Some hints on how to write scripts for theatre

Script Writing Seminar

Voltaire once asserted:  “Theatre is a lie. Make it as true as possible.” Art is not reality. What happens on stage is what filters through the minds of actors, directors and playwrights. Each actor, director and playwright creates because he or she has lived, had experiences, contemplated or struggled with political, social, religious or philosophical ideas. Christians believe God created men and women out of mud; the Mayas in Guatemala say the raw material was corn. One of the Western world’s most prolific and profound creators, Leonardo da Vinci, expressed it this way: “The soul cannot stand to be without its body because without a body it can neither feel or do; for that reason it is necessary to construct a figure in such a way that its form speak to us of its soul." We do not believe that there is any magic formula for writing, much less for writing scripts. Nevertheless, there are some basic notions—as in all activities—which should be observed, some hints, clues which the script writer can use as raw material.

Who is going to read my script?

Experienced actors know by instinct whether a script can be “translated” into convincing stage actions. Moving about on stage, interacting with others and struggling with the “subtext” of their lines has given them the ability to “feel” a script which is or is not apt for presentation. They know that what takes place on the stage is not just words, beautiful or not. Theatre is action. Action directed towards an audience, action and reaction to the characters in the play. Therefore it is essential to define who might be interested in seeing the play or monologue. When we write plays we do so thinking of who is going to see the show or how we are going to capture their minds and emotions. Shakespeare realized that perfectly well: parts of his plays were clearly directed to the nobles in the balconies; others to the “groundlings.”

What style should I use?

As in all forms of art, there are different styles or approaches which the creator may use to express his or her thoughts, feelings, conflicts. Realism in the strict sense does not exist. The actor on stage must imagine the castle, the space is never the same, he acts in the present but the action in the play might be located in the past or even in the future. That is why every actor plays Hamlet or Lady Macbeth differently: he uses his imagination to “see” his character and to “imagine” the setting, evoke places and events which are not on the stage. The reader or the audience wants to be moved by the actions, the emotional situations and philosophical, political or social issues evoked in the play. That requires consistency on the part of the writer.

Character Development

A play or a monologue, a skit or stand-up comedy involves characters who become convincing to the extent that the characters come to life. In theatre that refers to what characters do on stage and what or how they express themselves, how they deal with their problems, how they relate to others, how they dress, how they speak…When an actor comes on stage she must ask and answer some important questions: who am I? Where have I been? What do I want to achieve? How am I going to go about it? The way those questions are answered—by means of words and actions--give substance to the character and allow the spectator to share the character’s emotional, philosophical or political dilemmas.

Playwright and Actor

The vast majority of the actions on stage are the result of improvisations by actors in search of their characters, molded together with the perceptions and decisions of directors and technicians. Yet according to their artistic orientation, playwrights give varying degrees of instructions concerning the setting and the actions; they may include abundant or scant instructions in the script for the actors.  Some playwrights are quite prolific in their instructions, others provide little more than clues. For example, the writer might say that an actor “stumbles on stage” or “knocks over a flower vase” or “laughs” or answers in a “negative tone of voice.” These instructions help orient the actor concerning what the author wants to achieve. Neither Shakespeare nor any other dramatist tells the actor does not tell the actor what to do when saying “to be or not to be.”

The Premise…The Plot

It is useful to write a short sentence or phrase concerning the basic idea which drives the plot. Try to say what your play is about with as few words as possible. Then develop that into the plot, the basic structure of your piece. It is also useful to put your idea in the form of a question--then try to answer it. Likewise try to respond to actions you are not sure about by saying: "What if..." It may be useful to first write a story, then turn that into the play script.

Conflict

We should think of stories, plays, monologues and movies as exercises in problem solving, as a sort of puzzle. What keeps us reading or watching is our desire to find out how the conflict iss resolved or how each character came to terms with his or her dilema. There is a general conflict involving the play itself; however each character likewise has his or her conflicts with the persons he or she relates to. We need to have a clear idea concerning what takes place between each one of the characters in the play.

Road Map

True. Not all writers use the same technique. Some need a detailed plan of actions, others write more spontaneously. Nevertheless, for newcomers it is often convenient to create a sort of basic road map/story of what is going to happen. This is helpful to avoid getting sidetracked and helps to work out the kinks and difficulties which always appear in the process of writing. Here an interesting technique is envisioning. We try to “see” the conflicts and “observe” our characters resolving their conflicts. If you can’t find the plot it is sometimes useful to use speed writing, or stream of consciousness—Write without stopping to think and without lifting your pen from the paper. Then go back and try to sum up the idea in as few words as possible before you begin the first draft. Sketch out a general plan, then envisage how events unfold. 

Segmenting and logic

At least from the theatrical point of view, actions are dialectical because they suppose a chain of movements: there is always something that sets off an action; in the process of its realization it will be subject to factors which may modify it and when it "finishes" it will initiate a new action. In order to go more deeply into his actions the actor segments what he does, breaking down each action in order to understand the physical and mental state of the character, for example, when he comes on stage, when he advances towards the table and when he throws a glass to the floor. Likewise, the writer of the play should comprehend the sequence of actions and what is at stake at each moment. Actors try to find the "logic" of their actions; writers must find the logic of the lines they write. 

The Details, the Details!

The slug lines before each scene are essential because they indicate whether the action takes place inside a home, in an office or on a farm, whether it is day or night. The writer should put this information in parentheses or in italic letters to indicate that they are the writer’s instructions. As a start, it is important to include ample details. That helps orient the actor. Often what one character says about another (and how he says it) can provide vital information for both. Actors need graphic language because they act with their senses as well as their minds and bodies. It is important for them to visualize the character’s “bloodshot eyes,” for example. Dialogues rich in imagery awaken the actor’s creativity.

Trim it down

We often fall in love with our own words. It is therefore important to weed out and trim down all words and phrases which have little or nothing to do with the characters or the development of the plot. This is usually a difficult task but editing will oblige us to clarify actions and will make the text more apt for the stage.

Script Writing Format

Here are the beginnings of several plays. Don’t take them as models but they should give you a general idea about how to go about putting your pay on paper.

1.      The Death of Bessie Smith by Edward Albee

Scene One.

The corner of a barroom. Bernie seated at a table, a beer before him, with glass. Jack enters, tentatively, a beer bottle in his hand; he does not see Bernie.

                                    Bernie

(Recognizing Jack with pleased surprised) Hey!

                                    Jack

Hm?

                                    Bernie

Hey; Jack!

                                    Jack

Hm?...What?...(Recognizes him). Bernie!

                                    Bernie

What you doin’ here, boy? C’ome on, sit down.

2.      All that Fall by Samuel Beckett

Rural sounds. Sheep, bird, cow, cock, severally, then together.

Silence.

Mrs. Rooney advances along country road towards railway-station. Sound of her dragging feet. Music faint from house by way. “Death and the Maiden.” The steps slow down, stop.

Mrs. Rooney: Is that you, Christy?

Christy:                       It is, Ma’am.

Mrs. Rooney:  I thought the hinny was familiar. How is your poor wife?

Christy:                       No better, Ma’am.

Mrs. Rooney:  Your daughter then?

Christy:                       No worse, Ma’am.

Silence.

Mrs. Rooney:  Why do you halt? (Pause.) But why do I halt?

Silence.

3.      New York Actor by John Guare

A theater bar in the west 40’s of Manhattan, Joe Allen’s to be precise. One wall is lined with brightly colored theater posters of shows with one thing in common.

Craig, Nat, Barry, and Eileen sit at a table.

Craig:                          To see these posters. I know I’m back in New York. (Craig raises his glass to the wall in question) To you, “Rachel Lily Rosenbloom”

Nat:                            Cheers, “Mata Hari.”

Barry:              Hail, “Fig Leaves Are Falling.”

Eileen:             Hey, “Dude”

Craig:                          “Here’s Where I Belong!”

Nat:                            “Come Summer!”

Eileen:             I still remember you, “Carrie1”

Craig:                          “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

4.      A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

The play begins with a one page detailed description of the setting in New Orleans. Then:

(Two men come around the corner, Stanley Kowalski and Mitch. They are about twenty-eight or thirty years old, roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes. Stanley carries his bowling jacket and a red-stained package from a butcher’s. They stop at the foot of the steps.)

Stanley (Bellowing):

Hey, there! Stella, Baby!

(Stella comes out on the first floor landing, a gentle young woman, about twenty-five, and of a background obviously quite different from her husband’s)

Stella (mildly):

Don’t holler at me like that, Hi, Mitch.

Stanley:

Catch!

Stella:

What?

Stanley:

Meat!

(He heaves the package at her. She cries out in protest but manages to catch it; then she laughs breathlessly. Her husband and his companion have already started back around the corner.)

Stella (Calling after him):

Stanley! Where are you going?

More Information:

Email:                hopalfred@gmail.com

Blog:                  http://jaquematepress.blogspot.com

                          http://thehopkinstheatreworkshop.blogspot.com.ar/

Barry Kornhauser: theater for "marginalized, disadvantaged, at-risk teens.."

Barry Kornhauser’s life and passion is the stage, yet it seemed appropriate to start the interview in a more mundane way, so after shaking hands I said bluntly: “Hello Barry! Nice office you have here…Well, just to get started: who is Barry Kornhauser?”

 

The answer came accompanied by a wholesome smile. “A guy who likes this joke from Camus’ THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS: “On connait l’histoire du fou qui pechait dans une baignoire; un medicin qui avait ses idees sur les traitements psychiatriques lui demandait: “Si ca mordait” et se vit repondre avec rigueur: “Mais son, imbecile, puisquec’est une baignoire.”

 

That’s a good one! But tell me this: what led you into the labyrinth of theater?

 

I did not come to it early, having had few positive theatrical experiences where I grew up in urban New Jersey. In fact, my school mates and I were such bad audiences when taken to a student matinee of a play that we were effectively banned from most East Coast theaters for years. It wasn’t until I was a junior in high school during the Vietnam War era and was taken to a production of Henry V at Stratford in Connecticut that was staged brilliantly as an anti-war piece that I realized the potential power of the art to transform lives and the excitement possible in its presentation. Interestingly, that play was directed by a young man named Michael Kahn who went on to become the Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theater in Washington, DC. And some 30 years after my being so deeply touched by his Henry V, he chose to direct my adaptation of CYRANO DE BERGEAC at The Shakespeare Theater. The production went on to sweep the Helen Hayes Awards that year, winning both Best Play but also Best Director for Michael, so I felt in some small strange way I finally got to thank him for drawing me to theater.

 

What is theater for you and what tendency or school of acting do you prefer?

 

Oscar Wilde once wrote: “The stage is not merely the meeting place of all the arts, but is also the return of art to life.” I think that beautifully captures what theater means to me, a place where all of the arts come together to explore humanity, and because it is live and visceral, when well done it can touch our lives like no other art form. I am not an actor myself, but I do like another quote made years ago by an American politician. He wrote: “I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, and my first fixed and unbending principal is to remain flexible at all times.” I believe this applies to schools of acting as much as anything else. I would say you should use whatever works for you, being flexible enough to take avail of practices from different approaches for different times and circumstances. A little bit of this, a little bit of that—good ingredients for cooking up a tasty character.

 

Would you agree that theater training is not only a tool for preparing shows: it is also a valuable tool used uo open up creativity, to help disabled people deal with their specific problems, a means for bringing about social integration…

 

But don’t forget that people living with disabilities have so much to offer the arts. Because they are often compelled to live creative lives every day just to do what non-disabled people consider routine, folks with disabilities have a great deal to bring to the artistic table. By welcoming to that table, we enhance and enrich the art we present.

Could you describe your own work with young people of diverse backgrounds and nationalities?

More than 25 years ago I founded and still direct a youth theater program comprised of marginalized, disadvantaged, at-risk teens and those living with physical, sensory, and/or cognitive disabilities. They are referred to the program from juvenile probation offices, psychiatric hospitals, drug and alcohol centers, homeless shelters, refugee organizations, and school counselors. They create and perform original dramatic work based on social justice themes that have impacted their lives or that of their peers globally. The program has received numerous grants including from the National Endownment for the Arts and has been honored at the White House by the President’s Committee on the Arts & Humanities. Now working at Millersville University in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, we have begun to build more such arts programming—both performing and visual—for underserved people of all ages in our community.

So you work not only with words, but with the body, not only the body but with images which flow from different social, cultural and political contexts…

All great fodder for art. Why on earth would we want to limit our stage vocabulary to the spoken work—whatever the language? We know from Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences notion, that we all learn differently, so why not present our work in multiple “languages”—not just text but through movement and image. Differing social, cultural and political contexts only compound the need to reach out artistically in many diverse ways.

Racism and discrimination of diverse sorts are latent points of tension in society, as A. Boal suggests. Do you believe that these and other social problems can be understood more profoundly by means of role play and eventually contact with an audience incorporated actively into the creative process?

Totally. I can think of no better way to examine such issues and to transform thinking about them than through some of the Theater of the Oppressed techniques developed by Boal, and certainly a good part of what makes that work such a potentially powerful driver of social change is the active involvement of the “audience” in the creative process. His use of the “spectactor” rather than just the “spectator” makes all the difference for is it not indeed true that we learn best by doing, not just watching or listening.

In Lancaster and in the U.S.A. today are there any exciting vanguard movements? Is theater and art perceived as a refuge to the finalcial crisis and the twitchings of the consumer society?

For a mid-sized city, Lancaster has a remarkably large arts community. There is a clear recognition that arts programming does indeed serve as a financial driver bringing more people to the area and improving everyone’s quality of life. It’s exciting to live in a place this size that gets it! And what is nice about its size is that there are 100 + arts venues all within walking distance and artists know each other and can and do work together creating some exciting projects such as an event called “36 Dramatic Situations” in which a dozen different artists and arts organizations collaborated to create an evening of five minute pieces each in their own art form around an exhibit of themed art work by a local visual artist, a three-year project. Lancaster City is the home of three performing arts centers as well as theaters, galleries, etc. and the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design as well as Franklin & Marshall College and Millersville University. The city just hosted its first national Roots & Blues Music Festival and more such events occur more and more regularly. It is also the home of the Poetry Path, an art installation project all over the city combining poetry and visual art works. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Are there any groups doing theatrical activities in other languages in Lancaster or in the country?

Certainly in the country. Just a peek at the pages of AMERICAN THEATRE Magazine will give one an idea of the breadth and depth of the multiculturalism in America’s theater community. Not so much in Lancaster as of yet. While the city itself is more than 38% Latino, there is not a dedicated Spanish language theater. The same is true for the newer immigrant groups from Asia and Africa who are just getting a footing in this community. That said, here at Millersville University we are presenting bi-lingual and Spanish-speaking artists for audiences of all ages. In fact, in a few weeks the 3^rd annual Latino Arts Festival will be held here and in mid- April a Mexican theater company will come to Lancaster. This is Sena y Verbo Teatro de Sordos, which is an inclusive ensemble compromised of both hearing and deaf actors. So not only will we be hearing some Spanish, we’ll also be seing some Mexican Sign Language.

Aside from your work at Millersville do you have any projects or plans for the near future?

Millersville is keeping me happily busy with many University arts programs that are quite exciting. Outside of that I’m currently working on two play commissions—one for the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis, America’s flagship theater for young audiences program and a Tony Award-winning regional theater  itself. That play, BALLOONACY, is designed for early learners, preschool-aged children and it will premiere in late March. The other is for a theater in Pittsburgh. That is an adaptation of the award-winning Holocaust novel THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC. Before its premiere in May we will actually be doing a staged reading of excerpts from the script at Millersville University’s biennial National Holocaust & Genocide Conference in early April with university student actors. Beyond that I need to clean the gutters on my roof and paint a bathroom!

Contact: Barry.Kornhauser@Millersville.edu.  

Bio: BARRY KORNHAUSER recently joined the staff of Millersville University to spearhead the school’s newly formed family arts collaborative and to develop campus-community artistic initiatives.  Prior to this new endeavor, he served 30 years as the Playwright-In-Residence, TYA Director, and sundry other positions at the National Historic Landmark Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Barry is a recipient of the American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE) Charlotte Chorpenning Cup, honoring “a body of distinguished work by a nationally known writer of outstanding plays for children.”  Other accolades include the Twin Cities’ Ivey Award for Playwriting (Reeling), the Helen Hayes Outstanding Play Award (Cyrano), Bonderman Prize (Worlds Apart), and two AATE Distinguished Play Awards (This Is Not A Pipe Dream and Balloonacy), along with Pennsylvania’s “Best Practices Honor” (for his HIV/AIDS prevention T.I.E. project,  All It Takes…) and the state’s first Educational Theatre Award “for outstanding service by an individual for the advancement of theatre education in the Commonwealth.” He has also received fellowships/grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, TYA/USA, Doris Duke Foundation, MetLife Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and Pennsylvania Performing Artists on Tour (PennPAT). His plays have been commissioned and produced by such Tony Award-winning theatres as the Alliance, Children’s Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, and Shakespeare Theatre, and have been invited to such festivals as One Theatre World, NYC’s Provincetown Playhouse New Plays for Young Audiences, the international Quest Fest, San Diego Theatre of the World, the Bonderman, the Playground, and the Kennedy Center’s New Visions/New Voices. The Kennedy also commissioned him to author a piece (Of Mice And Manhattan) based on newly discovered children songs by Broadway legend Frank Loesser, and invited him to take part in and report on its 2012 “International Convening of Thought Leaders in Theater, Dance, Disability, Education, and Inclusion.”  Barry is one of three playwrights (along with David Ives and former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky) to be commissioned by The Shakespeare Theatre to create new “American” adaptations of lesser-known classic dramas.  He has also served as a guest dramaturg at the Denver Theatre Center.  In 2008, Barry was selected as the United States nominee for the “ASSITEJ International Award for Artistic Excellence” and his Youtheatre program for at-risk teens and those living with disabilities was honored at the White House as one of the nation’s top arts-education initiatives.  For his work with this ensemble, Barry also received the AATE’s 2011 Youth Theatre Director of the Year Award. Over the years he has conducted theatre residencies everywhere from a one-room Amish school house to universities across the country, including several stints as the “Luminary Guest Artist” of the University of New Mexico’s Wrinkle Writing program endowed by A Wrinkle In Time author, Madeleine L’Engle.  (He was the only guest artist invited more than once).   A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, Barry has served on the TYA/USA board, various panels of the NEA, the Heinz Endowment, and three state arts councils.  Currently, he is an AATE State Representative, a member of the Dramatists’ Guild, and sits on the board of the Lancaster Education Foundation.  His lovely wife Carol and great kids Ariel, Sam, and Max (with Turkish bride Sena) complete his real-life cast of “characters.” 

 

Loryn Spangler-Jones: "I started experimenting with paint and discovery and liberated self expression."

Loryn Spangler-Jones of Lancaster, Pennsylvania lives in a rainbow of female colors. In a chat with Jaquematepress she explained: “I needed to fix me, learn how to make myself happy from the inside out.” That’s what painting is for her, a process that flows from the innermost reaches of the self.  Self taught, she came upon art, not as an inheritance, not as the result of academic study; rather it appeared when her creative intuition found a means of expression.

“I started experimenting with paint and color in 1997 as a means of self discovery and liberated self expression,” she points out in a statement on her art. “I quickly learned mixing mediums within my work added both complexity and depth to each individual piece.”

Much of her inspiration comes from her personal experiences as a woman, “deconstructing the societal bondage of oppression and silence.” That meant venturing into an “unknown territory within the corners of myself, shedding layers of fear and doubt and embracing my own vulnerability and sensuality…”

Your paintings reveal a profound concern for women..

I believe my work to represent the strength found in all women, regardless of race, religion or sexuality. My work exposes the vulnerability of our imperfections through the use of texture and mark making. And through my blending of color I am able to bring to light the inner beauty all women possess.

Why do you think men have until recently exercised dominance in the plastic arts?

I think men have exercised a dominance EVERYWHERE, the arts included. It would be easy to blame Religion for our patriarchal society but in all fairness I think women are just as much to blame. For far too long we have allowed ourselves to be doormats and not taken advantage of our own creative power. As a woman and a professional artist, I believe it is my responsibility to intentionally participate in the revolutionary, RELEVANT, change in gender equality.

Would you agree that the creative process—whether in painting, writing, dance or theatre—is necessarily a sort of adventure into the self, into the intimate experiences, fears, passions, tastes and thinking patterns of each creator?

One hundred per cent!!!

If someone were to ask you to define your art, what would your answer be?

Emotionally charged, challenging, relevant and always honest.

In your opinion what is the state of art today in the U.S.A. and more particularly in Lancaster?

That depends a lot on the location. For example, New York City, the city every artist wants to be able to say they have exhibited in: I feel it is highly competitive and unless you are willing to buy your way in or you know the right people your chances of representation are slim. Perhaps I am a bit biased because I am still trying to fight my way into N.Y.C. That being said, I feel incredibly fortunate to live in a city that is incredibly supportive of the arts. With over 30 galleries and First Friday receptions every month Lancaster continues to grow her art community.

Is there any predominant tendency?

I will let the viewers answer that question.

Do you feel that your art is taking a new direction? Does it take you there thanks to its own impulse or are you calling the cards?

I make it a habit to let my work lead me. I have learned the hard way. I just end up getting in the way of myself if I try to take over. I believe my work to be evolutionary and always autobiographical.

Do you practice any routine as a warm up for painting—yoga, zen, breathing technique, a special time and place—or do you paint only when the mood hits you?

In the beginning of my journey I would paint merely when I felt inspired. I no longer have that luxury. With more and more of a demand for my work, and scheduled exhibitions 12 months out, the creative process has now become a discipline. In the words of Picasso…”when inspiration shows up, it had better find you working.”

Have you published anything on your art?

This is the third year in a row I have been picked up by North Light Publishers, winning an international mixed media competition for publication in a hardcover coffee table art book. The book is scheduled to be released in September of this year with the public unveiling of my winning piece in October at Elmwood Gallery for the Arts in Buffalo, NY. The title of the book is “Incite VII: Color Passions” and will be available on Amazon.

Contacts:

Loryn Spangler-Jones, artist.

www.lsjmixedmedia.com
717.381.5032
Director, Annex 24 Gallery

24 W. Walnut St. Lancaster, Pa 17603

www.annex24gallery.com

Script writing and role play seminar

Two Script Writing Seminars March 5th and 12th in Buenos Aires

   

You don't have to be an actor, but if you have an adventurous heart and a fairly good level of English you will have fun at two script writing seminars being organized by Alfred Hopkins, March 5th and 12th from 7:30 to 10 pm at an English Institute in Buenos Aires.

   Think of a character or characters and try to describe them as well as possible before you come to the first encounter. We will use role-play and dramatic technique to enhance them, and find the problems and/or conflicts they face and must resolve. Information will be provided on how to go about script writing, some of the secrets of the trade. We suggest that you work on few characters, in order to go more deeply into them. You may also want to work on a monologue or a sort of "stand Up" which you might be working on.

    What we propose is a brief introduction, which may also spark your interest in writing and acting.

    At the second encounter we will read and discuss the short-short plays or monologues the participants have prepared.

    Although we strongly suggest attending both seminars, you may participate in either the first or the second separately. However, if you take only the second seminar, you should bring at least a rough draft of an idea you are working on. 

      The place: Aráoz 1660

   The cost: $380 pesos for both seminars, $200 if you take them separately.

   Contacts:  hopalf@hotmail.com  / tallerdeingles@fibertel.com.ar Phones: 4342 3588 
 or 1562521028.

Antonio Gramsci: a still valid tool for understanding social processes

        Mussolini's fascist regime thought that Antonio Gramsci could be dealt with by sending him to jail for twenty years in the lugubrious San Vittore prison. But it was there that he wrote some of his most noteworthy works, including "Notebooks from Prison," in which he refined his concepts concerning hegemony.

 

     In the context of a capitalist system of production he believed that the hegemony of the dominant group was not just a result of the control of the State's repressive system; it likewise involves the control or leadership of intelectual and moral institutions in the society. That is,  cultural hegemony achieved by subordinating the mass media, educational and even religious institutions.

 

     In order to maintain its power the dominant sector must get the support of intellectuals, he reasoned, so that their views be filtered down among subordinate sectors of society, uniting all social clases around the views of the dominant group.

 

    Considering the present financial crisis, the struggle for power in outlying areas of the world's power centers and the obvious role of the mass media in acting as spokesman for those on top it is clear that Gramsci's ideas are reference points in any analysis of the world situation today. Economic and financial power concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the mass media that acts as the slogan bearer of the rich--appropriately clothed in order to disguise from the uninformed reader the real intentions of the dominant power structure.

 

    Whether or not you agree with Gramsci's concepts, it is clear that he could not be bought off by the fascists imposters. Mussolini offered him freedom if he would renounce his ideas. "The pardon might preserve my body," he declared "but would kill my soul." 

Roger and Nancy and the Police Officer

Roger was late. He needed a car to get to the train station but his father had taken the Ford to work and his mother had gone shopping in the station wagon. 

"I've got to get there on time," he mused to himself, "she'll dump me if I don´t show up on time."

Nancy was her name, blond, green eyes and a character of sugar and fire. Roger was madly in love with her. They had met two months previously at the skating ring. It appeared to be love at first sight. Roger had had little experience with women. But with Nancy it was as if he were an experienced lover. His memory was still fresh of that date a few days after they met. He had invited her to see his collection of exotic butterflies and she had accepted! God! How he remembered that day! But what was he going to do now? They had promised to meet at the train station at 8 p.m. and it was already 6:30.  He didn't want to be a minute late. It was going to be an important encounter, he was sure of that.  He could take the bicycle to the station. True. But neither a fool nor a big-time cyclist could make 20 miles in half an hour. So he decided to hitch hike.

                When she knocked on the door that evening he was still half dressed. With the straightforwardness of youth he opened the door. The girl retreated a little.

                “I’m sorry. I haven’t finished dressing…why are you running away? Please come in.”

                “I’m a bit ashamed,” said the girl in a not very convincing tone of voice.

                “If it’s because I don’t have my shirt on maybe you could take off your blouse. Then we would be on an equal standing.”

                Then they took off their clothes in silence, piece after piece until they were completely naked. They embraced. He felt her heart pounding. There they were entangled in a monumental embrace, like some piece of heroic sculpture. A stroke of lightening brought out the curves and minute details of each of their bodies.

                “Oh God!  What a woman!” Roger mused, coming out of his daydream.  “I’ve got to get to the train station on time!”

       Sunset Place, smack in the heart of an affluent Los Angeles suburb, was not the ideal place to get a lift. One after another the cars passed by without slowing down even for the red light that was blinking at the corner. Big empty cars with bored looking middle aged women zoomed by. The male drivers, dressed to kill, did not even spare a blink. No screeching brakes were to be heard, no shouts, nothing but the dull whir of engines.

       "God damn it!" In a burst of anger Roger picked up a rock and threw it across the road. Then another flew through the air, and another. He was lifting a third rock when he heard a sharp screech and the sound of a car pulling to a stop.

       "Hey buddie! Whatcha think your're tryin' to prove?" shouted the loud deep voice of a policeman. Roger swallowed hard. He seemed to have lost his tongue.

        "I´m talking to you. Has the cat got your tongue? Don´t you know how to address an officer of the law?"

         Roger slowly advanced towards the officer, trying to organize the thoughts that were racing through his head.   

         "I'm sorry, Sir, really, it's just I'm late and nobody wants to give me a lift."

         "So you figured you'd throw rocks at the cars? Is that it?"

         "Nobody would stop!"

         "What kind of an excuse is that? They have no obligation to stop..."

         "I know but it´s just, I got impatient."

         "Impatient? You think I don’t get impatient with punks like you who break the law for no good reason?"

         "I wasn't breaking the law, Sir." Roger had become deadly calm. "I have a very good reason. If I don't get to the train station, I'll arrive late and Nancy will kill me!"

           "Nancy? Who is she?" Roger did not answer but inside he was struggling for words. How could he explain to a policeman why it was so important to see the woman? 

            "Did you say she is going to kill you?"

            "Not literally but, you know, she's very temperamental."

            The officer smirked, the way he usually did when he had to pick up teenagers.

               

                “It looks like both of you are temperamental. OK. Get in. I´ll take you this time but the next time you mess with the law you’ll regret it.” The officer waved Roger into the car and then got in himself and off they went speeding down the highway, lights flashing, and siren still hooting. Roger closed his eyes and hoped and prayed they would get to the station on time. The officer drove in silence, pushing the car in an out of the traffic with a masterly touch. He knew the way by heart. The last time he had raced to the train station he was hot on the tail of the First National Bank robbery. He arrived late. The robbers left no trail and were not apprehended. However, a witness asserted that the thieves were two men and a woman. Half a million dollars and assorted jewelry in the safe boxes. Sgt. Jonathan Williams felt humiliated by the escape of the robbers and had sworn to himself that he would get them sooner or later.

                As the patrol car pulled into the parking lot in front of the station, the train screeched in and passengers hustled off to their destinies. Roger dashed past the ticket office, and then looked around towards a newspaper stand where Nancy was standing reading the headlines. The officer still followed Roger, as if he were his pet dog. He peered intensely at the girl. She was young, sandy blond hair, a slender figure, inviting hips; dark sun glasses covered her green eyes. There was something about her that called the officer’s attention. Policemen are like that. They register people’s faces as if their eyes were digital cameras.

                “Nancy! Nancy my love! I’m here!”

                Roger rushed up to the woman and embraced her.

                “I was afraid I wouldn’t arrive on time. Didn’t have a car and nobody would stop to pick me up. Oh, I’m so glad to see you!”

                “Keep kissing me my love,” said Nancy. Roger felt her body suddenly stiffen. “Quick, let’s get out of here. I can’t stand train stations.” She began running towards the taxi stand, dragging Roger by the hand.

“What’s the hurry? We’ve waited so long. I just want to be with you, feel your heart beat. Hey, why don’t you take off your glasses? I want to see your eyes.” She paid little heed to his request at first but lowered the glasses just slightly when she flagged the first taxi that stopped.

“Where to?” asked the driver.

“Holiday Inn,” replied Nancy.

The car was idling, ready to begin the trip. The Sgt. Williams peered into the car.

“Haven’t I seen you somewhere?” he asked Nancy.

“That’s none of your business! To the Holiday Inn!”

“Your license please,” demanded the officer, not taking his eyes off Nancy for a second. He was stalling for time.

“Look you helped me arrive on time,” put forth Roger, “now let us go. You have no right to hold us up.”

“We’ll see about that. Your ID Miss.”

Nancy bent over and seemed to fumble in her handbag but with a sudden lurch she jerked open the door and bolted in between the passengers streaming out of the station. A bullet resounded above their heads.

“Stop in the name of the law or I’ll fire!”

Nancy stopped. Sgt. Williams approached her and removed her sun glasses.

“Now will you show me your I.D.?”

“You don’t have the right to do this,” screeched Roger.

“Yes I do. It’s my duty. Miss Nancy Barrymore I hereby arrest you under suspicion for the robbery of the First National Bank. You may consult your own lawyer. If not we will provide a defense attorney for you at the offices of the district Justice of the Peace.”

Roger stared at Nancy in silence, unable to move, much less utter a word of protest. Could it be true that Nancy, the love of his life, a bank robber?