Fefu and Her Friends: New, Expanded Edition

by María Irene Fornés

The new and expanded edition of Fefu and Her Friends celebrates the fortieth anniversary of the beloved play by Maria Irene Fornes, one of the most influential contemporary American playwrights. The volume includes the original version of the play, which takes place in five different environments, as well as a one-set variation, conceived and directed by the author two decades after the 1977 production. Also featured is an interview with Fornes on the play by Bonnie Marranca. PAJ Publications has published five volumes of the author’s plays, including Maria Irene Plays, Promenade and Other Plays, What of the Night?: Selected Plays , and Letters from Cuba . For her work as writer, director, teacher, librettist, and adapter of classics, over more than four decades, Maria Irene Fornes has received nine Obie Awards.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Feminism, Fiction, School, Read For School

90 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1990

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

I vaguely remember reading this when it was all the rage back in the late '70's - and not being able to make heads or tails of it. But it was one of the first experimental plays that involved a different theatrical configuration (i.e., the 1st and 3rd acts are presented on a proscenium stage; for the 4 short scenes comprising the second act, the audience is divided in fourths and each scene is presented in a different smaller locale created within the theatre - which requires the actors to perform each scene 4 times).

I love that type of site-specific environmental staging (cf., Tamara)- but the play still doesn't hold together for me. The first act is presented more or less naturalistically and presents intriguing relationships and possibilities, but as the play progresses it gets more fragmentary - and less comprehensible. There is - as the playwright admits - virtually no plot, and context is sorely lacking during much of the play. By the ending, one gets the feeling Fornes just said 'to hell with it' - and gave up.

My rereading of this was impelled by local theatre troupe ACT reviving it to fairly decent reviews - so wanted to revisit it, to see if I wanted to drag myself to SF to view it - I think NOT! :-(

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/thea...

[Raymond · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get it. I probably should see it at a theater.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read this in book club and realised I was really coming around to it in our discussion after. Not everything has to be neat and answered, and this time I enjoyed the questions.

[grace fleming de torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brb I’m dramaturg-maxxing

[Shelley Diamond · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an odd play but allegedly is one of her more realistic ones. If this play is realistic, I will definitely not be reading any of her other plays. Fornes recently died so I was curious about her work but this did not really inspire me to learn more. The group of women are mostly bizarre in their interactions. There are a few sections that are OK, with some interesting perspectives on relationships, but mostly this seemed just too absurd for me to really enjoy...

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely read plays, and this one was definitely more interesting and enjoyable after rereading alongside outside analysis. Fefu's friends come over to rehearse a performance/talk they're giving together at a fundraising benefit, and in the process, practice & meta-textualize the process of strategic performance and concealment that undergirds their lives as women, wives, and even friends. Meanwhile, Madness is ever-present under and ultimately at the surface.

I certainly think that this is best seen in the form it was intended: an experimental set whose seemingly detached "rooms" function as nexes of distributed consciousness raising [that is, the raising of distributed/rhizomatic consciousness, in the players and viewers alike]. Still, with each reread, this text gets richer, and I'm compelled by all of the moving parts belied by its brevity.

[Val Timke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is brilliant... And very weird. I'm giving it four stars because there were some elements at the beginning that I wanted to see return that never did.

[Geo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this play! Dream to see this show live with the original set design.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria Irene Fornes, Fefu and Her Friends (PAJ Publications, 1978)

Okay, I will admit it right up front: I have absolutely no idea what is going on in the last act of this play, and I have done absolutely no digging on the web in order to uncover any random “what does this mean?” threads that might be hanging around. I simply let it wash over me and took it based on its merits as a written document. I should probably go looking at some point, because I liked it enough anyway to give it a strong recommend even without knowing what's going on. The characters are crisp, the dialogue zingy, the action surprisingly playful given the overall dark tone here. I don't think this is one you need to “get” in order to enjoy. Take it the same way I did—just admire it for what it is, which seems to be “obtuse”. *** ½

(For the record, after I finished writing this, I did google it, and it seems my incomprehension was not nearly as rare as I thought it was.)

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This innovative play explores women’s issues and concerns through the interactions of eight friends gathering in a country house, ostensibly to rehearse a presentation. As they speak to each other, the dialog often seems tangential to what has gone before, and there is a playfulness to much of the dialog and action, even at their most serious. Part 2 of the play has no set sequence; the scenes are viewed in different order by different sections of the audience. Episodic with no resolution for most of the characters, the play entertains and challenges as it moves forward to its final event.

[Britton · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A love affair lasts seven years and three months. 3 months of love. 1 year of saying: It's all right. This is just a passing disturbance. 1 year trying to understand what's wrong. 2 years knowing the end had come. 1 year finding the way to end it. After the separation, 2 years trying to understand what happened. 7 years, 3 months."

[Alexis Grusby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, rounded down.

I definitely think I would absolutely adore this show if I saw it live, I think it’s a bit hard to follow in script format. But hopefully one day I’ll get to see it performed and come revise this review because there’s no wonder this show is famous, the script is unique and beautiful.

[C · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/5
I’m just not really a big fan of reading plays and usually don’t do well with more avant garde stuff that’s written (however Revolt. She said. Revolt Again. is an exception). This really just didn’t do much for me, although maybe after lecture I’ll feel differently.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

i’m confused- this made me fall asleep twice and it’s only 60 pages

[leni swagger · Rating 1 out of 5]

No plot just Fefu and her friends

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm very tired and know I didn't completely understand what was going on and I'm going to read it again but there's so much that's really sticking to me

[Federica · Rating 4 out of 5]

sicuramente interessante

[Mariña · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ porque levo días a voltas con esta obra

[Jamie Cayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

i definitely understood everything the first time and had absolutely no questions 🤠🤠

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I had seen this instead of read it (as I imagine I would feel about any play I read), because the idea of the audience being divided into four parts and having to rotate around the action, only aware of what's happening in the sections they've already seen, seems like a fascinating device to say something about the way women position themselves in the world, but also give the women in this play a type of power in their setting. While a lot of the actual substance of the play is lost on me, I still enjoyed the characters, their voices, they fun they have, but also the serious conversations they're having with themselves about their place in the world. Julia, Emma, and Fefu specifically I would need to do some very careful reading and rereading to really understand their place in this play, and what they're saying about the larger themes at work here. And I would really like to know what the meaning of the ending is. I might have to do some googling (or you know... librarianing) just to get some closure.

[Max Moroz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Need Fefu and Amélie (of Amélie (2001)) to hangout STAT!!!! Also need to see this on stage STAT!!!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW

[Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first saw Fefu and Her Friends in production before I read it. While the production I saw certainly contributed to the performance that I found myself missing while reading because I knew that not everyone who read the script would ever be thinking of the production I saw, the script is so beautiful that I cannot help but wonder and ache thinking about all of the productions of this play that I myself have not seen. The writing is pitch perfect for performance: sparse enough to provide plenty of room for actors, directors, and audiences to play in while also incredibly cohesive and concise. The script is brilliant and satisfies me intellectually as it masterfully references the myth of Orpheus and the writings of Emma Sheridan Fry; however, it also connects to the humanity of readers with characters who are as goofy and loveable as they are conflicted and troubled. This is one of those works of literature that simply feeds your soul as it reminds you that it's hungry. And, trust me, I know how corny that sounds but this play only makes me want to be a better writer and poet; it doesn't magically turn me into one.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think there's a lot about this play that I don't get from a first reading, I suspect I would need to see it well performed (which I think I've said about the past several plays I've written reviews of here). However, I do like the shifts in staging, which is a really cool feature of this particular play. The play consists of three sections, the first and third in a living room, while the second takes place in four different places--the lawn, the study, the bedroom, and the kitchen--and the audience rotates through the four locations as the scene is performed four times. This challenges the model of theatre space that has dominated British and American theatre since the Restoration, the idea of a single, unified stage space where the action happens in front of stationary spectators. Fefu and Her Friends moves toward an environmental theatre model, where the distinctions between audience and performance space breaks down, but this play explores that break down in a really unique way.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This eight-woman play, first produced in 1977, is intriguing. It is set in three parts, the first in one room, the second in four rooms and the audience is likewise divided into four parts and watches the four scenes in different orders, then the third part in another room. I suppose it could be seen as a gimmick, but I really like the idea and think it would be fun to watch it unfold.

As for the text, there is a lot of melancholy and joy. I would really enjoy seeing a ton of different women on stage even if the treads of their lives don't really become clear, they begin in the middle and end there too and it's more like catching a bit of a conversation of strangers as you pass them on the street.

But some funny observations, and some that still ring true 40 years later, which is an acomplishment.

[Andrew Hackler]

Fefu and Her Friends is an intriguing work of Feminist fiction that grabs the audience and shows them the life of the feminist in mid-1930’s. This play gives light to the feminist struggle to fight against oppression. It shows the toll that the feminist takes. What this play taught me as a writer is the usage of audience. This play moves the audience from scene to scene a method of participation I might have never come up with the idea.

[Dinah · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I ever have access to a spacious city loft, eight talented women actors who can be in a room together, and a couple thousand bucks in search of a project, this is absolutely my play of choice. Fornes is a BAMF.

[Danya · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few excellent monologues and it was a truly thought provoking piece, but I spent most of the play confused and frustrated. I think I might enjoy this more when I'm a bit older. It's interesting, but not necessarily recommended.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this play. It did really innovative stuff with staging while not doing too much to scare an audience away. I was also struck by the relevance of a play written in the 60s about the 30s in todays world.

[Lukas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to see this show. I loved the environmental aspect that Fornes creates with this play. I am so interested in how the order you see Act II and how it affects the beginning and end of this play. It's an interesting look on the lives of women. I am still trying to figure it out.