Awakenings

“You want to go to city to do good, but the world only makes you bad.” These strikingly true words, taken from Jorge Ignacio Cortinas’ new play, Blind Mouth Singing, embed themselves in the heart of the audience as soon as they are spoken. This heartbreaking sentence is one of an intriguing many contrived in the conversations between mother and son, self and self, and self and the world. The story of Blind Mouth Singing is the story of a family that technology has reached, but in small and confusing amounts. It is the story of a family that a mother tries so desperately to hold onto with her viselike grip, only to have it scatter because of her care. It is also the story of the struggle to become the bolder, braver, smarter, and more handsome person that one can be. In a way, the story of Blind Mouth Singing is the story of its audience, of their adolescence, their fears, their hopes, and most importantly, themselves. (more…)

 photograph courtesy of Sara Barrett

In June 2001, journalist and Columbia professor Samuel Freedman began what would end up being an approximately three-year long journey to discover his mother’s, Eleanor Freedman’s, life before he was born.  For years he had rejected her while she was alive, and disregarded her after her death at age 50.  Mr. Freedman’s question at the beginning of his quest was, “What made her feel so unfulfilled?”  The result of Mr. Freedman’s journey is the book “Who She Was.”  In writing “Who She Was,” Mr. Freedman defied the notion that emotion contradicts craft and he redefined the genre of memoir.

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photo by Zack Brown

There are twenty or so students sitting in desks, a single table separating them from the writing board.  The place is a college classroom and the time is late morning, but not for long.  Artistic Director Ruben Polendo, Stage Manager Hilary Austin, and actor Jon Norman Schneider are ready to begin their session with the students by presenting a scene from their production of the play, “Blind Mouth Singing.”  Mr. Polendo and Ms. Austin quickly rearrange the table, Mr. Schneider effortlessly gets into character, and, while the place is still a classroom, the setting is now a garden in the middle of the night.  Mr. Schneider has become Reiderico, a young man with a friend living in the garden’s well.  As Reiderico, Mr. Schneider looks beyond the students as he delivers a monologue, speaking to his friend in the depths of the well.  Neither limited nor affected by the students, the lights, and the fact that there is no well and well-dwelling friend, Mr. Schneider is completely focused on his portrayal of Reiderico.  The scene ends and everyone is back in the classroom. (more…)

 photo by Akim Aginsky          

“Fasten your seatbelts we are going to Nigeria o!…”  These are the words of Sylvanus the good-humored stage manager and occasional narrator, one of many characters played by Dan Hoyle in “Tings Dey Happen,” Mr. Hoyle’s one-man play about the oil conflict in Nigeria.  Mr. Hoyle spent time in Nigeria as a Fulbright scholar from 2005-2006 and “Tings Dey Happen” is his written and performed monologue based on this experience.  Just as Sylvanus says, the audience is whisked away to Nigeria, where violence and opinions sprout from the common subject of oil politics.  The strange thing is that the stage does not change.  The bare stage remains the same with Mr. Hoyle standing solo.  The audience is now seeing things through the eyes of Mr. Hoyle, the Fulbright scholar, traveling through Nigeria, as Mr. Hoyle the performer, dressed simply in black, portrays the variety of characters to be met on the journey.   (more…)

In his book, Who She Was, Samuel Freedman successfully creates his mother, Eleanor, in an attempt to discover who she was when she was younger and single, the world she lived in and her interaction with this world.

The creation of the book, undoubtedly, stemmed from personal desires. In his talk at Baruch, Freedman said, “This was my act of penance…I was trying to reconcile myself with her [his mother].” It is clear that Freedman’s main objective was to get to know the mother that he had lost the chance to know. He also said that he felt that creating this book was the only way to redeem himself as Eleanor’s son. Freedman’s avoidance of his mother, and lack of interest he had about her life before added to the curiosity that edged him to write his book. He felt “remorse” and guilt” which he not only illustrates in the prologue of his book, but in the talk as well.

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“They didn’t accept the line-up,” Professor Bernstein joked to our IDC class as she allowed director Rubén Polendo, actor Jon Norman Schneider, and stage director Hilary Austin, to modify the table in front of the classroom. The three tables were quickly dragged to the sides and a mini-stage replica was presented at the front. In no time, Jon knelt on the floor and the reenactment of Act one, scene five had begun where Reiderico (Jon) hears Lucero singing in the well and is hoping that Lucero will interact with him.
Despite “bad lighting, no costumes, and other actor” the sense of loneliness of that scene was easily perceived. The facial expressions, pauses and the speech executed by Jon, replicated the incredibly well practiced acting that took place on stage at the Baruch Art Center, for “Blind Mouth Singing” on Thursday, September 20, 2007.

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Dan Hoyle illuminated the stage with a handful of characters in his one-man show, “Tings Dey Happen” on September 11, 2007 at the Culture Project at Mercer Street, NYC. Hoyle, both the playwright and the sole actor, illuminated each character, clearly distinguishing expressions from one person to the next, be it a grin on one or the slight variation of an accent in another. That, in collaboration with the strong plot, vividly depicted the struggle of every-day life in Nigeria, where corruption stems from oil reserves and foreign involvement, which Hoyle witnessed through his own visit as a full-bright scholar.

The controversial subject holds both comical and serious tones that are keenly intertwined though out the play by the entrances of Sylvanus, the stage manager. His lighthearted remarks and sprightly voice allow the audience to engage in short giggles while simultaneously directing the dire aspects of Nigerian life to settle in their conscious.

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Dan Hoyle, a talented and masterful actor and writer, juggles the job of undertaking the role of every character in the play “Tings Dey Happen”. The mixed expressions across the faces of the audience sitting in the quaint theater seats showed that some appreciated the genuine art that was being portrayed by the creative actor, while there were others who did not seem to appreciate the performance as much. If you looked carefully enough, you could even catch a few heads drooping down, as the prospectors seemed to have been brought to a slumber. However, despite these few viewers, who seem to lack a taste for story telling, the rest of the audience seemed to be riveted by the powerful performance from the single actor on that stage. Dan Hoyle performed superbly and brought the theater to a standstill as a he captured the audience with his canny ability to tell a story. (more…)

Set in the time of industrialization, Jorge Ignacio Cortinas’ “Blind Mouth Singing” portrays a family, that has fought against the changes of the outside world. The aroma of the stage pushes the audience to a simpler time, a time of cigars and sitting at home on the weekends. The dank stage conveys a sense of modesty with wooden floorboards and gramophone player on the table. At the center of the stage lies a perpendicular pond in a rectangular form. This structure plays a key role in the play as a sort of wishing well if you may, a treasure box, a calm place for meditation and personal reflection. (more…)

“Who She Was” is a book written by a son, Samuel G. Freedman, about the mother, Eleanor Freedman, he never really knew. Samuel G. Freedman has written six non-fiction books, which many have won awards. He is a professor of journalism at Columbia and a New York Times columnist. In addition, Freedman runs a seminar about how to write a book. However, his experience and expertise could not have prepared him enough for the journey he was going to embark on. (more…)