- María Irene Fornés
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María Irene Fornés Born 1930
Havana, CubaOccupation playwrightwriterpainter Period Contemporary Notable work(s) Fefu and Her Friends, Sarita Notable award(s) 13 Obies
Influenced
mariairenefornes.comMaría Irene Fornés (born 1930) is a Cuban-American playwright.
Fornés was born in Havana, Cuba, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 15. She became a naturalized citizen in 1951.
Contents
Life and career
Her first publicly performed play, Tango Palace, was produced in 1963. Fornés gained prominence in avant-garde circles and was a known friend of figures of 1950s, 1960s and 1970s culture in New York, including Harriet Sohmers Zwerling and the now deceased Norman Mailer, Joseph Papp and Susan Sontag, and was later championed by Performing Arts Journal (later PAJ).
She became a pivotal figure in both Hispanic-American and experimental theater, winning nine Obies in both the playwriting and directing categories. Some of her more notable works include Fefu and Her Friends (1977) and Sarita (1984). Fornés's influence in theater is vast, due not only to her unique vision as a writer but also her ongoing role as a teacher. She continues to direct plays and receive fellowships and grants from key foundations. Fornés received an honorary Litt.D. from Bates College in 1992. Playwright Nilo Cruz also studied with Fornés, who recommended him to Paula Vogel.
List of Plays
- The Widow (1961)
- There! You Died (1963) [produced as Tango Palace in 1964, and revised in 1963)
- The Successful life of 3: A skit for Vaudville (1965)
- Promenade (music by Al Carmines) (1965)
- The Office (1966)
- The Annunciation (1967)
- A Vietnamese Wedding (1967)
- Dr. Kheal (1968)
- Molly's Dream (music by Cosmos Savage) (1968)
- The Red Burning Light, or Mission XQ3 (Music by John Vauman) (1968)
- Aurora (music by John Fitzgibbon (composer)) (1972)
- The Curse of the Langston House (1972)
- Cap-a-Pie (music by José Raúl Bernardo) (1975)
- Washing (1976)
- Fefu and Her Friends (1977). Live stage performance rights licensed by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
- Lolita in the Garden (1977)
- In Service (1978)
- Eyes on the Harem (1979)
- Evelyn Brown (A Diary) (1980)
- Blood Wedding (adapted from Bodas de Sangre by Federico García Lorca) (1980)
- Life is a Dream (adapted from La vida es sueño by Pedro Calderón de la Barca) (1981)
- A Visit (1981)
- The Danube (1982) Live stage performance rights licensed by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
- Mud (1983) Live stage performance rights licensed by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
- Sarita (music by Leon Odenz) (1984) Live stage performance rights licensed by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
- No Time (1984)
- The Conduct of Life (1985) Live stage performance rights licensed by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
- Cold Air (adapted and translated from a play by Virgilio Piñera) (1985)
- A Matter of Faith (1986)
- Lovers and Keepers (music by Tito Puente and Fernando Rivas) (1986)
- Drowning (adapted from a story by Anton Chekhov) 1986. Live stage performance rights licensed by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
- Art (1986)
- '"The Mothers (1986; revised as Nadine in 1989)
- Abingdon Square (1987)
- Uncle Vanya (adapted from the play by Anton Chekhov) (1987)
- Hunger (1988)
- And What of the Night? (four one-act plays: Hunger, Springtime, Lust, and Nadine) (1989)
- Oscar and Bertha (1992)
- Terra Incognita (music by Roberto Sierra) (1992)
- Summer in Gossensass (1995)
- Manual for a Desperate Crossing (1996)
- Balseros (Rafters) (opera based on Manual for a Desperate Crossing, music by Robert Ashley) (1997)
- Letters from Cuba (2000)
See also
Further reading
- Als, Hilton (22 March 2010). "Critic's Notebook: Feminist Fatale". The New Yorker 86 (5): 8. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/notebook/2010/03/22/100322gonb_GOAT_notebook_als. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
External links
- María Fornés website
- María Irene Fornés
- Her championship season - playwright María Irene Fornés - Brief article
- Fornés
Categories:- American entertainers of Cuban descent
- American writers of Cuban descent
- Cuban emigrants to the United States
- 1930 births
- LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
- LGBT people from Cuba
- Living people
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- People from Havana
- Women dramatists and playwrights
- Hispanic and Latino American dramatists and playwrights
- Dramatist and playwright stubs
- Cuban people stubs
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