Educational Dramatics: The Instructional Qualities of Fefu and Her Friends

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Fefu and Her Friends has often been analysed as a paradigmatic feminist text. My proposal complements this reading by considering the play as an offshoot of Maria Irene Fornes’ interest in education. The playwright has explained her belief that art is a powerful tool to access the individual’s inner spirit. The salon event the characters are organizing points to the educational values of art but the provocative structure of the play itself also proposes a different role of the spectator which forces them to participate in the play in a non traditional position. By moving away from their places and by watching different scenes in random order, the audience becomes part of the salon and interacts with the actresses radically changing their traditional position in an instructive and interactive experience which could educate their sensitivity to that which is different.

RESUMEN: Fefu and Her Friends se considera un paradigma del teatro feminista. La propuesta de este artículo no contradice dicha lectura sino que la complementa centrándose en el interés de María Irene Fornés en la educación. La dramaturga ha insistido en su creencia de que el arte es una poderosa herramienta para facilitar que los individuos entren en contacto con su propio espíritu interior. El salón que los personajes están organizando apunta a los valores educativos del arte. Además, la estructura rompedora de la obra propone una función distinta para el espectador al hacerle participar de un modo no tradicional. Al apartarle de la butaca y obligarle a ver distintas escenas en orden aleatorio, el público se introduce en el salón e interactúa con las actrices. El resultado es una experiencia instructiva e interactiva cuyo fin es educar la sensibilidad hacia lo diferente.