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