DRAMATURGICAL PACKET Compiled by: Alicia Tycer aliciatycer@yahoo.

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THE WALL: A MUSICAL MISDEED Based on The Wall By Jean-Paul Sartre Composer and Conductor: John M. Kennedy Librettist: Alicia Tycer Director/ Choreographer: Tanya Kane-Parry January 30, 31, February 1, 2013 at 7:30 The State Playhouse California State University, Los Angeles

Note on the origin of the title: Opera = work or deed Opera has traditions, conventions, and expectations that we want to avoid in our title and performance. Not opera = mis-deed bad event, bad acto A musical = not good opera full of mischief

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Jean-Paul Sartre: Biographical Moments Existentialism: What is it? Pre- Existentialism: Platos Cave Existentialist Philosophy Examples of Existentialism Theatre of the Absurd The Wall: The Short Story Summary and Style The Spanish Civil War Republicans vs. The Nationalists/ Fascists An Overview Literary and Artistic Responses to the War Federico Garca Lorca Ernest Hemingway Russian Constructivism Salvador Dal Pablo Picasso Character Influences The Doctor: Dr. Mengele Woyzeck

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Jean- Paul Sartre: Biographical Moments (June 21, 1905 April 15, 1980) "The world itself destroyed Sartre's illusions about isolated self-determining individuals and made clear his own personal stake in the events of the time." Ronald Aronson Camus and Sartre

1905- Born in Paris, the only child of Jean-Baptiste Sartre, an officer in the French Navy, and Anne-Marie Schweitzer. 1929- While in college pursuing a degree in philosophy, he meets Simone de Beauvoir. He begins a lifetime open relationship with her and they become a leading intellectual couple. Her 1949 book The Second Sex is considered a founding text of modern feminism in which she writes One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.'' 1939- Drafted into the French army, he is captured and is a prisoner of war for two years 1941- Returns to German occupied France. He forms the "Socialisme et Libert" resistance group. In 1943, after the group disbanded, Sartre joined a writers' Resistance group in which he remained an active participant until the end of the war. 1943- Being and Nothingness published 1946- Existentialism is a Humanism published

1947- The Wall is first published. He also publishes his most famous play No Exit including the often quoted line: Hell is other people. 1948- The Roman Catholic Church puts his works on the List of Prohibited Books

1960- Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir meet with Che Guevara in Cuba 1961, 1962- Sartre supports Algerias right for self determination and separation from France. He was targeted for assassination with two bomb explosions at his apartment building. 1964- He publishes the autobiographical The Words. He is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but becomes the first to person to refuse the award, explaining: The writer must refuse to let himself be transformed into an institution. Le Monde 1967- Helps organize the Russell Tribunal intended to expose U.S. war crimes in Vietnam 1968- Arrested for civil disobedience during the strikes in Paris, but is pardoned

1980- Sartre dies of a lung condition.

Top: Socrates, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Jean Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche Bottom: Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault. http://impermeable.tumblr.com

EXISTENTIALISM What is it? Pre-Existentialism: Platos Cave

PlatosAllegoryoftheCave,includedinTheRepublic(380B.C.)describesa groupofpeoplewhohavelivedchainedtothewallofacavealloftheirlives, facingablankwall.Thepeoplewatchshadowsprojectedonthewallbythings passinginfrontofafirebehindthem,andbegintoascribeformstothese shadowstheshadowsareascloseastheprisonersgettoviewingreality.He thenexplainshowthephilosopherislikeaprisonerwhoisfreedfromthecave andcomestounderstandthattheshadows on the wall are not constitutive of
reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners. http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Allegory_of_the_cave.ht ml

Existentialist Philosophy Existentialism is the movement in nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy that addresses fundamental problems of human existence. The existentialists are not a self-consciously defined homogenous school However most of them are interested in some of (the questions): What is it to exist? Does existence have a purpose? Is there an objective difference between right and wrong? Are we free? Are we responsible for our actions? What is the right sort of religious, political or sexual commitment? How should we face death? (20) Priest, Stephen. Jean-Paul Sartre: Basic Writings. New York: Routledge, 2000. What does the term existentialism mean in its application to Sartres philosophy? To say that something exists is to say that it is. To state somethings essence is to state what it is. Understanding Sartres existentialism requires understanding his thoughts on the relation between existence and essence. (Priest) According to Sartre, human beings have no "essence" before their existence because no god exists. Therefore his famous quote goes: existence precedes essence". This makes for the base of his claim that since no one can explain their actions nor their behavior by referring to human nature, they are "necessarily" completely responsible for all of their actions. Sartres famous quote for this is that, "We are left alone, without excuse." www.jeanpaulsartre.org http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/existentialism.htm#sthash.tzly6aR0.dpuf

Examples of Existentialism Sartres No Exit: Dont you feel the same way? When I cannot see myself, even though I touch myself, I wonder if I really exist. Estelle, discovering that there are no mirrors in Hell, in No Exit, Act 1, Scene. 5. The Matrix: Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon - that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth. Neo: What truth? Spoon boy: There is no spoon. Neo: There is no spoon? Spoon boy: Then you will see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

Keanu Reeves, The Matrix 1999

Roz Chast, The New Yorker

Theatre of the Absurd Existentialist themes are included in Theatre of the Absurd, notably in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, in which two men divert themselves while they wait expectantly for someone (or something) named Godot who never arrives. In existentialism, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude," or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. While they debate the meaning of human existence, they often do so in a humorous way, which inspired some of the humor in the adaptation of The Wall. Solomon, Robert C. Existentialism (McGraw-Hill, 1974, pp. 12).

Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow, and Ian Mc Kellan in Waiting for Godot. Photograph: Neil Libbert

The Wall The Short Story Summary and Style The Wall was first published in 1938 and then republished in a collection of short stories. Sartre wrote it in response to the growing power of the Fascists in Spain. The title refers to the wall prisoners are lined up against before being shot. The protagonist, Pablo Ibbieta, along with two others in his cell, is sentenced to death. He is offered a way out if he reveals the location of his comrade, Ramn Gris. Pablo refuses to cooperate until just before his scheduled execution, when, seeing no harm in it, he gives the authorities what he believes to be false information on Ramn Gris' whereabouts. Ironically, it turns out that Ramn Gris has moved from his previous hiding place to the very spot where Pablo tells the authorities he may be found. Thus Ramn Gris is shot and Pablo is, at least temporarily, spared from death. Existentialist writers such as Franz Kafka and Sartre often use prisons and solitary confinement to tell their stories. Often, neither the reader nor the protagonist is aware of what crime has been committed The story takes place during the Spanish Civil War in an old hospital being used by the Spanish Fascist's to house prisoners. "The Wall" is told from a first person, stream of consciousness point-of-view, and uses existentialist philosophy, to illuminate the

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follies of totalitarian governments like Fascism, and Nazism. Like most existentialist writers, Sartre chooses to tell the story of "The Wall" from the first person stream-of-consciousness point-of-view. We get dialogue from other characters, but the dialogue is filtered through the mind and thoughts of Pablo. www.essortment.com For more on Kafka, see: http://www.kafka.org/ Ibbietas acceptance of death did him little good: existence still intruded on him. His friend was found by coincidence in the cemetery, and Pablos life was spared. No man can understand his own death or use it to solve the problems of his life. (Sartre argued That kind of attitude toward death, closely related to stoicism does not solve the problem. The destruction of that existence or the acceptance of the termination of that existence offers no solution (24). Plank, William Sartre and Surrealism

Robert Capas Falling Soldier: A Republican Fighter killed in action 1936, published in Life Magazine THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR (July 18, 1936- April 1, 1939) Estimated 500,000 deaths The Republicans Democratically elected government vs. Nationalists/ Fascists Military led uprising

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Supported by: Liberals Socialists/ Communists International Brigade Stalins Soviet Union Mexico Characters: Pablo, Ramon, Tom

Conservatives upper classes Catholic Church Hitlers Germany Mussolinis Italy Interrogators, Guards, Doctor

The Republicans were made up of factions with different views on government and political goals who were united in opposition to the Fascists. The prisoners in the play represent some of these groups. Pablo- Anarchists- Anarchism historically gained the most support and influence in Spain, especially in the seventy or so years before Francisco Francos victory in the Spanish Civil War the movement gained speed with the rise a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labor movement as a potential force for revolutionary social change and the creation of the huge union, the CNT (Confederacin Nacional del Trabajo). http://struggle.ws/spaindx.html Tom- The International Brigade- Between 1936 and 1939 over 35,000 men and women, from over 50 countries, left their homes to volunteer for the Republican forces. More than 2,300 of these came from Britain, Ireland and the commonwealth, of whom over 500 were killed Perhaps 80% were members of the Communist Party, or the Young Communist League, though volunteers with an alternative political background or who were active in the trade union movement were also accepted. Recent research suggests that a significant number, perhaps 20% were Jewish in origin. The volunteers came from overwhelmingly working class backgrounds with large numbers involved in industrial occupations, such as labouring, construction, ship-building and mining. http://www.international-brigades.org.uk/content/volunteers Basques are a single people who live in two countriesnorthwest Spain and southwest France. The Basques may be the oldest ethnic group in Europe. They are thought to have inhabited the southwestern corner of the continent since before Indo-European peoples came to the area approximately 5,000 years ago During the regime of General Francisco Franco (193975) the Basque language and culture in the Spanish provinces were ruthlessly suppressed. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Basques.html#b

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General Francisco Franco emerged as the leader of the Nationalists who overthrew the democratically elected government in Spain. He secured the support of Italy and Germany while integrating the many heterogeneous rebel factions into the Movimiento Nacional. After winning the civil war, Franco had the Spanish Parliament dissolved He then established a dictatorship and went on to rule Spain for nearly forty years. Arnold Blumberg, Great Leaders, Great Tyrants

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The Spanish Civil War: An Overview In a longer historical perspective the Spanish Civil War amounts to the opening battle of World War II... Viewed internally, on the other hand, the Spanish Civil War was the culmination of a prolonged period of national political unrestunrest in a country that was increasingly polarized and repeatedly unable to ameliorate the conditions of terrible poverty in which millions of its citizens lived. Spain was a country in which landless peasants cobbled together a bare subsistence living by following the harvests on vast, wealthy agricultural estates. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church, identifying more with wealthy landowners than with the Spanish people, was in full control of secondary education; education for women seemed to them unnecessary and universal literacy a danger rather than a goal. Divorce was illegal. The military, meanwhile, had come to see itself as the only bulwark against civil disorder and as the ultimate guarantor of the core values of Spanish society. When a progressive Popular Front government was elected in February 1936, with the promise of realistic land reform one of its key planks, conservative forces immediately gathered to plan resistance... The military rebellion took place on July 18, with the officers who organized it expecting a quick victory and a rapid takeover of the entire country. What the military did not anticipate was the determination of the Spanish people, who broke into barracks, took up arms, and crushed the rebellion in key areas like the cities of Madrid and Barcelona. It was at that point that the character of the struggle changed, for the military realized they faced a prolonged struggle against their own people and an uncertain outcome. They appealed to fascist dictatorships in Italy, Germany, and Portugal for assistance, and they soon began receiving both men and supplies from Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Antonio Salazar. The 1936 Spanish election had already been widely celebrated as a great victory in progressive publications in Britain, France, and the United States. In the midst of a worldwide depression, the military rising was thus immediately seen as an assault against working people's interests everywhere. But the rapid intervention of German and Italian troops gave what might otherwise have remained a civil war a dramatic international character. Almost from the outset, then, the Spanish Civil War became a literal and symbolic instance of the growing worldwide struggle between fascism and democracy. Indeed, the Republic, the elected government, perceived the country as being invaded by foreign troops. By the time the pilots of Hitler's Condor Legion reduced the Basque's holy city of Guernica to rubble the following April, many in the rest of the world had come to share that opinion as well. It is important to remember in this context the curiously contradictory character of life during the Great Depression. Hand in hand with widespread poverty and suffering went a certain fervent hope for change and a belief in the possibility of finding collective solutions to common economic problems. The government

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elected in Spain in 1936 seemed like it would contribute materially to those solutions. Fascism, on the other hand, presented the forces of reaction in their most violent form. Its territorial ambitions became apparent when Japan invaded Manchuria in the winter of 1931-32 and when Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935. Meanwhile, Hitler elevated religious and racial hatred to national policy almost immediately after establishing his dictatorship in 1933. A relentless series of anti-Semitic campaigns, beginning with a 1933 boycott of Jewish firms and followed by the formal liquidation of Jewish businesses and a prohibition against Jewish doctors continuing their medical practices, culminated in 1935 when Jews were stripped of all rights of citizenship... In retrospect, it seems possible that world history might have proceeded differently had the democracies taken a strong stand against fascism in Spain in 1936. But they did not. Despite almost universal support for the Republic amongst British intellectuals and widespread support amongst the working classes, the British government preferred not to act. It was not only that they feared anything that might lead to a wider war in Europe, a fear that would eventually lead to the infamous Munich appeasement policy of 1938, but also that British businessmen and a majority of the British Cabinet felt more sympathetic with Franco. Large corporations in America also worked on Franco's behalf After providing the (Republican) government with a score of planes, France decided instead to propose an international policy of Non-Intervention that would bar all foreign aid to Spain But Hitler and Mussolini simply ignored the Non-Intervention agreement. Meanwhile, Mexico responded by shipping rifles to the Republic, and the Soviet Union sold the Spanish government arms in exchange for Spain's gold reserves. But it was not enough over time to counterbalance the men and supplies Franco received... At the end of September (1938), British and French representatives met with Hitler and Mussolini and granted Hitler Czechoslovakia With the signing of the Munich Accord it was clear that the democracies would not stand against fascism in Spain. The Internationals were withdrawn, and Spain fought on alone for several more months. In late November Hitler resupplied the Nationalists with arms. Franco started his final offensive, taking Barcelona in January. At the end of March, Madrid fell. On April 1, 1939, the Spanish Civil War officially came to an end. For many, however, the suffering was not over. It was not to be a civil war ending in reconciliation, for Franco began a reign of terror aimed at the physical liquidation of all his potential enemiesMass executions would continue until 1944. Meanwhile, World War II was under way, and many of the volunteers took up arms against fascism again. Nelson, Cary. http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/scw/overview.htm

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Literary and Artistic Responses to the War

Federico Garca Lorca: A well known Spanish poet and author of plays such as The House of Bernarda Alba and Blood Wedding. The shrouded women in our adaptation are allusions to the widows often depicted in his plays. Lorca was a political leftist and open homosexual. He was assassinated by the Nationalists at the beginning of the war. His body has never been found and he is considered a martyr. Lorca Quotes: I will always be on the side of those who have nothing and who are not even allowed to enjoy the nothing they have in peace. In Spain, the dead are more alive than the dead of any other country in the world.'' "The Poet in New York.

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For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) Ernest Hemingway served as a reporter in Spain during the Civil War. He wrote the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls based on the brutality he had witnessed. Hemingway got the title from the poet John Donne who wrote, No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. (1624) Concha and Pablos relationship in the adaptation of The Wall was partially inspired by the relationship between Robert and Maria in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Robert is an American fighting for the Republic who meets Maria, a young Spanish woman who had been raped by Fascist soldiers. They fall in love, both acknowledging that the earth moved when they first had sex.

Russian Constructivism was a movement that was active from 1913 to the 1940s. It was a movement created by the Russian avant-garde, but quickly spread to the rest of the continent. Constructivist art is committed to complete abstraction with a devotion to modernity, where themes are often geometric, experimental and rarely emotional. Objective forms carrying universal meaning were far more suitable to the movement than subjective or individualistic forms. Constructivist themes are also quite minimal, where the artwork is broken down to its most basic elements. New media was often used in the creation of works, which helped to create a style of art that was orderly. An art of order was desirable at the time because it was just after WWI that the movement arose. http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/constructivism/

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The Persistence of Memory Salvador Dals Mustache and Melting Clocks During the Spanish Civil War, the Surrealist painter Dal fled from the fighting and refused to align himself with any group. After WW II, he moved back to Spain and was supportive of the authoritarian regime, congratulating Franco for his actions aimed "at clearing Spain of destructive forces" and for signing death warrants for political prisoners. Navarro, Vicente. "The Jackboot of Dada: Salvador Dal, Fascist". Counterpunch. December 6, 2003.

Pablo Picasso's Guernica Fascism is not defined by the number of its victims, but by the way it kills them. Sartre, Libration 1953

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What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who has only eyes if he is a painter, or ears if he is a musician, or a lyre in every chamber of his heart if he is a poet, or even, if he is a boxer, just his muscles? Far, far from it: at the same time, he is also a political being, constantly aware of the heartbreaking, passionate, or delightful things that happen in the world, shaping himself completely in their image. How could it be possible to feel no interest in other people, and with a cool indifference to detach yourself from the very life which they bring to you so abundantly? No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war-- Pablo Picasso In 1937 Pablo Picasso painted Guernica, a mural that was the centerpiece for the Spanish Pavilion of the World's Fair in Paris. The official theme of the Paris Exposition was the celebration of modern technology. The Aeronautics Pavilion, featuring the latest advances in aircraft design and engineering, was a centerpiece of the exposition. It is a bitter irony that Guernica, the most lasting monument of the exposition, is the Twentieth century's most enduring symbol of the horrors of war and the inhumane use of technology. It is a portent for the terrors of the next decade. The painting is based on the events of April 27, 1937, when the German air force, in support of the Fascist forces led by Generalissimo Francisco Franco, carried out a bombing raid on the Basque village of Guernica in northern Spain. At that time such a massive bombing campaign was unprecedented. The hamlet was pounded with high-explosive and incendiary bombs for over three

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hours. The non-combatant townspeople including women and children were indiscriminately cut-down as they fled their crumbling buildings. The town of Guernica burned for three days leaving sixteen hundred civilians killed or wounded in its smoldering remains. The Fascist planners of the bombing campaign knew that Guernica had no strategic value as a military target, but it was a cultural and religious center for Basque identity. The devastation was intended to terrorize the population and break the spirit of the Basque resistance. In effect it was intended to "shock and awe" the Basques into submission. The bombing of Guernica was a sensation in the world press. The Times of London called it the arch-symbol of Fascist barbarity. Picasso's painting is without question the most important anti-war work of art produced in the Twentieth Century. It is a testament to the horrors of Fascism. The authority of this image is reflected in the hanging of a tapestry reproduction of Picasso's painting outside the Security Council of the United Nations, an institution which emerged after the defeat of Fascism. It is poignant that this symbol served as the backdrop to many of the public statements by diplomats engaged in the Security Council debate during the winter of 2003 over the use of military force in Iraq. On January 27, a blue curtain was used to cover the tapestry, because someone (it is not clear whether it was a diplomat or member of the media) confidentially approached U.N. officials expressing concern that it would not be an appropriate background if the ambassador of the United States at the U.N. John Negroponte, or Secretary of State Colin Powell, talk about war surrounded with women, children and animals shouting with horror and showing the suffering of the bombings. I think Guernica deserves our serious attention. It testifies to the power of representations of war, and should serve as a cautionary tale to us. Although "smart" bombs can be targeted with extreme accuracy, their impact on representations of war in international public opinion cannot be controlled. While preparing this webpage on March 26, 2003, reports came in concerning a bombing of a market in downtown Baghad. Both Iraqi and "coalition" spokesmen deny responsibility for the bombing, and there is a major public relations campaign on both sides accusing the other side of responsibility.

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PBS has produced a valuable website focusing on Guernica as part of a series entitled Treasures of the World. Review this site. Make sure to read the linked pages. In considering the painting, I think it is important to understand it in relationship to the tradition of history painting that dominated European painting at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. The large size of the painting and its oblong format echoes these history paintings which represented the most privileged form of painting. Painters like Baron Gros in works like Murat at the Battle of Aboukir were important precedents for Picasso. Compare Gros' painting to Picasso's:

History painters like Gros produced grand public displays of the accomplishments of the French forces of Napoleon in his various campaigns. Gros' painting of Murat at the Battle of Aboukir illustrates the heroic cavalry charge of the French General Joachim Murat to retake the fortress at Aboukir as part of the Egyptian campaign against the Turks. Paintings like this have an added power today considering our current campaign in Iraq. Again they raise the critical question of representation.

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Guernica Comparisons Bush statements Farber, Allen. Language of the Visual Arts. http://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth200/guernica.html

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Character Influences The following are historical and literary references that relate to some of the characters in this story that are incorporated in this particular production. The Doctor: though in the original story we don't know much about the character of the Doctor, there are several important references that inform who this character is symbolically.

Dr. Josef Mengele He became known as the Angel of Death, determining from among the mass of humanity arriving at Auschwitz who would be retained for work and who would perish immediately in the gas chambers with full license to maim or kill his subjects, Mengele performed a broad range of agonizing and often lethal experiments with Jewish and Roma (Gypsy) twins, most of them children Throughout his stay in Auschwitz, Mengele collected the eyes of his murdered victims, in part to furnish research material Mengele firmly endorsed the doctrine of National Socialist racial theory and engaged in a wide spectrum of experiments which aimed to illustrate the lack of resistance among Jews or Roma to various diseases. He also attempted to demonstrate the degeneration of Jewish and Gypsy blood through the documentation of physical oddities and the collection and harvesting of tissue samples and body parts. Many of his test subjects died as a result of the experimentation or were murdered in order to facilitate post-mortem examination. After the Nazis defeat, Mengele fled to South America and successfully avoided authorities. Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007060

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Robert Wilsons production, 2000 Woyzeck Written in 1837, Georg Bchners play was ahead of its time, seen as foreshadowing numerous movements, including existentialism. Bchners Doctor character was an influence on The Wall adaptation. The Doctor experiments on Woyzeck instructing him to eat nothing but peas and then observing and recording the effects on Woyzecks body and psyche. Bchner died before the play was finished, and fragments of the play were found and then pieced together, leaving the plays narrative order uncertain. Woyzecks style influenced our productions minimalism and shifting of time. Alban Bergs opera Wozzeck, first performed in 1925, is one of the most famous examples of employing atonality (music that avoids establishing a key). http://www.401modernoperas.com/

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