Thursday, July 23, 2009

Statement: The World of the Play

Although Mee notes that the setting of Big Love is neither real nor naturalistic, he does set his play on the terrace of a villa on the west coast of Italy. An early exchange between Piero and Lydia suggests they are somewhere north of the Golfo di Saint’Eufemia, which is south of Naples. The ocean is visible from the villa as is the ship on which Lydia and her 49 sister brides have escaped. The terrace’s dominant scenic element is a tub, which already is filled with water, and which will be used by Lydia in the opening scene. Given the ready presence of the tub and the villa’s seaside location, I have selected the spa resort town of Castellammare di Stabia as the specific location for the play.

The time is a “midsummer evening--the long, long golden twilight.” Midsummer is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and is traditionally celebrated by Italians on June 24. As for year, the numerous cultural references in the play suggest the present—or at least the near present—a period that enjoys the internet, Go-brand cosmetics, and Monique Lhuillier wedding dresses, all of which were available by the mid-to-late 1990s. Noting that the play was developed and produced as part of the 2000 Humana Festival, I have set the year of the play as 2000.

Castellammare was built near the ancient Roman ruins of Stabia, a thermal spa resort, which was destroyed in 79 A.D. by the eruption from Mount Vesuvius that also buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. Capitalizing on the area’s 28 hot springs, the modern town has two thermal spas which attract both locals and tourists, the latter of whom also may be attracted to the nearby Amalfi coast for weddings and honeymoons. Tourists usually can be identified by their lack of “bella figura” or fashion sense which dictates the attire and attitudes of most Italians, even the poorer ones in the south. Tourists were plentiful throughout Italy in 2000: hundreds of thousands flocked to Rome for the Jubilee Year (Holy Year) and for World Pride (Gay Pride). Italy also saw thousands of largely unwelcome refugees fleeing from the war-torn former Yugoslavia.

Castellammare is reknown for its cuisine, and a dessert is named in its honor: the biscotto di Castellammare, which is essentially a oval-shaped vanilla cookie. The coastal towns boast fresh seafood and produce throughout the year. The Stabian towns particularly favor anchovies, tomatoes, olives, and watermelons. Ice cream is an all-day favorite and is probably the only food most Italians would ever eat not seated. Given that our play takes place during one midsummer evening, it should be noted that an Italian tradition is to spruce up a bit and take a walk (passeggiata) after supper. An in-town walk may include a stop for a glass of wine or beer and a chance to catch up on the latest gossip.

Italians, especially those in the south, are infamous for their ways of expressing themselves physically. Gestures are readily employed to signal personal pleasure and displeasure as well as to ward off evil. Accustomed to living in more densely populated towns than most Americans, Italians often stand much closer to each other when conversing. Although strangers tend to shake hands when first meeting, old and new friends still greet each other with an "air kiss": a kiss on the right cheek and then the left but without the lips ever making contact with skin. Arguably more homophobic than their northern cousins, southern Italian (heterosexual) men may be seen strolling down the street arm-in-arm and embracing each other warmily and without qualms.

Many foreigners come to this region for their honeymoons. The government's requirements for civil weddings are quite simple but require arriving three days before the wedding. Catholic weddings, however, are much more complicated and require considerable paper work that must be initiated weeks, if not months, in advance. Wedding cakes come in a great variety of shapes and flavors and may not even appear to be "cakes" by American standards. (Many varieties contain custard and/or fresh fruit and are identified as torts or tarts.)

The differences between northern and southern Italy are worth noting. The south (the Mezzogiorno as it is known historically), like its counterpart in the U.S., has a warmer climate, is primarily agricultural, and very bound by family, religion, and tradition. Unfortunately, the recent economic meltdown has raised unemployment levels, which already among the worst in Europe, and many southerners have migrated to the north in the hopes of better job opportunities.

(760 words but still need to revise)