Polaroid Stories

by Naomi Iizuka

A visceral blend of classical mythology and real life stories told by street kids, Naomi lizuka's Polaroid Stories journeys into a dangerous world where myth-making fulfills a fierce need for transcendence, where storytelling has the power to transform a reality in which characters' lives are continually threatened, devalued and effaced. Not all the stories these characters tell are true; some are lies, wild yams, clever deceits, baroque fabrications. But whether or not a homeless kid invents an incredible history for himself isn't the point, explains diarist-of-the-street Jim Grimsley. "All these stories and lies add up to something like the truth."

Inspired in part by Ovid's Metamorphoses, Iizuka's Polaroid Stories takes place on an abandoned pier on the outermost edge of a city, a way stop for dreamers, dealers and desperadoes, a no-man's land where runaways seek camaraderie, refuge and escape. Serpentine routes from the street to the heart characterize the interactions in this spellbinding tale of young people pushed to society's fringe. Informed, as well, by interviews with young prostitutes and street kids, Polaroid Stories conveys a whirlwind of psychic disturbance, confusion and longing. Like their mythic counterparts, these modem-day mortals are engulfed by needs that burn and consume. Their language mixes poetry and profanity, imbuing the play with lyricism and great theatrical force.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction, College

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Naomi Iizuka's most recent play, 17 Reasons (Why), was produced at Campo Santo + Intersection for the Arts and published by Stage and Screen in the anthology Breaking Ground: Adventurous Plays By Adventurous Theatres, edited by Kent Nicholson. Her other plays include 36 Views; Polaroid Stories; Language of Angels; War of the Worlds (written in collaboration with Anne Bogart and SITI Company); Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls; Tattoo Girl; and Skin. Ms. Iizuka's plays have been produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville; Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Campo Santo + Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco; the Dallas Theatre Center and Undermain Theatre in Dallas; Frontera@Hyde Park in Austin; Printer's Devil and Annex in Seattle; NYSF/Joseph Papp Public Theatre, GeVa Theatre, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Soho Rep, and Tectonic Theatre in New York; San Diego's Sledgehammer Theatre; Northern Light Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta; Alternate Theatre in Montreal; and the Edinburgh Festival. Her plays have been workshopped by San Jose Rep, GeVa Theatre, Bread Loaf, Sundance Theatre Lab, A.S.K. Theatre Projects, the McCarter Theatre, Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre, the Bay Area Playwrights' Festival, Midwest PlayLabs, En Garde Arts/P.S. 122, and New York Theatre Workshop.
Language of Angels was published in TheatreForum; War of the Worlds and Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls were published by Smith and Kraus; Tattoo Girl is included in From The Other Side of the Century, published by Sun and Moon; and Skin is included in Out of the Fringe, published by TCG. Polaroid Stories is published by Dramatic Publishing, and Language of Angels, Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls, Anon(ymous), and Tattoo Girl are published by Playscripts, Inc. 36 Views was published in American Theatre and has since been published by Overlook Press.
Ms. Iizuka is currently working on commissions from the Guthrie Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Kennedy Center, the Children's Theatre of Minneapolis, and the Mark Taper Forum. She is a member of New Dramatists and the recipient of a Whiting Award, a Rockefeller Foundation MAP grant, a Gerbode Foundation Fellowship, an NEA/TCG Artist-in-Residence grant, a McKnight Fellowship, a PEN Center USA West Award for Drama, the Stavis Award from the National Theatre Conference, Princeton University's Hodder Fellowship, and a Jerome Playwriting Fellowship. Ms. Iizuka has taught playwriting at the University of Iowa and the University of Texas, Austin, and currently teaches at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[Felicia Latoya Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read this for a college course. It's not a style of play that I find enjoyable to read. Maybe it would be different to see it on stage, but I'm not one for gratuitous cursing...and in the reading of the play, the abundant usage began to take away from the story instead of adding to develop and understanding of it. The concept is interesting, though often I found myself trying and failing to understand the link that was supposed to be made with certain myths. I prefer Zimmerman's "Metamorphoses" as a modern adaptation for the stage.

I will say the only aspects I truly found fascinating were in the stage directions. I would love to see how some were done on stage, especially the ones where people are supposed to broken into a "thousand" pieces or turn into stars. Oh, and the second act is better than the first.

[Beverley Sylvester · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the concept of superimposing classical Greek mythology onto the lives of struggling street kids is important and compelling, but I feel this play is too scattered and not constructed well enough to tap into the complete potential of this very important concept of finding strength and relatability in the humanness of the gods and the divinity of every human.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the end of this play you will probably asking yourself one question, "What the F*** did I just read?" Aside from the extreme use of language, I think the author captured the essence of the streets and transcribed it beautifully into a contemporary play. I would strongly recommend watching it performed after the read for a much better comprehension of what's going on.

[Diego Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was on this production, super great opportunities to do some cool stuff but waaaaaaay to long.

The message about being inner city kids and the messages of of Greek tales really mix as well, however, sometimes it can get a little bit tedious. However, Naomi does a brilliant job of creating this diverse, intricate and avant-garde reality. Read language of angels. Instead, that story has a much clearer idea, and really good characters.

[Taylor Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So in love with this script.
Stories, characters, and themes from Ovid's Metamorphoses are used skillfully and unexpectedly to tell the story of street kids. Based on interviews with sex workers and runaways, Iizuka weaves street slang and raw vulgarity with a gorgeous, poetic lyricism - creating a completely unique and jarring experience.
I can't wait to direct this one someday :)

[Christina Hopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I would've appreciated the scenes more if I was familiar with mythology. I feel like some aspects went over my head that would have added another layer, so I'll definitely reread sometime if I ever get into mythology.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lehman College's spring production

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poetry is in the stage directions. I think this play would spring to life on stage; at times it was hard to connect with the characters purely through the dialogue.

[Es · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finish everything I start. It once took me 3 years to finish a book, but I finished it. This play I did not finish. It’s something I imagine a middle schooler wrote.

[Povilas Kimutis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[Ashton Showers · Rating 3 out of 5]

oh yeah.. this makes no sense.. this makes sense.. oh shoot.. no sense again.. the end!

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This script is a fascinating understanding and alteration of Metamorphoses. As a script it offers a lot of opportunities to display stunning spectacles. The play itself has undergone an intense alteration and is a great chance for dramaturgical processes. The stories are understandable in this format and show the human nature that lies at the heart of Ovid's poem. However, as well executed the simple format is, Iizuka doesn't add much of her own original work to the piece, the script works as a dissected piece of traditional literature without much added on top.

[Lucy Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I have read “Polaroid Stories” many times (as I write my thesis on it and prepare to direct it), every time I reread it I get chills. The language, symbolism, people, and world of the play blow me away. Iizuka’s artful combination of myth and reality enriches the mythological side and helps the reality of the people in the story soar. I highly recommend “Polaroid Stories”, especially if you are interested in plays with Classical mythology, minority groups, poetic language, or bold theatricality.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange and at times much to dense modern telling of the stories of the greek gods as multi-racial/-cultural street kids. Innovative and intriguing, I wish I'd been able to see it at Campo Santo. It seems a work to be much better appreciated seen than merely read (as should be the case for all good theatre).

[Sonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on Ovid's "Metamorphosis" and Jim Goldberg's "Raised by Wolves."

[Denise]

haven't read this edition, but read the play.

[Heather]

A gorgeous play

[PEN Center USA · Rating 5 out of 5]

1998 PEN Center USA Award Winner for Drama

[Jordan Neff · Rating 3 out of 5]

**3.5

[Anna Hayman]

Still mulling this one over, but basically if you mess with the Greek myths, and you do it well, you've got me in the palm of your hand. End scene.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Suzan-Lori Parks and I am here for it. I guess I am a Naomi Iizuka fan now, this is the third play of hers I’ve read and her form is so fluid and the stage directions irresistible.