10th Play - Fefu and Her Friends by María Irene Fornés
Ronete Levenson (Sue), Lindsay Rico (Paula), Helen Cespedes (Emma), Jennifer Lim (Cindy), Brittany Bradford (Julia) from the Theatre for a New Audience's production in Brooklyn. Photo: Henry Grossman
Well, this is an older one, but one I had never read. Although people in my acting classes did scenes from it, so I knew OF it, but wanted to be more familiar with it. Not sure how well I succeeded …
Summary: Fefu and Her Friends is “funny and shocking…the dramatic equivalent of a collection of poems… Seven friends gather at Fefu’s house for a kind of reunion… exploring lives and quite specifically the pain, strain, comforts, and fragility of women’s lives… After the initial scene in the living room, we are divided into four groups and visit the kitchen, a bedroom, and a garden in each of which some particular encounter takes place… The actors perform the same thing four times so that we all have a chance to see them… An engaging kind of activity… There are moments of splendor.” —Richard Eder, reviewing the original 1978 production, The New York Times
Laura’s thoughts in brief: I’ll be honest, reading Fornés is not my favorite exercise. I’ve tried to read a few of her plays, and have just … struggled. That being said, I saw a production of her What of the Night at Stage Left Theatre a few years ago that was pretty great. So, I’m going to say that if I saw a production of this play, I might love it! Written in 1977, but set in 1935, it’s an incredible feminist anthem - no male characters at all, although they are mentioned, but barely. Fefu has a strange game she and her husband play where she shoots across the grounds at her husband every so often and he always falls. She is never quite sure if the gun only has blanks in it. So, we see what an … unconventional woman she is right away. Each of Fefu’s guests is unusual and fascinating in their own right, especially Julia, who needs a wheelchair, although there’s no physical reason she can’t walk. In total seven women eventually arrive at Fefu’s house and are meeting to organize a charity event (we find this out finally in Act 3). But that is really not terribly important. Plot is not the point in a Fornés play. I did love that Act 2 is set in four different locations. Fefu and Emma talk about genitals while playing croquet, Christina and Cindy read in the study and discuss how they feel about their odd hostess, Julia lies in bed and hallucinates, in a long, devastating, but hard-to-read (did I say LONG?) monologue (this is definitely a moment that needs an actor to bring it to life - reading it is just … not exciting - but we know Laura doesn’t like monologues!) and lastly Paula and Sue discuss the life span of a love affair in the kitchen (7 years, 3 months - love the specificity of that!). There is also a compelling “sorry I didn’t call you” conversation between ex-lovers Paula and Cecilia when Sue leaves and Cecilia enters the kitchen. I love the idea of wandering from room to room as the audience, and I imagine arranging each of the parts of Act 2 to happen simultaneously takes some incredible timing. Act 3 includes a demonstration of a performance by Emma which is from “The Science of Educational Dramatics” by Emma Sheridan Fry which is … another long monologue. There are some interesting quotes in her performance such as: “Society restricts us, school straight jackets us, civilization submerges us, privation wrings us, luxury feather-beds us.” But to be honest, I didn’t remember that at all, but pulled out on a second look. I really had trouble following that section of the play and am frankly not sure why that whole text was included. I will admit that when I read things, I read for plot, and when the plot is … loose, I really do have trouble paying attention. One of the most interesting things to me in the play were the conversations between the ex-lovers - those definitely made some sense to me, and in those moments they didn’t speak in giant monologues! Also, the confrontation between Fefu and Paula where Fefu yells at her to “Get up! Stand up!” is shocking and spellbinding, especially as it then sort of leads to the strange and unsettling ending (no, I won’t spoil this one either). Ultimately, I really had trouble following all of it, but would DEFINITELY go see the play, and I think it would be a lot of fun to perform in, if one had an amazing director that UNDERSTANDS FORNES, which I clearly don’t. But, respect to her - she has inspired many amazing folx, and an ensemble play about women which barely dwells on men is awesome!
READ MORE! Here’s what others had to say about productions:
https://exeuntnyc.com/reviews/review-fefu-friends-polonsky-shakespeare-center/
https://bayareaplays.com/2022/04/21/fefu-and-her-friends-confounds-and-thrills-at-a-c-t/