Letters from Cuba and Other Plays by María Irene Fornés

In the down-left corner, an old, wooden drafting table cluttered with paraphernalia drew attention to the emptiness of the room around it. In the production, most of the stage was filled by a large, plain, symmetrical, off-white room, designed with meticulous care by Fornes' long-time collaborator, Donald Eastman. The narrative of Letters from Cuba takes place both in Cuba and the USA. The performance lasted barely an hour, short enough to be cryptic at times but long enough to gather a gentle and irresistible momentum yielding startling images of beauty and longing. Nothing is forced, and as a result, the world premiere production felt inchoate at moments, polished but also somewhat incomplete. The piece, like many others by Fornes, is composed of short, fragmentary scenes. Letters from Cuba is more a theatre poem than a play, a gossamer of words, music, movement, and light that reaches a simple, subtle epiphany. The third and final offering, the only one directed by Fornes herself, was the world premiere of Letters from Cuba, perhaps her most personal play ever. The Signature's Fornes season began with a double bill of Mud and Drowning, directed by David Esbjornson, and the New York premiere of Enter the Night, directed by Sonja Moser. Although widely admired in professional and academic circles, Fornes has never fared well in the mainstream, which made presenting a season of her work both risky and altogether appropriate for an off-Broadway theatre dedicated to re-kindling discussion about the United States's most important living playwrights.

25 February 2000.Ĭompared to Sam Shepard (1996-97), Arthur Miller (1997-98), and even John Guare (1998-99), Maria Irene Fornes was a bold choice as the featured playwright for the 1999-2000 season of New York's Signature Theatre. Signature Theatre Company, Peter Norton Space, New York, New York. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Letters from Cuba and Other Plays by María Irene Fornés