Water by the Spoonful: A Mock Production

Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Hudes is about disconnection and escaping the past.  This play must give the viewer the sense that people are complex creatures and that their pasts are part of what makes them unique.   Some of the characters are afraid of their pasts, some are disconnected to the present due to their past, and some are trying to mend the holes from the past by starting anew in life.  Through design, these ideas about the multidimensional side of people will be examined through the use of yarn and closets in the space of the stage, dusty costumes, and the sound of dripping of water.

The ideal audience for Water by the Spoonful would be people from the age of 18 and older, due to mature content and language. I also feel that the audience will find more meaning to the play if they have experienced some form of hardship in their life. This play follows characters who are struggling, or have struggled, in life. I feel that in order for the audience to have some empathy toward the characters, they need to have had some complications in their past.   This theme of suffering should also be present in the building where the play is being performed.  This is why I believe the Paramount Theater in Newark, New Jersey would be an excellent place to conduct this play. 

Photo credit to The Star-Ledger

The reason behind this is that it is an abandoned theater. As the World of Theater textbook states, “When performers invite us to enter their world, we know that stepping into the playing space changes us from observer to performer and brings with it burdens, responsibilities, and power” (Filner and Orenstein 242).  The playing space of the Paramount Theater carries its own burdens of rejection and abandonment which will help with the transmission of these feelings to the audience. Obviously, this setting would have to be somewhat refurbished for safety and technical reasons, but the general feeling of neglect and desertion would aid these ideas which are present in the play. 

Photo credit to Cinema Treasures

             The scenic design for Water by the Spoonful should show the idea of the want for connection. In order to accomplish this, I would produce somewhat abstract scenery by incorporating pieces of yarn that would be tied to various people and items. For characters, Orangutan, Chutes&Ladders, Haikumom, and FountainHead, the chairs in which they are sitting will be connected using pieces of yarn tied to cans. 

In past years, children would attempt to create “phones”/a way of communicating using tin cans and string. This idea would be the same in the scenery; however the yarn would be cut, and then retied again in the middle. This would be used to symbolize the fact that these characters are connected in a virtual world, yet they are still disconnected in real life. Also, for these three characters, I would make sure that their faces were turned away from the audience while they are chatting with one another on the internet. This is to show how, even though they believe they know one another, they are still faceless, disconnected, strangers.

            Another scenic design element that I would include would be large, vertical closets looming in the background.  As The World of Theater textbook explains, “Vertical lines can give a sense of soaring and power” (Filner and Orenstein 306).

Photo credit to Bill Fantini. Inspiration for closet scenic design.

The long vertical lines seen in the closets would represent the power that the metaphorical skeletons, which are hiding in the closets, possess over the characters’ lives. The sense of “soaring” in these lines could signify the literal high that certain characters crave, yet try to resist.

            The costumes of the cast from Water by the Spoonful would be fairly normal in contrast to the abstract scenic design. Characters would wear modern styles; however their clothes would be covered in dust to symbolize the dirt or past by which they feel weighted down.

Photo credit to Nate's Lucha Libro. Inspiration for dusty costumes.

Photo credit to Irrigation Supply. Inspiration for dusty costumes.

            The lighting would have a brownish tinge in order to compliment the dusty costumes and the cobwebby feeling of the set.   

Photo credit to SupandNic. Inspiration for lighting color.

During the scenes where characters are chatting, the lighting will be a single beam of light cast on each character. As The World of Theater textbook states, “The isolated beam of light…express[es] the isolation and dislocation of the central character” (Filner and Orenstein 344).  The characters who are chatting might be near others, and have an online support group; however, they are still alone in their battle with addiction.  Lighting cues will be fast paced due to the abruptness of the characters’ language with one another, and the fact that there are many sudden scene changes throughout the play.

            During my production of Water by the Spoonful, there would be a constant sound of water dripping. The play derives its name from the fact that Elliot, the main character, almost died of dehydration due to the fact that his mother was neglectful in giving him “a spoonful of water every five minutes” when he had the flu (Hudes 52).   The constant sound of water dripping in the background will symbolize not only the title of the play, but also the fact that if water drips long enough in the same spot, an eventual hole will be made. This metaphorical hole will be made on the characters’ lives as they work through their troubled pasts. 

Water by the Spoonful has an intricate storyline with much symbolism. Through the use of design elements such as an abandoned theater, yarn, closets, dust, brownish lighting, and the sound of water, I believe that the ideas of regret, resentment, negligence, and the past will be adequately represented.

Citations:
Fantini, Bill. Photograph. The Roadside Scholar. 24 Jul. 2008. Web. 6 May 2013.

Filner, Mira, and Claudia Orenstein. The World of Theater. Boston: Pearson, 2006. Print.

Hudes, Quiara A. Water by the Spoonful. New York: Theater Communications Group, 2012. Print.

“Paramount Theater.” Photograph. Cinema Treasures. n.d. Web. 6 May 2013.

Perlman, William. “The Newark Theater.” Photograph. The Star-Ledger. 23 Dec. 2012. Web. 6 May 2013.

Photograph. Irrigation Supply. n.d. Web. 6 May 2013.  

Photograph. Nate’s Lucha Libro. n.d. Web. 6 May 2013.

SupandNic. “Chicago.” Photograph. Sup and Nic’s World Tour. 6 Jan. 2010. Web. 5 May 2013.

“Tin-cans.” Photograph. eHow.com. n.d. Web. 6 May 2013.

UrbanSurvivalTactics. “water dripping – sound effect.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 20 May 

2012. Web. 5 May 2013.