Fortenberry: Blogging BLOODWORKS

Dorothy Fortenberry shares more thoughts about her Bloodworks piece, SPECIES NATIVE TO CALIFORNIA...

One of the things I'm trying in this piece is to blend the formal structure of the play with the dramatic and emotional lives of the characters. So that, when structures break in the world of the play, the conventions of the play universe also stretch and tear. Over the course of the first act, events get to the point that straight-ahead naturalism won't quite fit anymore, and Act Two begins with a character speaking directly to the audience. Then, in the second act, the theatrical rules are suspended -- the old rules are thrown out (along with the old way that all the characters used to live). By the time the play ends, a new order has taken place, and the theatrical conventions of before have returned (even though they're being practiced in different ways).

I know this all probably sounds incredibly abstract, but, hopefully, when an audience experiences the play, it will feel natural and intuitive, maybe not even noticeable. Things fall apart, and then they get put back together. Some people, their lives, and a play.

Dorothy's Bloodworks reading is this Wednesday (5/13) at 7 Pm @ SEAPORT!
(@SEAPORT! is located at 210 Front Street, in the South Street Seaport A/C to Broadway/Nassau, 2/3/4/5/J/M/Z to Fulton Street. All Bloodworks readings are at & PM free of charge.)