The Hour of All Things and Other Plays

Caridad Svich, Patrick Duggan

• Publisher: Intellect Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781783208487
• eBook ISBN: 9781783208500
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

This book presents four plays by Caridad Svich that explore the rough waters of citizenship under the pressure of globalization and the threads of human connection – often tested, but never wholly severed – across multiple geographic landscapes. Featuring an introduction by Welsh playwright and director Ian Rowlands and essays by practitioners Zac Kline, Blair Baker, Neil Scharnick, Carla Melo and Sherrine Azab, this wide-ranging, daring collection of plays refuses to pretend that the complex and thorny questions of existence are easily settled.

agua de luna (psalms for the rouge)

Caridad Svich

agua de luna (psalms for the rouge) by Caridad Svich was commissioned by Matrix Theatre Company (Megan Buckley-Ball, Artistic Director) in Detroit, Michigan. It received its world premiere at Matrix Theatre Company on 26 February 2016. It was directed by Sherrine Azab; the set design was by Christina Killmar, the lighting design was by Amy Schneider, the music and sound design were by Billy Mark, the costume design was by Dorothy Melander-Dayton, the props design was by Gwen Lindsay, the dramaturg was Emily Mendelsohn and the stage manager was Maddy Rager.

Figures

maria, a woman in her forties to fifties, a nurse and care-giver

jos, her husband in his forties to fifties, runs a not-entirely-legit scrap metal yard business

teresa may de los angeles, a woman of 108 years, originally from Mexico

rooster, Teresa’s bird dog

beto, a man in his twenties, great-grand-son to Teresa May, works at Jos’ scrap metal yard and in a community garden and other jobs

deni, his partner, in her twenties, works at a Coney Island diner

omar, a man in his early twenties, works at Jos’ scrap metal yard

lila, his partner, in her early twenties, works at a convenience store part-time

Time and Place

A time like now. A place that may be southwest Detroit.

There are multiple locations evoked in the play. There is also the space of memory that lives between those who live and die here, and the ongoing life of the river.

All locations should be suggested very simply. An overall poetic approach to setting is encouraged.

Notes

*This play may be cast with an ensemble of varying ages that take on the representation of the roles. Therefore, the piece does not require an actor of 108 years of age, but rather someone that can embody the spirit of such a figure.

*Rooster may be a puppet that interacts with (mostly) the figure of Teresa, but is then voiced live by an actor-musician, functioning as a choral figure. Although Rooster is referred to as male in the text, again, no need to have the role played by a male actor.

Some of the characters in this play speak an English laced at times with words, phrases and more in Spanish. It reflects who they are and how they live between languages and culture(s). The author encou...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• A Sense of Prayer in a Landscape of Catastrophe: The Plays of Caridad Svich
• Who Is It For? Practice, Spectatorship and the Body
• Preacher in the Light: The Hour of All Things
• The Hour of All Things
• An Invitation to Dream: The Breath of Stars
• The Breath of Stars
• We Are All Still Here: Re-Existing Upon the Fragile Shore
• Upon the Fragile Shore
• An Aria for Detroit: agua de luna (psalms for the rouge)
• agua de luna (psalms for the rouge)
• Notes on Contributors