Maria Irene Fornes

Scott T. Cummings is Chair of the Theatre Department of Boston College, where he directs plays and teaches courses in playwriting and dramatic literature. He is the author of Remaking American Theater: Charles Mee, Anne Bogart and the SITI Company, as well as numerous performance reviews, journal articles, and essays on contemporary American theater and drama.

'In this excellent study, Cummings successfully argues Fornes's stature as "the most important unknown playwright in the United States" during the second half of the 20th century. He provides a comprehensive analysis of her career over four decades, demonstrating how her conjoined practices as playwright, director, and teacher form an organic whole and characterize her distinctive style of theater. Cummings analyzes and interprets all of Fornes's plays in a clear, accessible manner, affording a more detailed examination of what he terms the "key" plays--Promenade, Fefu and Her Friends, and Abingdon Square. Cummings situates Fornes's work and influence decade by decade, providing a portrait of the rapidly changing American theater from 1950 to 2000. He highlights Fornes's particular contributions to the Open Theatre, INTAR, and the Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, among others. As a leading figure of the American avant-garde, Fornes was perhaps most influential as a playwright's playwright who was instrumental in shaping the careers of her more famous protégés, including Henry David Hwang, Eduardo Machado, and Sarah Ruhl. Appendixes detail Fornes's published plays and production history; the bibliography is solid. This is a fine volume. Summing Up: Highly recommended.'M.S. LoMonaco, CHOICE

• OverviewPart I -- The 1960s "Let me be wrong. But also not know it."1 Getting startedBohemian roots: growing up in Havana Bohemian roots: settling in Greenwich Village Tango Palace (1963) A metatheatrical conceit 2 Off-Off Broadway: The Good SceneCino, Judson, La MaMa, and others The Open Theatre connection The Successful Life of 3 (1965) The Office (1966) Dr. Kheal (1968) A Vietnamese Wedding (1967) The Red Burning Light (1968) 3 Key play: Promenade (the apotheosis of Judson)The Judson Poets' Theatre Promenade (as a one-act in 1965) Promenade (as a full-length in 1969) Molly's Dream (1973)Part II -- The 1970s"If we're showing what life is, can be, we must do theatre."4 Finding a wayNew York Theatre Strategy Aurora (1974) INTAR and the Hispanic Playwrights-in-Residence Laboratory Cap-a-Pie (1975)Eyes on the Harem (1979) 5 Key play: Fefu and Her Friends (turning over the stone)Fefu and Her Friends: The Basic Action Fefu and Her Friends: The experimental second act Fefu and Her Friends: at At the Foot of the Mountain Fefu and Her Friends: at the Yale Repertory Theatre Part III -- The 1980s"I have to learn how to lead my life."6 FoundTheater for the New City Padua Hills Fondness for the Found Evelyn Brown (A Diary) (1980) A Visit (1981)The Trial of Joan of Arc in a Matter of Faith (1986) 7 The PAJ PlaysThe Danube (1983) "Irene Time" Mud (1983)Sarita (1984) The "emotigraph" as unit of construction The Conduct of Life (1985) The rhetoric of space/the space of rhetoric 8 Key play: Abingdon Square (conquering the vagueness)Teaching playwriting Lovers and Keepers (1986) Abingdon Square: Genesis and production history Abingdon Square: Marion as Fornes Innocent Abingdon Square: the process of imagination "The Poetry of Space in a Box" Part IV -- The 1990s "Where are we in relation to all this?"9 The Night Plays What of the Night? (1989) Oscar and Bertha (1992) Enter the Night (1993)Manual For a Desperate Crossing (Balseros/Rafters) (1997)Terra Incognita (1997) 10 Coming to an end The Summer at Gossensass (1998)Fornes and Hedda GablerLetters From Cuba (2000)LegacyDrowning as paradigm"This must be made by a person."