The Theater of Revisions in the Hispanic Caribbean by Katherine Ford (review)

The Theater of Revisions in the Hispanic Caribbean by Katherine Ford argues that twentieth-century playwrights from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean repeatedly return to previous narratives to rewrite them, a process that contributes to the construction of national and regional identities. Ford's literary and cultural study usefully places in dialogue twelve dramatic texts written and performed between 1941 and 1994 in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico and frames this wide-ranging corpus with theories on adaptation, intertextuality, palimpsest, and archive. Only a handful of the plays have received notable criticism, thus the book constitutes a welcome contribution to Latin American theatre studies.

Ford's assertion that inherent in all writing is the act of revision and that the collective nature of the theatre endeavor uniquely positions it for the analysis of multiple forms of revision—whether it be the theme of rewriting mythical narratives or the process of producing the written script, or the activity of rehearsal and feedback from the audience—is convincingly exemplified throughout the book. The introduction (chapter 1) outlines the literary theories (Derrida, Genette, Hutcheon, Kristeva, Cixous) that support her study's examination of the role of rewriting in Hispanic Caribbean theatre. Importantly, Ford also touches upon theatre and performance theories proposed by Boal, Brecht, and Taylor, as well as key literary studies of the archival, foundational, and memorial impulse in Latin American letters (González Echevarría, Sommer, Quiroga). Finally, the introduction historically and culturally contextualizes the act of rewriting in the region by discussing the scripts of the Spanish Reconquista, the conquest of the New World, and the invention of new myths such as the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre.

The study is organized in chapters that address collective creation and audience feedback, ancient Greek theatre, Christianity, and national historical myths. Chapter 2 considers collaborative rewriting in three published versions of El paraíso recobrao (1978) by the Cuban group Teatro Escambray. Along with the dramatic texts, notes and a transcript of the dialogue between the theatre practitioners and the community help Ford show how revising and rewriting in this case serves to hone a pro-revolutionary message meant to guide an isolated community that was slow to integrate with the Revolution of 1959. Chapter 3 examines the influence of Greek theatre in the most widely acclaimed Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican works included in the book: Electra Garrigó (1941) by Virgilio Pinera, La pasión según Antígona Pérez (1968) by Luis Rafael Sánchez, and Lisístrata odia la política: obra teatral en tres actos inspirada en un tema de Aristófanes (1981) by Franklín Domíngez. Ford posits that the authors appropriate ancient Greek theatre to make visible their local theatre tradition's place in the Western tradition while at the same time challenging the canon of global theatre by expanding it. In chapter 4 the author turns to the use of Christian myths and imagery and offers readings of La noche (1994) by Abilio Estévez (Cuba), ¡Hágase la mujer! (1987) by Juan Carlos Campos (Dominican Republic/Spain), and De tanto caminar: Auto alegórico en tres cuadros (1961) by Piri Fernández (Puerto Rico) that highlight how the recurring theme of doubt destabilizes the preponderance of Catholicism in the cultures of the Hispanic Caribbean. Biblical stories and religious symbols are revised in these plays to challenge certainty and generate an interrogative space for their audiences. In similar fashion, in chapter 5, revisioning nineteenth-century historical figures and myths in La invasión (1970) by Manuel Méndez Ballester (Puerto Rico), Plácido (1981) by Gerardo Fulleda León (Cuba), and Andrómaca (1983) by Ivan García Guerra (Dominican Republic) facilitates reflection on the interplay of race, gender, and political status in the collective identity of these nations. The book ends with a sixth chapter on the rewriting and reception of Abelardo Estorino's plays, La dolorosa historia del amor secreto de don José Jacinto...