2014 Winner: Maria - a Telenovela for the Stage (Medea)

Project Information
Maria - a Telenovela for the Stage (Medea)
Humanities
THEA 159 - Adv. Playwriting
Synopsis:

Maria is a translation of Euripides’ Medea. Set in modern day Caracas and Mexico City. The character of Jason is a telenovela producer named Jairo (divorced with custody of his two children), who steals the magnum opus teleplay (el guión perfecto) from the most famous guionista (television writer) in Venezuela Alfredo Goldstein de la Garza, who has retired to his villa in the Cerro Ávila mountains. Goldstein is enamored with Maria, a famous telenovela star in her thirties who is no longer getting the leading roles on Venezuelan TV because of her age. Maria agrees to help Jairo steal the script, but only if he promises to take her with him to Mexico City and cast her in the leading role when they get it produced. When they arrive in Mexico, Maria gets Jairo an opportunity to pitch the project to the president of TV Azteca. The president loves it and agrees to let Jairo produce the novela, but with his daughter playing the leading role. The owner’s daughter is captivated by Jairo’s supposed script and falls in love with him. The only obstacle now is Maria, who they all conspire to have deported back to Venezuela. But Maria will not go out so easily.

Setting:

Venezuela was the capital of telenovelas in the Latin American world until the late 1980s. After the dismantling of RCTV by the late President Hugo Chavez (an well know telenovela aficionado) Venezuela lost its supremacy to Mexico as the leading producer of telenovelas in the Latin World. Caracas represents the land of Colchis and president Chavez represents king Aeëtes. The President of Televisa represents King Creon. Aegeus is played by the CEO of Univision from Miami who has always been an admirer of Maria’s career and is in Mexico City for a business meeting and some potential casting for the upcoming season.

Creating the world:

The world of Maria will be a combination of 3D, photographic backgrounds, and HD videos of Venezuela and Mexico city for projection on a screen above the stage - in the same way Les Misérables used projection to show the sewers of Paris. Set design will be rather simple: The homes and offices of the latin america’s power elite.


Onstage, a series of working old television sets/monitors will stand in for the corresponding

characters who would make up the chorus in a traditional greek production. One screen will play Hugo Sanchez, showing media clips of his various speeches and interviews, other monitors will play the headline news as well as clips from the telenovelas that create the “B” storyline - the subplots and subtext of the melodrama that pushes the main “A” story drama towards it’s tragic climax.

National Identity

Novelas or Telenovelas carry tremendous influence on Latin american culture. Work schedules, formal events, and siestas are scheduled around them. In no country was this more evident than in Venezuela in the 1980s and 90s. The late president Hugo Chavez, shot down RCTV and promoted novelas with more social commentary (1). He believed that Venezuelan life was not accurately represented in the media, and that the people needed to be removed from the ideal of the beautiful, young white woman running off with a wealthy european looking man.

Media Impact

Due to Chavez shutting down of RCTV in Venezuela, the epicenter of Latin American Telenovelas moved to Mexico (the new home of the golden fleece of broadcast media supremacy). As a result, Venezuelans saw more diversity, social messages that were closer to the reality of Venezuelan life and a more accurate representation of the country’s diverse ethnic make up on their television sets. A more realistic representation of life in the media has led to change. Change in the way that Venezuelans now see themselves, as a diverse group of people content with their difference.

Textual References:
1. Medea by Euripides
2. Medea (fragments from the play) - Neophron
3. Pythian Odes, IIII - Pindar
4. Argonautica - Apollonius Rhodius

5. The Metamorphoses - Ovid

The Tempest - W. Shakespeare
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Students
  • Stephen Eugene Richter (Porter)
Mentors