New Monologue

"La Gingra" by Carmen Rivera written in spanish is about a young Puetro-rican American woman who travels to Puerto Rico to find and connect with her ancestral roots. There is an interesting monologue which includes both spanish and english in a phone conversation with her mother about choosing to stay in Puerto Rico permanently. I think this monologue could work well as the intermediate of the three I plan to showcase at STAC night. The first, is the Lorca monologue that emphasizes this old generation being set in an earlier time, spoken in spanish. The monologue here has nothing to do with the changing of culture specifically about being hispanic but rather focuses on the idea of being free from the family's control. Then this second monologue is about the transition between being hispanic and american or rather american and hispanic because the girl goes back to the roots of being hispanic. So maybe this monologue would be better as a simple contrast to the first. The third I have not found yet but I wanted it to be in english reflect on a heritage that she does not know anymore. The three would show very drastic differences based on being hispanic as emphasized by the degree of being spoken in spanish.

Maria
(It is nighttime. Maria is talking on the phone with her mother.)
Mami, encontrare un trabajo aqui… estoy segura… porque necesito hablar Espanol, Mami if I don't practice I won't get better… since I don't practice at home I have to practice somewhere… Mami yo odio ese trabajo… a ellos no les va importar… I'll mail in my resignation… I don't have to give them two weeks notice, believe me they won't miss me at all… I don't care if he doesn't give me a reference… ?Como me vas a decir que no puedo vivir aqui!? … No me puedes decir eso! Yovtengo veintidos anos, I can do whatever I want!!! Mom, mom, mami, let me speak… (Maria holds the telephone far from her.) Mami, are you finished? You're not even giving me a chance to… okay, okay, Because I love it here… me encanta Puetro Rico ?entiendes? Yo quiero vivir aqui, mom… mami… tu siempres estas hablando de Puerto Rico, tu ninez… It's not different for you! Tu amor por Puerto Rico es mas que recuerdos, yo tambien quiero recuerdos de Puerto Rico… mami… forget it… you never listen to me anyway… mom… okay, me tengo que ir, no quiero que la llamada salga cara. Bye… what? … si a todo el mundo le qustaron los regalos… tia Norma? …Si le di el regalo que tu mandaste… no se si ella lo ha abierto… no, no me dijo nada… okay… bye. (Maria hangs up.) ARGH!!

Adela

Last night I thought of the idea of making my monologue into a mini-film. I realized that it would be much easier to put subtitles on this than live. Also I could make it more understandable using the silent actions in a film. At this point in the play, Adela is sneaking out to go see Pepe el Romano but Martirio catches her in the act. Martirio scolds her and tells her to stop fooling around with Pepe el Romano because he is getting married to their older sister Angustias who is uglier and much older but has the most dowry to give to Pepe el Romano. As a seperate complication Martirio also is in love with Pepe el Romano but no one knows this. Finally all the girls feel the incredible riegn of terror of living under the control of their mother Bernarda who has recently been given the power of being the head of the family because her husband and the girls' father recently died....

As much as this information is helpful in understanding the monologue, it is not neccesary. For this movie I want to show Adela, myself, sneaking out of the house and being caught by Martirio. In this way the sense of anger that Adela has towards Martirio for taking away what she wanted is somewhat shown. It may seem Adela is only fantasizing over a boy and being a silly girl, but in reality being with Pepe el Romano meant leaving behind all her feelings of captivitiy and lonesomeness in being controlled by her mother and the societial beliefs. In a way this reminds me of my mother. The most fun she had in her life was when she was first married to my dad. In those first few years she was finally truly free of her parents, their household and their restrictions or guidance. She had her own job, her own home, her own decisions to make. This idea of going from your parents home to living with a husband was seen as the only way to becoming an adult. There was no living on your own, especially for a woman. This is probably why Adela was feeling so infuriated by everyone: Angustias, her mother, society, her sisters, for letting them all take away her chance of freedom. Adela would not let this happen which is why she snuck out to see Pepe el Romano and was thinking to devote herself to him. She was in love with what the future with him meant for her. Because of this it is not hard to see why she would commit suicide at the end of the play, when she found out he was killed.

The monologue

Here is the monologue I am working on. I took a section of Adela's lines while speaking to her sister Martirio about her love for Pepe el Romano and its effect on herself and her family when is choosing to marry her older sister because she has the most dowry. I have included the translation that might sound awkward at times because the Enlgish does not match up with the Spanish that well but I wanted to keep true to the text as much as possible so that I can understand what each sentence and word really meant. I found translating the text was a lot like preparing a Shakespeare monologue because I would have to look up certain words, phrases and references. The metaphors only make sense and sound lovely in the Shakespeare text while in regular English they sound a bit wierd and confusing to explain.

Adela

La Casa de Bernarda Alba: Federico Garcia-Lorca

Esto no es mas que el comienzo. / He tenido fuerza para adelantarme. El brio y el merito que tu no tienes. He visto la muerte debayo de estos techos y he salido a buscar lo que era mio, lo que me pertenecia. El vino por el dinero, pero sus ojos los puso siempre en mi. Sabes major que yo que no la quiera a Angustias. Sabes, por que lo has visto, que me quiere a mi. Me quiere a mi. Me quiere a mi. / Por eso procuras que no vaya con el. No te importa quel abrace a la que no quiere. Ya puede estar cien anos con Angustias, pero que me abrace a mi se te hace terrible, porque tu lo quieres tambien, lo quieres. / Martirio, Martirio, yo no tengo la culpa. Aqui no hay ningun remedio. La que tenga que ahorgarse que se ahogue. / Pepe el Romano es mio. El me lleva a los juncos de la orilla. Ya no aguanto el horror de estos techos despues de haber probado el sabor de su boca. Sere lo que el quiera que sea. / Todo el pueblo contra mi quemandome con sus dedos de lumbre. Perseguida por los que dicen que son decentes, y me ponder la corona de espinas que tienen las que son queridas de algun hombre casado.

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Adela

The House of Bernarda Alba: Federico Garcia-Lorca

This is nothing more than the beginning. / I have had the strength to advance myself. The intelligence and merit that you do not have. I’ve seen death underneath these roofs and I’ve left to look for what was mine, what belonged to me. He came for the money but his eyes, he put them always on me. You know more than I that he doesn’t love Angustias. You know this because you have seen that he loves me. He loves me. He loves me. / Because of this you say I should not go with him. It doesn’t matter to you if he kisses another that he doesn’t love. He can be with Angustias for one hundred years but if he kisses me, it becomes terrible for you, because you love him too, you love him. / Martirio, Martirio, I am not guilty.  Here, there is no solution. The one that must drown herself, let her drown. / Pepe el Romano is mine. He takes me to the end of the cliff.  I can no longer stand the horror of these roofs after having tasted the taste of his lips. I will be whatever he wants me to be. / The whole town against me, burning me with their fingers of fire. Followed by those who have conformed, and they will put on me a crown of thorns like those for the women who love a married man.

Monologues

Last Sunday I saw a Spanish performance at Repertorio Espanol. It was called En El Tiempo De Las Mariposas which means In The Time Of The Butterflies. The play is based on the book written by Julia Alvarez which is about the 3 Mirabel sisters who were brutally murdered under the Trujillo reigeme in the Domincan Republic. The play has 6 female characters and one male (who plays various small roles). I understood the show in Spanish and I thought it was well done. Each actress was different in the way she acted, perhaps training and experience. They were all dominant in Spanish. I liked the way this actress Dalia David acted and she seemed to be most similar in the way I do. I later found that she has worked in a lot of TV and Film and sometimes in English. Whereas another actress Zulema Clares is a very Latin American trained actress. I really enjoyed Ines Garcia's performance as The youngest daughter. I felt she acted the most real and interesting to watch. I really want to copy her style. These past few days I have been working on a monologue from La Casa De Bernada Alba of the youngest daughter standing up for herself to her older sister. In a way the two parts of the youngest daughter have become a theme for me as the only daughter. I can see how the idea of wanting to be free keeps coming up. Also in both plays the girl wants to do something in her future. Perhaps for my final project I will find various monologues that have to deal with the idea of being young. The Garcia is the old times, a later generation. I should probably get one from my generation in Enlgish and a middle one that switches from English to Spanish.