Playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes on veterans, JohnColtrane and Puerto Rican identity

scpr.org/programs/the-frame/2018/02/06/61597/playwright-quiara-alegria-hudes-on-veterans-john-c/

Slideshow

Rubén Garfias, Peter Mendoza and Jason Manuel Olazábal in “Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue” atCenter Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.Craig Schwartz

Quiara Alegría Hudes won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2012 for “Water By the Spoonful.” It’sthe centerpiece of a trilogy of plays originally inspired by a cousin of the playwright’s — aformer Marine who served in Iraq.

For the first time ever, the three plays are being produced simultaneously. Three venues herein Los Angeles are mounting the productions: The Kirk Douglas Theater in Culver City; and theMark Taper Forum and the Los Angeles Theater Center, both in downtown L.A.

The plays are an exploration of family ties that bind — and that sometimes sadly unravel.

1/5

When Hudes visited The Frame studio, she discussed writing about war, staging productionsfor veterans, and using Bach and John Coltrane as musical metaphors.

Interview Highlights:How she based the plays on of her cousin Elliot's military service:

When he returned from his first deployment with a leg injury, he was on base in San Diego. Wemet up because I was working on a theater project, coincidentally, nearby. So we went out fordinner and I hadn't seen him since he had left for boot camp. He clearly had some traumaticexperiences in the line of duty. So we ate a big dinner and laughed, as cousins do. But I called hima few weeks later and said, "I can't stop thinking about some of the things you told me about whatyou saw in war and I would like to tell a story about that. And how would you feel about that?"He said, "Cool. I'm game."

Caro Zeller, Rubén Garfias, Jason Manuel Olazábal and (above) Peter Mendoza in “Elliot, ASoldier’s Fugue” at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.Craig Schwartz

What interested her about Elliot's story:

2/5

It's not that he was part of some extremely horrible or extremely glorious war act — though therewere some special moments for him and his platoon. But, really, his story seemed like the story ofmany people who are in military service. And I liked the everyday quality of that. The thing withwar as a topic is, it is evergreen. It's nothing new at all.

L-R: Josh Braaten, Sean Carvajal, Keren Lugo and Luna Lauren Vélez in the Center TheatreGroup production of “Water by the Spoonful” at the Mark Taper Forum.Craig Schwartz

Showing the play to an audience of veterans:

The first time one of these plays was premiered in New York — "Elliot: A Soldier's Fugue" runsabout 70 minutes, it's a short play — we used that as an opportunity to invite a different veteran tolead a [discussion] after every single show. It was still fairly early in the Iraq war. People weredealing with trauma — people's relatives, their children, their husbands and wives were overseas.So people wanted to stay and talk about their experiences and hear what the veterans had to say.

3/5

Luna Lauren Vélez and Sean Carvajal in the Center Theatre Group production of “Water bythe Spoonful” at the Mark Taper Forum.Craig Schwartz

On how music informs her writing:

I do love music and it informs my plays. For instance, the first play explores Bach and I love themischief in connecting Puerto Rican men who have served in the United States military [with]Bach preludes and fugues. They don't seem like they go well together but, in fact, they go reallywell together. The second play [looks] at John Coltrane and jazz as a kind of musical metaphor forreentry into civilian life and the dissonance that happens there.

L-R: Peter Mendoza (“Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue”), Elliot Ruiz (seated), Peter Pasco (“TheHappiest Song Plays Last”) and Sean Carvajal (“Water by the Spoonful”). Carvajal, Mendozaand Pasco all portray Ruiz in Quiara Alegría Hudes’ "Elliot Trilogy."Deanna McClure

On being the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants and the lack of literature detailingPuerto Rican family life:

4/5

Hearing [my elders'] oral history of the island was theonly entry point I had to that history. This was not stuffthat I was taught in school, nor was it stuff I could evenfind in the Philadelphia library. So I thought, There'sspace here. This is the American story. One of thereasons I think that the story of the Puerto Rican familyis really the story of the American family is because it'sa wildly diverse culture in terms of spiritual practice, interms of class, in educational backgrounds. So to me,my Thanksgiving table is a microcosm of this nationmore broadly. So I think it has relevance to ourcommunity and it has relevance to the nationalcommunity.

"Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue" is at the Kirk DouglasTheatre through Feb. 25; "Water By the Spoonful" is atthe Mark Taper Forum through March 11; "The Happiest Song Plays Last" is at the LosAngeles Theatre Center from Feb. 17-March 19.

5/5