IFOYE Festival Reflections
How Do You Keep Writing a Play When the World Feels Like It’s Falling Apart?
What a Whirlwind!
Ever wondered what it's like to be part of a festival like the In Front of Your Eyes Festival (IFOYE) sponsored by The Marsh Theater last month? The answer: it's a whirlwind. Weeks of preparation lead up to it: writing, rewriting, meeting on Zoom with Rebecca Fisher, my director, attending David Ford's Saturday morning class, and rewriting more, along with time onstage rehearsing. Most of the rehearsing happens at home, but of course, it's best to do it in the space where you are actually performing.
Then it's festival time: an opening-night show and party at the San Francisco Marsh, and performances back-to-back at the two SF theaters during the first few days of the first week of the festival. Visiting with friends between shows was an added bonus. It was all quite wonderful. In the second and third weeks of the festival, the performances were at the two Berkeley Marsh theaters. There was barely enough time to catch my breath in between all the shows I saw, while juggling preparations for my own performances, which were scheduled for the last two days of the festival.
Oh, and lest I forget, there was also the time-intensive work of publicizing my show on social media, as well as texting and emailing friends to remind them of my upcoming show. Now that it's all behind me, I wanted to take a moment to share how it went.
A Community of Stories
One of my favorite parts of festivals like this is watching other performers do their work. I managed to see 23 performers; I wish I could have seen them all. There were 36 new works by women and nonbinary creators, told across three weeks — there's no way to take in everything, but what I did see reminded me why this kind of platform matters so much. Everything I saw was so good. I know you'll get a chance to see some of the work in the next few months at The Marsh, since several pieces already have runs scheduled.
Sharing the Stage with Yvonne Martínez
I was paired with Yvonne Martínez, and it turned out to be a great experience. I hadn't met Yvonne before, and I'm glad for the chance to spend time with her. We attended a couple of shows together and learned about each other's adventures. I am looking forward to seeing more of the work Yvonne is developing. I was the Opener with my new solo piece in development, The ICEmen Cometh, and Yvonne performed her show Someday, Mija, You'll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman — a piece rooted in labor, organizing, and the women who built the labor movement from the ground up, often without recognition.
Two Chicanas on stage, speaking our truths, back-to-back. That's really the simplest way I can describe what that evening was. Different stories, but both of us pushing against the same question: who gets to be seen, and on whose terms? That's a picture of Stephanie Weisman, Founder and Creative Director of The Marsh, at the festival's closing night and awards ceremony with Yvonne and me. Special thanks to Stephanie, Kaitlin Weinstein, and the entire Marsh Theater Team who worked so hard to make the IFOYE Festival a smashing success.
The Response
The feedback I received from the audience reminds me why you do this work in the first place: "Incredible history lesson," "I love how Irma weaves the personal and historical," "great stories that need to be heard." Not all the feedback was positive: "So pedantic, sounded like a lecture," "very important but want more acting." I totally hear that criticism. I struggle between wanting to share little-known history about the Latino community's experience (like this is the THIRD wave of mass deportations, not the first one; earlier ones were during the Depression and in the 1950s). We have a long and sad history of being on the receiving end of discrimination, and creating "scenes" that illustrate those experiences is something I seek to bring to the stage, but not as easy as it looks. Also, I am not a trained actor, and I've been working to develop that craft. I always appreciate feedback, positive and negative, so thanks to those who took the time to fill out the forms the festival provided to the audience.
And I'm thrilled to share that The ICEmen Cometh won Best of Festival – Short Dramatic Category. Yvonne received an Honorable Mention Award for her show. Congratulations to all of the performers; putting together a show, whether an Opening Short (15-20 minutes) or an hour-long full-length performance, is a huge feat. It was an honor to perform alongside so much strong new work.
A Full House and Friends Watching From Afar
We had a sold-out crowd. Mil gracias to friends and colleagues for coming to watch live theater. I'm grateful for every single one of YOU.
One of the performances was also livestreamed, and it was wonderful to know people were tuning in from other parts of the country and watching along from a distance.
Thanks to friends in San Antonio, Santa Fe, Reno, Lexington, the DC area, and Fresno who watched. The above are screenshots that friends in Buenos Aires shared with me. If you watched from elsewhere, let me know. There was some confusion around scheduling and time zones, so if you missed it and want to see it, get in touch with me, and I'll send you a link to watch the recording.
What's Next
The festival may be over, but the work is still happening. Here's what's coming up:
December 6th @ 5 pm San Francisco Marsh — I'll be opening for Amy Oppenheimer's Looking for Justice (In All The Wrong Places). This will be a 15-minute excerpt of my work in development. Not sure what I'll present then, but I hope you'll come see the two of us on stage. Amy's show is based on her career as a lawyer, administrative law judge, and the life experiences that led her to law and to question what justice is and how we find it. Tickets available here.
January 19th @ 7:30 pm Berkeley Marsh — Come check out the full-length premiere of The ICEmen Cometh at The Marsh Rising. I am busy writing the rest of the script. The Rising is a one-night show (think of it as the audition that determines whether the theater offers you a several-week run). This is the same process I went through before my first play, Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name? got on stage. Get your tickets for the premiere of The ICEmen Coment, as I expect the show to be sold out. Tickets available here.
Save the date for both. I'd love to see you there.
Thank you to everyone who came out, watched from home, and cheered us on. This whirlwind wouldn't mean nearly as much without you.
Mil gracias, much gratitude. Thanks for taking the time to read my newsletter.
Irma
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