Bonus Show and Tell Post

             I have chosen to do my show and tell posting on Maria Irene Fornes play Mud. A notable production of Mud was done at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and was directed by Fornes. The reason I am familiar with Mud is because the LSU Lab Season 2013 did a production of it. The show was directed by Max Thornton and stage managed by myself. This play can be found in the Norton Anthology of Drama Volume Two.

            Mud features three characters Mae, Lloyd, and Henry. Mae and Lloyd live together in poverty. The play opens with Mae ironing clothes for money and Lloyd looking ill and antagonizing Mae. The play continues with Henry coming into read a pamphlet that Mae got for Lloyd. Mae asks Henry to move in and he does. There is a constant struggle for Mae’s affection between the two male characters. Shortly after moving in Henry injures himself and becomes somewhat of an invalid. Now Mae is stuck taking care of the two men. Lloyd finally goes to the doctor and starts to feel better. Mae throughout the play is trying to better herself by going to school and working. The play ends with Mae leaving the two men and Lloyd running after her and shooting her. The final image of the play is Mae on the table dead and the two men sitting beside her.

            I think one of the biggest dramaturgical choices is the fact that Mae’s killing is done offstage. We do not actually see Lloyd kill Mae. Fornes uses a lot of repetition. Mae mentions lines about a starfish over and over again. This is done to show us the connection between a starfish’s life and Mae’s. Fornes also includes the use of foul language in her text. I think the use of explicit language makes the play more relatable to the reader on some level. The language also can take you aback and make you think.