Plays: Maria Irene Fornes

by María Irene Fornés, Susan Sontag (Preface)

The celebrated playwright, director, translator, lyricist, and seven-time Obie Award winner, has been an influential voice in American theatre for more than four decades and a highly-regarded teacher of playwriting. Mud, The Danube, Sarita, and The Conduct of Life.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, School, Drama

152 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1986

Reviews

[Georgia Paterson]

what the fuck is mud about

[Hillary]

in my maria irene fornes era

[Reece Carter]

Probably enjoyed The Conduct of Life best, Sarita the least. Lots of what felt like avant garde in The Danube and I was interested in the themes of illness in the first two plays and the role of women throughout. Overall a good set of stories.

[Drew]

Sometimes when you haven't read someone in awhile you forget just how good they are. Such is the case with Maria Irene Fornes, whose four plays here delighted the hell out of me. "Mud" uses simple language to disclose not-so-simple truths about a love triangle situated in poverty; "The Danube" reinvents Ionesco's "Bald Soprano" as a deranged romance in Hungary; "The Conduct of Life" personalizes totalitarianism; and "Sarita" is a quirky musical filled with distorted courtships. All these plays are marvels.

[Robert]

Viewed a well-done streamed reading of Sarita by Roundabout Theater in 2022. (Thanks to Roundabout! https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/sar... )

The play is intriguing, because of the complexity of the central character, and perhaps of a couple others. The playwright does not attempt to make dysfunctional choices turn out happily ever after. Instead, we have a portrait of obsession with all of its accompanying highs and lows. This is not an uncommon theme; there are many fine films on the same subject. Still, it is interesting to see in another cultural context.

The lyrics, frankly, are mostly repetitive and without value in furthering the plot or exploring character. The songs seem to serve the purpose mostly of music/rhythm rather than lyrics.

Also, the play tends to ignore the baby once born; it is demanded that grandma do the caretaking, but after that we hear very little of how it is done either financially or practically. A serious omission.

[Chris C]

Stumbled across this playwright when looking for new books to read and took a gamble. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into the writing style -- the characters are very flat, dry, to the point of seeming more rote figures than actually having any real semblance of life. I did like the last play in the book, "Sarita", but even so, I'm not sure where the point of enjoyment should come from. Bit of a disappointment but at least the plays were short.

[kaitlyn]

a reread spurred on by a playwriting class. (mud is a beloved play of mine.) irene's plays are incomparable - and that is an intentionally bestowed superlative to describe her work. this specific collection exemplifies the power of her artistry in both her writing and direction, since those two roles are deeply intertwined in her work.

[Zachary Pareizs]

Fantastic Fantastic Fantastic collection. Her influence on modern theatre is so clear in these four plays.

I logged the other plays individually, but Sarita was very interesting, though I don't know if I was fully sold on the songs as is, though they're probably spruced up during production.

[river]

fornes is always interesting with structure and this is no exception! specifically read sarita.

[Farrah Rotman]

I LOVE MUD FIVE STARS FOR MUD

[Elle]

Fav plays OAT

[Jessica]

only read sarita

[Gregory]

This play really doesn't appeal to me. It didn't appeal to me when I read it in undergrad, and it didn't appeal to me when I read it again as a grad student. So, as it turns out, going to a flea market and purchasing various knicknacks is NOT in fact a way to go about writing a play that I will actually enjoy. Sorry, Kate. Sorry, Scott. Sorry, Maria. Try again.
Maybe I would like Fefu and Her Friends?

[Vanessa]

Maria Irene Fornes plays with language and form, creating contemporary plays that talk about things like nuclear war, class strife and the struggle for power between the sexes, but are never preachy or heavy handed. Her first language is Spanish, but she writes in English, creating stark, haunting dialogue. Each play is a little bit funny and a little bit scary. Mud is my favorite.

[M. H.]

Plays in volume (& my review):

Mud: too much swearing & other vulgarity for my taste

The Danube:

The Conduct of Life: ***** Heart-rending. Horrific. Ironically the happiest (& most sane) individual is Olimpia, the maid with a speech defect. (minimum MPAA "PG-13" for sexual violence)

Sarita:

[Chris]

I enjoyed these plays as a whole, in much the same way that I enjoy the works of other modernist playwrites. Their griity, surreal, and complex structures cause me to think a lot about their themes- here: interpersonal violence, the roles of women, and personal failures.

[Gurldoggie]

Egad. What an intense collection of insightful and violent plays. A riveting and stomach churning look at a raging battle of the sexes, with language both unexpectedly alien and too familiar. Like Samuel Beckett writing for "Ms." Magazine. This book will give you a jolt.

[Christine]

"Man must have an ideal"

[James]

holy avant stage construction.

[Aeolan]

Love this collection~ The Danube is my favorite. Powerful, moving material as always from Fornes.

[Irma Mayorga]

Revelatory. Reread for reference.

[Jane]

Appreciate Flores style, but hers is not my preference of dramatic writing. Much like Beckett's where nothing happens but vague dialogue and unsubstantiated actions.

[Kristyna Iris Petiskova]

It proved to me again that greatness often lies in simplicity.