I love it when this happens.
As of yesterday, we decided that due to demand, we will holding over Marisol for a final weekend. If you haven't had a chance to see it, or if you want to see it again, please join us for either Friday or Saturday night performances.
As always, we're due to be busy, so reserve your spot by calling (574) 975-0311.
Something to get you excited for our second weekend of the show: photos from our production of Marisol.
There is a slide show after the jump.
We're expecting another busy weekend, so if you have not made reservations, get yours in as soon as you can.
There is a slide show after the jump.
We're expecting another busy weekend, so if you have not made reservations, get yours in as soon as you can.
Continue reading Photos from Marisol.
Guest post by Thomas Bona, Saturday night audience member.
When I first saw "Marisol" 10 years ago, it was the most important piece of theater I had ever seen.
It still is.
Jose Rivera stirs together conflicts of class, religion, race, gender and power/powerlessness into an incendiary melting pot that speaks to more of us than you might think. Yes, even those of us who are white, who are middle-class, who are male (hey, even me!).
Because, as the play clearly shows, when all hell starts to break lose and the structures of the world fail under their own weight, those who thought they were immune to the misery aren't. Marisol thought she could rise above it all because she was an educated professional, but she hedged her bet every night with a crucifix and a knife. At the start of the play, she's escaping the homeless man incoherently raving with a golf club; near the end, she herself is homeless, incoherently raving with a golf club. The "woman in furs" and the homeless "scar
tissue" man were "contributing members of society" when they were caught in the apocalyptic upheaval and literally tortured by those with more power.
The "WAKE UP" scrawled in graffiti isn't just to the poor, it's to anybody watching. Because we can all be victimized by the imbalances in society.
I admit, I'm biased in that this play hits closer to home for me than probably many in the audience in Goshen. I grew up in the Bronx in a working-class area, with the threat of poverty and violence always looming. The characters are real to me - Marisol is the local girl trying to make good, but also being clung to by the neighborhood. June is the would-be yuppie who seems to love the idea of working in the city more than the city itself. Lenny is somebody's crazy conspiracy theory brother, who may not be totally crazy after all. (I can't vouch
for the veracity of the Neonazis or the homeless people, but I did once see a suspicious fire in Van Cortlandt Park. Does that count?)
But this play isn't just about poverty and violence in the city. The apocalypse that's happening is also environmental (fires raging in Ohio), political (wildly expensive ideas to tow the moon back to its orbit, while a police state ensues) and ... well ... galactic.
Here's the trickiest part of the play for me, and I suspect many of the audience members: The idea that God has grown senile and must be killed in order to stave off the end of the universe.
Ten years ago, as a Bible/religion major at Goshen College, I had a hard time with that. I still do, in the sense that I can't blame God for human-made problems. I don't believe it's God's "job" to protect us from ourselves, it's *our* job.
But seeing the play now, I see "God" as more a symbol for "the order of things", meaning that the angels - and later the huddled masses on earth - aren't necessarily killing the God that I believe in, but the symbolic "powers that be" that run things. Of course, Rivera is likely
far more humanist than I am in this, but as a Christian, I can take that symbolism because I agree with its deeper meaning.
Don't rush to assume, by the way, that this play is an ode to violent revolution. It offers a chilling look at what happens when such "revolutions" happen. "Scar tissue" says, profoundly, "Heaven erupts but who pays the price? The fucking innocent do!" And, ultimately, the play isn't about destruction but rebirth. They're creating a new world, a new reality, from the bottom up, where the lowest are made high. Instead of a typical revolution, where the winners lord it over their enemies, Marisol asks the "woman in furs" to join them, reaching her hand out.
She declined, sharply, but we shouldn't. This play should urge us to look at where we are in the "order of things" and see what things we're putting our faith in. Because today is a tenuous time, with the credit crunch sending "contributing members of society" into bankruptcy, with talk of a recession, with wars and rumors of wars.
Some day, we might be asked to make a choice too.
Heavy stuff, I admit, but the beauty of this play is that it does it with a dollop of, er, dulce de leche. There's biting humor, sometimes gallows humor here.
Lenny, as played by Derek Bontreger, is straightfaced in his crackpot enthusiasm, but so over the top that he steals his scenes. His accent is mighty good for a Midwesterner. Amy Stutsman plays the guardian angel with the swagger and sensuality that, I think, we all really really want in our guardian angels. Jessica Hage plays June's unhinged moments with the right kind of emotion. The rest of the cast also does well with difficult parts.
But it's Cassie Greer's Marisol who brings it home. Armed with a slight Nuyorican accent and a sort of world-weary innocence, she descends into the apocalypse, and ultimately out of it, with the realness of any average person ... if one of us could actually pull that off. She's not a conquering action-movie hero, and the play is much the better for it.
I could say tons more, but here's my final point: go see this play. If you've seen it already, see it again. You may or may not agree with all of it, you may or may not understand all of it, but it will get inside your head and keep you thinking for a long time after.
Ten years later, I'm still thinking.
When I first saw "Marisol" 10 years ago, it was the most important piece of theater I had ever seen.
It still is.
Jose Rivera stirs together conflicts of class, religion, race, gender and power/powerlessness into an incendiary melting pot that speaks to more of us than you might think. Yes, even those of us who are white, who are middle-class, who are male (hey, even me!).
Because, as the play clearly shows, when all hell starts to break lose and the structures of the world fail under their own weight, those who thought they were immune to the misery aren't. Marisol thought she could rise above it all because she was an educated professional, but she hedged her bet every night with a crucifix and a knife. At the start of the play, she's escaping the homeless man incoherently raving with a golf club; near the end, she herself is homeless, incoherently raving with a golf club. The "woman in furs" and the homeless "scar
tissue" man were "contributing members of society" when they were caught in the apocalyptic upheaval and literally tortured by those with more power.
The "WAKE UP" scrawled in graffiti isn't just to the poor, it's to anybody watching. Because we can all be victimized by the imbalances in society.
I admit, I'm biased in that this play hits closer to home for me than probably many in the audience in Goshen. I grew up in the Bronx in a working-class area, with the threat of poverty and violence always looming. The characters are real to me - Marisol is the local girl trying to make good, but also being clung to by the neighborhood. June is the would-be yuppie who seems to love the idea of working in the city more than the city itself. Lenny is somebody's crazy conspiracy theory brother, who may not be totally crazy after all. (I can't vouch
for the veracity of the Neonazis or the homeless people, but I did once see a suspicious fire in Van Cortlandt Park. Does that count?)
But this play isn't just about poverty and violence in the city. The apocalypse that's happening is also environmental (fires raging in Ohio), political (wildly expensive ideas to tow the moon back to its orbit, while a police state ensues) and ... well ... galactic.
Here's the trickiest part of the play for me, and I suspect many of the audience members: The idea that God has grown senile and must be killed in order to stave off the end of the universe.
Ten years ago, as a Bible/religion major at Goshen College, I had a hard time with that. I still do, in the sense that I can't blame God for human-made problems. I don't believe it's God's "job" to protect us from ourselves, it's *our* job.
But seeing the play now, I see "God" as more a symbol for "the order of things", meaning that the angels - and later the huddled masses on earth - aren't necessarily killing the God that I believe in, but the symbolic "powers that be" that run things. Of course, Rivera is likely
far more humanist than I am in this, but as a Christian, I can take that symbolism because I agree with its deeper meaning.
Don't rush to assume, by the way, that this play is an ode to violent revolution. It offers a chilling look at what happens when such "revolutions" happen. "Scar tissue" says, profoundly, "Heaven erupts but who pays the price? The fucking innocent do!" And, ultimately, the play isn't about destruction but rebirth. They're creating a new world, a new reality, from the bottom up, where the lowest are made high. Instead of a typical revolution, where the winners lord it over their enemies, Marisol asks the "woman in furs" to join them, reaching her hand out.
She declined, sharply, but we shouldn't. This play should urge us to look at where we are in the "order of things" and see what things we're putting our faith in. Because today is a tenuous time, with the credit crunch sending "contributing members of society" into bankruptcy, with talk of a recession, with wars and rumors of wars.
Some day, we might be asked to make a choice too.
Heavy stuff, I admit, but the beauty of this play is that it does it with a dollop of, er, dulce de leche. There's biting humor, sometimes gallows humor here.
Lenny, as played by Derek Bontreger, is straightfaced in his crackpot enthusiasm, but so over the top that he steals his scenes. His accent is mighty good for a Midwesterner. Amy Stutsman plays the guardian angel with the swagger and sensuality that, I think, we all really really want in our guardian angels. Jessica Hage plays June's unhinged moments with the right kind of emotion. The rest of the cast also does well with difficult parts.
But it's Cassie Greer's Marisol who brings it home. Armed with a slight Nuyorican accent and a sort of world-weary innocence, she descends into the apocalypse, and ultimately out of it, with the realness of any average person ... if one of us could actually pull that off. She's not a conquering action-movie hero, and the play is much the better for it.
I could say tons more, but here's my final point: go see this play. If you've seen it already, see it again. You may or may not agree with all of it, you may or may not understand all of it, but it will get inside your head and keep you thinking for a long time after.
Ten years later, I'm still thinking.
Thomas V. Bona is a newspaper reporter in Rockford, Ill., and a former resident of Goshen. He's written for New World Arts' 24/7 Theater Festivals, acted occasionally and is known for laughing at appropriate - and inappropriate - times during shows.
I have had several requests for the track list that I used for Marisol, so here it is, in a slightly abbreviated form. I also included iTunes links. A couple of the songs are not available on iTunes, so I linked to other songs by the same artist. Most of these bands are indy, so do them a favor and buy their music if you like it. Also, I would love to hear more of what you think regarding the music I chose for this play. It was not an easy task. I liken it most to creating a mix tape for a new girlfriend, which is a very delicate process. So I guess this is my mix tape for Marisol.
Damien Jurado - Ghost of David
Low - Amazing Grace
Moby - A Season in Hell
Moby - Everything is Wrong
Appleseed Cast - Strings
Agnus Dei (From Platoon)
Sunny Day Real Estate - 8
The Mars Volta - Cassandra Gemini -E. Sarcophagi
Thom Yorke - The Clock
Cool Hand Luke - Sowing and Reaping (10 or 40 on iTunes)
The Gloria Record - Ascension Dream
16 Horsepower - Beyond the Pale (not on iTunes)
Elliott - Blessed by Your Own Ghost
Like an the dramatic thread of any story, every production has its natural arc. You start with the exposition with casting, early design meetings and incessant readings of the script. You spark the process with the inciting incident, the First Readthrough. You work at the rising action with your table talk, blocking, working sessions and tech week.
Then before you know it, you are at the climax...production. The tech is (hopefully) set, the audience shows up, roses are distributed and lights come up on stage as the first line of the first night of production is delivered. The first line is always an earth-shattering event for me. Every night of every performance holds such power for me.
Then the falling action and denouement...
And here's the point. It is within the falling action that you discover the reasons you did a production. You ask yourself, 'what is it that I have taken away from this experience?'
The reasons people do theater are numerous. Whether it is activism, or 'showing off' or even therapy...I won't go into that here. I find that for me, personally, it varies from show to show. Last night, I had some time for reflection, and thought about what Marisol has meant for me.
The themes of Marisol are relevant, the message essential and the text beautiful...but what I have taken away from this production is something that a script alone cannot provide.
The relationships. This cast and crew have brought insight and meaning to this production at a level that I had not anticipated.
I treasure the conversations we had as we delved into the script. I relish the energy everyone brings to their roles.
Early on in the process, we talked about artifacts of power...the containers in which we place our identities, thus transferring power to inanimate objects.
I believe this cast and crew has made this play a vessel of great power. They have placed their thoughts, minds and souls into this production, and through their sacrifice beautiful acts of creation have come into being.
Towards the end of Act II, Marisol says "What a time to be alive, huh? On one hand we're nothing. We're dirt. On the other hand, we're the reason the universe was made."
What do I take away from this production? I take away all the beautiful experiences and insights the cast and crew have given me. The reason behind the universe is all of us...and I am thankful for each and everyone of you.
Thank you, cast and crew, for everything you have brought to this striking production. Have an incredible second weekend of performances.
Then before you know it, you are at the climax...production. The tech is (hopefully) set, the audience shows up, roses are distributed and lights come up on stage as the first line of the first night of production is delivered. The first line is always an earth-shattering event for me. Every night of every performance holds such power for me.
Then the falling action and denouement...
And here's the point. It is within the falling action that you discover the reasons you did a production. You ask yourself, 'what is it that I have taken away from this experience?'
The reasons people do theater are numerous. Whether it is activism, or 'showing off' or even therapy...I won't go into that here. I find that for me, personally, it varies from show to show. Last night, I had some time for reflection, and thought about what Marisol has meant for me.
The themes of Marisol are relevant, the message essential and the text beautiful...but what I have taken away from this production is something that a script alone cannot provide.
The relationships. This cast and crew have brought insight and meaning to this production at a level that I had not anticipated.
I treasure the conversations we had as we delved into the script. I relish the energy everyone brings to their roles.
Early on in the process, we talked about artifacts of power...the containers in which we place our identities, thus transferring power to inanimate objects.
I believe this cast and crew has made this play a vessel of great power. They have placed their thoughts, minds and souls into this production, and through their sacrifice beautiful acts of creation have come into being.
Towards the end of Act II, Marisol says "What a time to be alive, huh? On one hand we're nothing. We're dirt. On the other hand, we're the reason the universe was made."
What do I take away from this production? I take away all the beautiful experiences and insights the cast and crew have given me. The reason behind the universe is all of us...and I am thankful for each and everyone of you.
Thank you, cast and crew, for everything you have brought to this striking production. Have an incredible second weekend of performances.
"...It's difficult not to be seduced by Cassie Greer's performance in the title role.
Her embodiment of Marisol is intimate and bold as she navigates an array of emotions to near perfection."-- Jeremy Bonfiglio, South Bend Tribune
What a night; thanks to everyone who made it possible. We had a full and expressive audience, delicious reception food provided by Board President Elaine Ehrlich and Board Member Jennifer Deneen and the show was as provocative and beautiful as I have ever seen it. Well done everyone.
The South Bend Tribune's Jeremy Bonfiglio (who I finally got to meet in person last night) was in the house last night. His review of the play is coming out in Sunday's tribune, but you can get a sneak peak of it here.
We're expecting another full house tonight, so if you are going to come, make sure to make your reservation now.
so we made it through opening night of marisol and season ten. ahhh. good show everyone. that was my first night ever on stage in a theatrical production. very exciting. very relieving. and i think it went well, despite a few mishaps here and there! what a huge rush to perform for a full audience, especially a receptive and expressive one. it makes the grueling, sleep deprived past month somehow completely worthwhile. there is so much yet that i personally want to polish with my character, but overall i feel good about the show. the entire cast and crew is incredible. our director is amazing. i truly appreciate bryan's spirit, his patience, laughter, strong yet gentle guidance, extensive notes, flat vowels! all the peoples involved in this production have been working quite hard and keeping such positive attitudes in the midst of physical illness, technical set-backs, and major harassments from me! thank you all for this most meaningful experience. connecting closely with your beautiful human spirits day and night in the green room, the flex, backstage, on stage, and then aside from the theater, i find more joy, more love, more light awakened within my own self. namaste.
Local and regional press have been great to us the last few days. The press blitz begins!
Here's what's out now (but I happen to know there's some more to come):
See you tonight.
Here's what's out now (but I happen to know there's some more to come):
- Goshen News article on tonight's opening. (There's for some reason no online link, but I'll post it when it comes up. Check yesterday's paper.)
- Tyler Yoard (Golf Club) (who needs to blog) wrote a great write-up yesterday for us in the Goshen College Record.
- South Bend Tribune's Andy Hughes came out with a great article today about tonight's opening.
- The Tribune also together a gallery of Tuesday night's tech rehearsal.
- The Tribune put up a video on their multimedia site of that same rehearsal, featuring Cassie (Marisol) and Derek (Lenny) rehearsing Act 1. (Scroll down and look for "Multimedia" on the right hand side on the screen).
See you tonight.
Have you noticed that the blog has been quiet the last few days? That'd be accurate. The actors have been rehearsing, beautifully, until midnight each night. The tech crew, however, has been dealing with this guy.
That's a fully broken lighting board, which bid us farewell only 3 days ago.
Jessica Brubaker and Dan Horst, to their immense credit, have pulled some late nights getting lights on stage, and being where we are supposed to be the night before opening.
Something going extremely well has been, well, the rest of the show.
That's a fully broken lighting board, which bid us farewell only 3 days ago.Jessica Brubaker and Dan Horst, to their immense credit, have pulled some late nights getting lights on stage, and being where we are supposed to be the night before opening.
Something going extremely well has been, well, the rest of the show.
Welcome to Season Ten. See you tomorrow night.
Don't forget to swing by the New World Arts space tomorrow night for an open, free reception for the actors and crew at 7 p.m.
Don't forget to swing by the New World Arts space tomorrow night for an open, free reception for the actors and crew at 7 p.m.
Can I just take a moment to say that the morale of this cast and crew is amazing? Because it really is, and it's incredibly inspiring to work with people who are so devoted and focused on putting together this show. Over the past week, we have dealt with numerous illnesses and "invisible" actors, a malfunctioning lighting system (and then functioning, and then malfunctioning again, etc.), noisy costumes, new costumes, and costumes at a different stage of completion every night, constantly evolving props, and a learning whole bunch of set changes on top of everything else. And everybody has handled things with so much grace and cheerfulness (and soup!). Thank you cast and crew.
Also, so many extra people have pitched in to help make sure we're all ready for opening night. Thank you everybody else. It's great to feel so supported as an actor, both by the crew and all the extra costume helpers running around, as well as by my fellow cast members, who are always open to discussing and dissecting and refining our scenes together over and over again. It continues to be an honor to work with you all.
And a final P.S. to anyone who knows the end of the show: ask me about the Transfiguration...
Also, so many extra people have pitched in to help make sure we're all ready for opening night. Thank you everybody else. It's great to feel so supported as an actor, both by the crew and all the extra costume helpers running around, as well as by my fellow cast members, who are always open to discussing and dissecting and refining our scenes together over and over again. It continues to be an honor to work with you all.
And a final P.S. to anyone who knows the end of the show: ask me about the Transfiguration...
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