many of the strongest elements of the play: violence, despair, passion, sex, longing, and the knowledge that, no matter how fast you run, the devil will catch up with you. Masters such as Son House, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, and Lightnin' Hopkins poured their lives and hearts into their music, and the countless covers of their songs are a tribute to how the central themes of their work resonate today.

The sound design for Desire takes certain liberties in its choices; the timeline of artists spans the 1920's-1950's. In addition, blues musicians from different locations are featured; Delta, Texas, and South Chicago blues are all influences. However, all the pieces are acoustic, solo slide guitar and have been chosen for their sound and emotional drive. In addition, live blues will also be performed in the show; mood in the small theatre shifts dramatically with a musician on stage.

Included are videos of some blues masters who have been an
inspiration to the research. Though certain covers of their songs
by more current artists will be used in the production (for
improved sound quality), much of the spirit of Desire Under
the Elms can be felt in these driving rhythms, lyrics and chords.

--Michelle Caron

Son House - Death Letter

R.L. Burnside - Just Like A Woman


Lightnin Hopkins - Baby Please Don't Go

From the Scenic Designer...

Here is a goldmine of research from our scenic designer, Andrew Hull. Most of the photographs are actual pictures from the FSA during the depression, around the Midwest. Also included are some more paintings from Thomas Hart Benton.

But, first, is a picture of the model of our gorgeous set...

Blues Dancin'

"It's not a museum piece, we want people to get caught up in watching it."
- Randy Reinholz

As we brought up the issue of period dancing, Randy and Bernie spoke a lot about mood. Though it's not drastically important that we master blues dancing in the party scene, I've found some videos that might help ease that transition.

Treat this first video as a breif tutorial in blues dancing. You'll find the most helpful moves, to comply with the sexiness of the scene in the play, are the fish tales and after.

Blues Dancing 101


and about a minute and a half into this next one, they start to dance... a great example of just feeling the music...
Bukka White

A Visit from Bernie Pearl

Today, we had a visit from old school blues expert Bernie Pearl! He met our cast and shared his knowledge of the delta blues. He and Phil Kruse, one of our cast members, had an awesome jam session. It was exciting to watch the cast close their eyes and get lost in the rhythm and blues. I'll update later with a clip from today's rehearsal and some of Bernie's recommendations.

Until then you can check out Bernie's website: www.berniepearl.com
I have his CD and it sounds awesome. Here's a brief portion of our jam session...





Several other period artists to check out are Muddy Waters, Lightin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb - and check out this website to hear a variety of blues tracks:
http://www.yearoftheblues.org/radio/index.asp

As we discussed the style of dancing and mood music, Bernie suggested we listen to...
Ray Charles's "What I'd Say"

Small Town Life

Since we adapted the setting for our production of Desire Under the Elms it was important to go back and discover exactly what a small town in Missouri might look like instead of the original 1850s New England setting. Though almost none of the following images are from Missouri, they accurately portray the "small town" feel that we want to impress.

Mississippi Oyster Company in 1912

Child working in South Carolina in 1912

South Carolina in 1912

Kentucky road in 1916 (I really love this image)

Louisiana family in 1912

Louisiana 1912

Mississippi 1912

Oklahoma 1910

1912

Store front

Massachusetts folk dancing in 1916

Iowa street in 1910

Arkansas 1910

Missouri 1910

Alabama 1912

Arkansas

Baltimore, Maryland 1909

1910

Out in the Fields

Farming was a huge part of life in America in the early 20th century and in the setting of our play. To express the relevance of farming, I've found some images to express its solitude and demanding labor.