Word for Word returns to the McKenna Theatre March 12th

So, a Word for Word performance is coming to the McKenna theatre on Tuesday, March 12th. I plan on going, and not just because I get extra credit for my Creative Writing class for attending. I attended a Word for Word performance last March when the San Francisco company did a rendition of “Sorry Fugu”, a short story by T.C. Boyle. I was pleasantly surprised with the performance of the actors and to see this short story be applied to live theatre was more entertaining than I originally anticipated it to be. The technique of utilizing the narrative parts as dialogue between the characters was a smart and practical move. Every single word of the short story is spoken by the respective characters and they really own it by adding attitude and emphasis as to make the narrative part of their dialogue as external as possible.

The downside of incorporating so much of the descriptive narrative into the character’s dialogue was the sacrifice of emphasis of certain descriptions. Boyle relies heavily on the pronunciations of Italian dishes for comedic delivery when they are mispronounced and that was overlooked in that performance. While Boyle intends for the humor to be satirical and understated in text of this story, he leaves the reader room to interpret and discover deeper and more complex layers of the characters. What gets lost in the performance is a more intricate development and change in his characters and their comedic dispositions.

The specials of the Word for Word menu for the 12th are a little harder to digest than “Sorry Fugu.” The company will be performing “Last Stand” and “Gold Star,” two short stories from the collection You Know When The Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon. Fallon, who emerges from a military background, concerns herself with exploring the relationships of military families and how their unusual  lifestyle impacts them day to day. The New York Times describes her collection as, “straight-up, no-nonsense stories about American soldiers and their families.”  The character Kit Murphy is a prominent presence in both stories. Fallon describes him in an interview with Christi Craig as “the penultimate soldier in my eyes, the sort I unfortunately saw an awful lot of during my husband’s company command at Fort Hood, a young man just out of teenage-hood trying to do what he thinks is right, often unable to articulate how he feels, left wounded and untethered in some way when he returns from his deployment.”

What I look forward to with this performance is the stark contrast in mood that I anticipate to experience going into this with my only form of reference being a Word for Word done with comedic execution. Undoubtedly, this will read and be spoken a little heavier. Obviously, certain elements of the written work will not transfer to the stage and more focus is placed on performance and less on the on the meaning that is woven into the text. It is not up to the audience to construct the image of this story as we see this short story through the vision of the director but, at the same time, it is a different perspective and it is worth considering. I recommend reading the two stories out of the eight story collection before going to the Word for Word, to give yourself a point of reference and to compare what is gained and lost when these stories are transferred from text to a living, breathing rendition.