America Hurrah (Revisited) & The Mother's Return, a work in progress October 15, 2010

"Motel" is an excursion into Theater of the Absurd. Three giant colorfully styled doll-puppets, with actors inside, enact a scene in a motel on Route 66. A landlady checks in a man and a blonde woman who might be straight out of "In Cold Blood." While the landlady recites 15 minutes of platitudes about hooked rugs, self-flushing toilets and other features of the motel,the couple scrawl graffiti on the walls and smash the place. "Motel" was written in 1962, originally titled "America Hurrah," and opened in 1965 under the direction of Michael Kahn. When it was subsequently presented in a trilogy of plays by Jean-Claude van Itallie, the three plays became collectively titled "America Hurrah" and the puppet play was renamed "Motel."



"Interview" is an employment interview, treated in a satirical, stylized, mordantly comic way. Four masked hiring executives interview a scrubwoman, a house painter, a banker and a lady's maid. While commonplace enough, suddenly the most innocent statements become foreboding. The questioners are trying to destroy the dignity of the four clients while the latter fight for their self-respect. The audience are thrust into awareness as the process exposes itself. "Interview" was written circa 1964. It premiered (under the title "Pavanne") at La MaMa, directed by Peter Feldman. As "Pavanne," it was directed by Tom O'Horgan on National Educational Television as part of "3 From La Mama."



"The Mother's Return, a work in progress" is a dream shared with the audience. Van Itallie explains, "The title refers to the present dawning of the Age of Aquarius when we must welcome the Feminine as our new godhead. In the present declining state of the world ruled by greedy corporations, with global warming, mass hunger, and the oppression of minorities especially women the Great Lady is our best hope. She will teach us to raise children more lovingly. When they come of age, they won't be fundamentalists of any kind, they won't wage wars, they won't torture, oppress, or hate. How may we know She's coming? We can perceive her in our dreams." He continues, "As we dream, we're artists observing the world. The dream is the dreamer's way of seeing. Each time I dream or write a play, I'm inventing a form. A play is a way to get into the audience's dream. How to stage dreams so the audience will recognize them as their own? With rigorous attention not changing anything to make the dream more "real," logical, or less painful. Let the dream be the message."