A look at the script for The Truth: A Tragedy
I adore Cynthia Hopkins’ work. MASS MoCA has been lucky enough to present several of her pieces either as work-in-progresses or as completed works throughout the past 11 years. Personally, I learned about Hopkins in college and then was floored when I had the opportunity to see the final piece of her Accidental Trilogy, The Success of Failure (or, The Failure of Success) at MM as a work-in-progress last year. I have always enjoyed seeing works that break genres and for me Hopkins is at the forefront of genre breaking. Although her work is most often tagged as theater, once you have seen her perform you will walk away praising her stunning singing voice and musical arrangements, her use of new technologies such as video and projections, and her amazing ability to gracefully move about the stage in a dancer like fashion. I think the New York Press captures these sentiments the best, ““Cynthia Hopkins is the definition of postmodern artistry. Her work… transcends single genres and mediums and defies definition.”
Needless to say, I was delighted to see that Hopkins was returning to MASS MoCA this fall to present The Truth: A Tragedy, a tribute to her father, which she workshopped here last December. Although all of her wok is personal, this time Hopkins really bares all her feelings and emotions relating to her relationship with her father and her interactions with him during the last few years of his life. Our press photos (like the one above) capture Hopkins in her full costume of her father’s belongings, including a skirt made of his ties. The script is beautifully written and captures in eloquent passages the true dilemma children feel as they become charged with the care of their aging parents and the pain and confusion they feel as they begin to process what will inevitably happen next. In true Cynthia Hopkins style the script is peppered with a variety of characters and hauntingly beautiful songs (Listen to Undertow now).
I don’t want to spoil the show for you, but for anyone sitting on the fence about attending this event on Saturday, October 9, I thought a few passages from the script might give you an idea of exactly what to expect from The Truth: A Tragedy. Below are a few passages of text from the script:
“My father never throws anything away,
not even if it’s used or broken beyond repair, not even if
it’s not the kind of used item you’d want to re-use, such
as a used q-tip. Some of the items he retains, however –
torn and used clothing, chipped dishware, old glasses
frames without lenses – ARE re-usable, so upon first
glance there appears to be a practical aspect to my
father’s retention of all objects, born of a childhood spent
during the depression, followed by an adulthood raising
a family on the paltry wages of a grade school English
teacher.”
“There aren’t that many people that I love. I’m as fickle as
my father, and as annoyed; as childish, crude, witty, self-
defeating, morose; as helpless, as romantic, and as
funny. But no one is exactly like my father, and that is
why it’s a tragedy that he is dying.”
“So you recognize that, right? It’s from ‘Onions’. But
maybe you don’t know ‘Onions’. ‘Onions’ was a musical
comedy my father wrote when I was a little kid, about a
man on a ledge, trying to get up the courage to jump off
the ledge and commit suicide. And it’s a bit of a struggle,
because he doesn’t have the… well as his secretary
Matilda puts it: “Ah Harold, you don’t have the ONIONS
to jump!” onions being a euphemism for balls or testicles
or… nuts. But maybe you don’t know ‘Onions’. It was
given its premiere and only performance by my father’s
10, 11, and 12 year old students at the Pike School in
1980.”
“I like the theater, because everyone has
to sit down, and shut up. Ritual, repetition, reflection. His
thoughts and speech seem slow, delayed. He says
“you’re the best.” He asked Tom to give him a hug. Are
these uncharacteristic displays of affection due to brain
damage? I thought I was having déjà vu, and then I
realized: it’s just a repeat of the same situation, with
people saying the same things, over and over again. I
remember eating at a Mexican restaurant with him
before he was even diagnosed with Parkinson’s
Disease, and halfway through the meal he looked up and
said “is this Mexican food?” And it’s that kind of
comment that holds a zen-like charm for everyone
except his children, for whom it’s either mildly disturbing
or annoying, depending on whether you attribute his
bewilderment to insanity, or some sort of comedy
routine.”
Cynthia Hopkin’s will perform The Truth: A Tragedy on Saturday, October 9, at 8 PM in the Hunter Center. Guests will also be able to peruse a small collection of Hopkins’ father’s belongings before and after the show.
Hope to see you there!
Brittany
Posted October 6, 2010 by Brittany Bishop
Filed under The Truth: A Tragedy, Theater
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