17 January 2014
“Working on a Special Day”---Passing and glorious, just one day
Country: Mexico/USA
Company: Por Piedad Teatro/The Play Company
Director: Ana Graham, Antonio Vega
Cast: Ana Graham, Antonio Vega
Location I watched: Esplanade Theatre Studio
This was the last show I watched during the Fringe Festival this year. This play was originally produced by a Mexican theatre company, Por Piedad. They performed it in U.S. in collaboration with The Play Company. For New York in U.S., “Working on a Special Day ” was performed in Spanish, but here in Singapore, they performed an English version. The original is an Italian film, “Una Giornata Particolare (A Special Day)” directed by Ettore Scola and starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. In 1938, in Italy, on “a special day” celebrating the meeting between Hitler and Mussolini, a housewife exhausted with daily life meets a mysterious man. The story is about their one-day intimate encounter. Unlike the film, this play was performed with only 2 actors – an actress, Ana Graham playing the housewife, Antonietta and an actor, Antonio Vega playing the mysterious man, Gabriele.
Actually, watching an English play is tough for me. It is even
tougher when their spoken English comes with a Spanish accent. According to the
two actors, English was used because they did not want the audience to read the
subtitles: during reading, they would not be able to watch the stage itself.
For me, the subtitles would be appreciated. Anyway, the play was performed in English,
and they had some Italian words inserted as an interjection to create a little
Italian atmosphere (according to the actors in the post performance Q&A
session).
Watching the performance with me that day was a group of school
girls led by their teacher. The actors were happy to see a different younger
audience, but the girls, like Chipmunks, were talkative and noisy before the
play started. Even when it started, with the opening scene of the actors in
their underwear, the Chipmunks were astir. Luckily, someone shushed them, and
the Chipmunks settled down quietly soon.
Yes, right after the play began, the two actors changed to
their costumes on stage. Before that, they were at the entrance of the theatre
to welcome the audience. After the audience took their seats, the actors
changed to costumes in front of us. Then on three blank black walls forming the
stage space, they started drawing with white chalk: windows and a portrait of
Mussolini etc. And the play began with this line “Today is a special day for
us.”
Antonietta, the housewife, her busy day begins. In this play,
stage props like a table, chair, coffee cups and laundry are physically there.
Other things needed during the play are drawn additionally on the walls by the
actors before they are used, like the windows or portrait. Since there are only
two actors, other characters like Antonietta’s children do not appear and are
played only by the voices of the two actors. Behind the black wall forming the
stage space, they act and react as if the other character is there. And, the
two actors voice out sound effects, like the sound of a door bell, telephone
ringing or a parrot’s squawking. The parrot is an important character, which
does not physically exist on stage. There is a scene when the parrot escapes from
her cage and flies away. This scene is expressed only by the actors’
performance, and the audience follows this invisible bird flying on stage
together with the actors.
In the stage space, there are two open entrances. When the
actors are walking in the space behind the rear black wall, the audience can
see them through the entrances. Some scenes are set in Antonietta’s flat and
some in Gabriele’s flat. For example, when the audience sees Antonietta running
up and down in the space behind the wall, we can guess that she is hurrying
down stairs to go to Gabriele’s flat. And the scene switches from Antonietta’s
to Gabriele’s flat.
According to the two actors/directors, this interactive stage
space was inspired from child’s play. For example, when off-stage Antionetta
(but the audience can see her behind the black wall) is mimicking the sound of
a telephone ringing, Gabriele in his room starts to draw a picture of a
telephone on the wall and pretends to pick it up. It was fun and funny to
watch, since this acting style stimulates the audience’s imagination. It was
the pure pleasure of watching performing arts to us. At the same time, it
allowed the audience to bring out something universal in the classical setting
of 1938 Rome under the political power of fascism. I do not think that the same
actors who welcome the audience at the start of the play wanted to build the
illusion of realty on stage. The direction revealed that this was not something
beyond a play. While it is just a play, or probably since it is just a play,
there is a certain moment when I can feel that the emotion is a truth.
I do not think that this play indented to warn against
fascism’s terror or to appeal that we should not repeat such terrible history
again. Maybe there was an intention of melodrama, between a man and a woman who
may actually be enemies, a heartbreaking love for only one day out of their
daily life. What I felt instead is hatred against machismo, one of the
ideologies supporting fascism. Actually hatred will be too strong since both
characters never spouted such impassioned emotion. Objection will be more
appropriate.
Antionetta, the housewife was ignored by her domineering
husband, and everyday chased by housework and looking after her children. She
supports the National Fascist Party, just like other citizens. Gabriele, the
mysterious man was fired from a radio station and about to be banished to
Sardinia because he was a homosexual. They had nothing in common with each
other, politically or sexually. On this “special day”, however, they met by
chance and shared their feelings and thoughts. But still it does not mean that
they could not understand each other. Probably Antonietta could not understand
Gabriele’s situation clearly till the end. Probably Gabriele did not expect her
to understand him completely. But when Antonietta meets a sensitive and
charming man and strongly moved by him, she realizes how tired she has been of
her life till now. While Gabriele is in despair about the world and his future
to the point of thinking of suicide, he then finds grace and goodness in a
housewife among his neighbors. They grew something warm in their hearts,
clashed and finally are united physically.
It is not something aggressive like sexual liberation, nor will
it bring any changes in their lives after this. It is a small happening. But on
that day, Antonietta could forget her ordinary life and get back to old her,
full of life. Gabriele could forget his death and feel the joy of living. It
was a passing happening under the world dominated by machismo. That is why the
day was “a Special Day”.
Click here to read the Japanese review
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