Sex, Survival and the gods at the Little Carib

Woman's Weekly                                SUNDAY 14 APRIL 2013/ ISSUE 101

IN REHEARSAL: Dr. Jorge Luis Morejon (laughing at centre), helps students hone their theatrical skills during a rehearsal for UWI student production of the adapted Cuban play Maria Antonia, which is currently beign shown at the Little Carib Theatre. PHOTO BY MAYDELAINE RODRIGUEZ-CASTILLO

By Shereen Ali

The Cuban play Maria Antonia by Eugenio Hernandez Espinosa is being performed by UWI students at the Little Carib Theatre as part of their final grade in the Production II course at the Department of Creative Festival Arts (DCFA). It is translated, adapted and directed by Dr. Jorge Morejon, a Cuban-American dance lecturer in Trinidad who is teaching theatre skills at UWI.

Last Sunday the students gave an enthusiastic performance, with colorful costuming and evocative drumming by a threesome of seasoned percussionists: Tamba Gwindi, Wayne "Lion" Osuna and Sheena Richardson. The drummers played bata drums (double headed drums shaped like an hourglass), tumbadoras (tall, narrow conga drums) and a floor tom, with miscellaneous percussion including the thunder of spring drums, the tinkle of chimes, the liquid sounds of "rainmakers" and the whispering rattle of caxixi (pronounced cashishi: baskets filled with seeds).

The play Maria Antonia, written in 1964, is the story of a tough Afro-Cuban woman who defies every-one in search of meaning. Living in a barrackyard-type culture of poverty and desperation, she both sexually uses and is used by men; she defies religion; and she longs for a better life. Love, sex and the posturing of egos abound, as every one fights to maintain their own role and space in the yard. Although jaded, Maria falls in love with a macho boxer who often betrays her. And in the background lurk the gods or orishas, observing us or pulling our strings, including a sly witchlike "Cumachela." The adapted play has elements of high tragedy, bawdy humor, creolized Yoruba religion (in Cuba known as Lukumi), the hard living on the streets, and a fair share of soap-opera like moments.

Director Jorge Morejon employs a "Theatre of Images" approach to suggest ideas to the audience rather than telling the story in a linear, explicit way. In Image Theatre, symbolic images are used to explore abstract concepts like relationships and emotions. It's evident in opening sequence of the play when a funeral ritual unfolds behind a draped mound on the ground - which is unveiled to be two female bodies, one a corpse of the lead character Maria and the other a mysterious otherwordly figure. Both then arise. We wonder: are they supposed to be dead or alive? Or are they both spirits now? Are they two beings, or different aspects of the same woman? This ambiguity challenges viewers to create their own meaning. After this scene, the rest of the play unfolds as flashback.

How challenging was it to translate a play originally conceived for another culture and language (Cuban 1960's society, written in Spanish) into  a Trinidad 2013 culture, in English?

Director Morejon says one challenge was the cast's inexperience. " Most of the cast at first didn't understand the script. It was only when we worked on staging it, they started to get it," he admits.

'Love, sex and the posturing

of egos abounds,

as everyone fights

to maintain their own

role and space in the yard.'

He also observes that many students did not yet have a culture of disciplined hard work to achieve goals: so some would come late, or miss rehearsals and dead-lines, or be self-indulgent. He helped them by encouraging them to learn with a problem-solving approach:" ...because theatre is problem solving. There is never an ideal situation. Most theatre happens in very chaotic situations. You don't have a theatre sometimes; or the theatre is not prepared; there may be problems with money to build sets and costumes."

Another challenge was the Trinidad audience: "You can go to see a serious play here, and Trinis are laughing as if it is a comedy, when it is not a comedy but a drama. They see humor where others may see tragedy. Based on that, I tried to balance (the play) so that we could control the humour."

Yet another challenge was the language. Morejon translated the play from Spanish to English literally from a 1989 tape. He then found the written play in a Miami library, and corroborated his oral translation with the print version. Finally, the UWI students suggested idiomatic Trini ways for expressing several Spanish expressions.

Morejon says the play was a valuable learning experience for the students. There were roles for all 25 people in the class, many of whom had never acted before. They learned elements of dance, Cuban culture, ritual chanting and acting on different levels. Music and set design were adapted too, and ocasions for learning.

"I really root the play in the marginal aspect of the Caribbean," says Morejon. "So it could be Jamaica, it could be Trinidad, it could be Cuba. But if we go to those marginal places, people behave in the same way. It is the culture of survival, no matter what."

April 12, 13, 14: Maria Antonia, play by Eugenio Hernadez Espinosa, on at 8 pm on 12 & 13, and at 6 pm on April 14. Little Carib Theatre, White and Roberts Street, Woodbrook. Tickets: $100; discounts for students with ID. Tickets & info: 663-2222 or email mariaantoniauwi@gmail.com