Meme García on "house of sueños"

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.7 • 837 Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For generations, artists have been shaping and changing Shakespeare to fit their times. The best adaptations add specific textures of place and culture, or a fluidity of language that can take centuries-old work and make it brand new. Seattle Shakespeare Company is presenting one of those works: a Salvadoran-American adaptation of "Hamlet" called "house of sueños," by actor and playwright Meme García. In "house of sueños," sisters Rina and Amelia prepare to celebrate Mom’s marriage to their new Stepdad. But when Amelia tells her sister of the mysterious voice and shadowy figure she saw in the attic last night, it becomes clear that not all in this house is as it seems. García’s play is being released as a special five-episode series from the Seattle Shakespeare Company’s Rough Magic podcast. You can listen to it through March 17 wherever you get your podcasts or on the company’s website, https://www.seattleshakespeare.org/houseofsuenos/. We talked to García about adapting Shakespeare, mental illness in Hamlet and in their own experiences, and how they crafted the language of their play. García is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. Meme García is a Fulbright Scholar with a Master’s degree in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. As an actor, they have performed with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, upstart crow collective, and Seattle Shakespeare Company, among other theaters. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published March 2, 2021. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “What Dreams May Come,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer, with help from Leonor Fernandez. We had technical help from Andrew Feliciano and Evan Marquart at Voice Trax West in Studio City, California.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hamlet is Hamlet.
0:02.8	Is Hamlet?
0:03.8	Is Hamlet?
0:05.7	Ay, that this two-two solid flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
0:15.7	or that El T'Opoderoso had not fixed his cannon contra suicidio.
0:21.4	Ay, Dios.
0:23.5	Dios.
0:28.0	From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:34.7	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folgers director.
0:39.6	For generations, theater artists have been shaping and changing Shakespeare to fit the times. When they do, the best ones add specific
0:45.6	textures of place and culture or fluidity with language that can take centuries old work and
0:51.5	make it brand new. Seattle Shakespeare Company is presenting one of those
0:55.8	works as we're recording this, a Salvadoran American adaptation of Hamlet called House of Swaynos
1:03.1	by 28-year-old playwright May May Garcia. Because of the times we're all living in, the play is being
1:10.7	released as a podcast, presented
1:13.1	in the style of Mae Mae's favorite horror podcasts, lore and the horror of Dolores Roach.
1:21.1	House of Suenos, like its playwright, exists in English, modern and Shakespearean, and in Spanish. It hits many of the most popular
1:30.0	Hamlet High Points, but also has a unique 21st century freshness that makes this work very much
1:36.6	its own thing. Mamie Garcia joined us to talk about the work and its creation from their home
1:42.6	in Ashland, Oregon. We call this podcast What Dreams May May Garcia is interviewed by Barbara Bogabe.
1:51.0	This started as a solo show, right? You going through things in an attic that stir up memories from your own, your actual childhood.
2:00.0	So how much of that original show involved
	...

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