Tag Archive for: INANA

INANA Design Conversation continued:

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I shared this with Bob Klingelhoefer our Set Designer RE: my Director’s concept for INANA by Michele Lowe:

MAIN IDEA: War destroys lives. But war also destroys a peoples’ culture, their history, their heritage, their identity, and their souls.

Michele Lowe weaves an intricate tale that’s both a love story and an ode to the treasures of the unique far-reaching civilization that developed between the Tigris and Euphrates. The story’s centerpiece is a sculpture of the ancient goddess Inana…metaphorically, the soul of the country…whose safety is entrusted to Darius, the museum curator. Lowe brings this imagery and symbolism to flesh in Darius’ new wife, Shali. The entirety of the action takes place in a dingy hotel room and the adjoining bathroom, with spaces used for memory/flashback scenes. This is a memory play that has fluidity of Time and flexible playing space. I want to provide the contemporary audience with a canvas  in which memory seamlessly informs the present.

In the opening scene…Shali is sitting in the adjoining hotel bathroom wearing a white hijab which covers her mysterious silence. This scene initiates a seductive unveiling of emotions set to the rhythm of a compelling thriller.

INANA is an engaging story that allows us to consider our “enemy” in new and more humane ways…to consider the infuriating plight of Middle Eastern women. And to reflect on the unconscionable desecration of a country’s sacred heritage. The play depicts Iraqis who are proud to be Middle Eastern, yet pose no threat to the sensibilities of their American audience. INANA stems the tide of Middle Eastern stereotyping. It portrays a heroic Iraqi curator’s desperate attempt to save a treasured statue before the U.S. invasion. And it’s a love story, making it a rare drama that portrays Middle Eastern characters in something positive about their culture.

Now that the Obama administration has set into motion a timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq, the search begins for a way to heal that country from the death and devastation. The depth and breadth of the damage done to Persian civilization has been severe. Michele Lowe opens a window of hope and opportunity.

Ed Herendeen

Preliminary Design Conversation

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Some of my thoughts RE; my conversation with CATF Set Designer, Bob Klingelhoefer: I like to begin the design process with a discussion on the “world of the play” and the predominant element in INANA:

INANA by Michele Lowe:

TIME: February 4, 2003

PLACE:A hotel room with an adjoining bathroom in London. Various flashback/memory scenes: A bookseller’s shop in Bakir Iraq; Mosul Museum courtyard; The Shalid home in Iraq; Emad Al Bayit’s art studio; Emad’s home; a desert near Nineveh, Iraq.

THE WORLD OF THE PLAY: I see two worlds… The original and the copy…the past and the present. History/culture vs. today…Innocence vs. Destruction. The world of the play is a museum…a place to preserve and protect a civilization’s culture, history, and identity. “The objects are part of the people. They’re the deepest, hidden, most secret part. They’re the best part and the most important part to protect.”

I want to create two worlds. The present world set in London and the world of the past set in Iraq. The London world is set in a dingy hotel room with an adjoining bathroom. Even this present world is split into two rooms…the hotel room and the bathroom.

The past is set in various locations in Iraq. The past is revealed in a series of memories/flashback scenes. I am interested in seeing both the museum world which preserves history and memory…And the present world where Darius tells his story. I want our set design to explore the concept of TWO: There are two statues… two rooms…the present and the past…etc. Shali says:

 “There were two of me. The one before and the one after. I always wanted to be the other Shali. We all yearn for the other self, the one that is connected somehow to our childhood and then is pried from our memory by Time until finally we are forced to let it go.”

PREDOMINANT ELEMENT: STORY/SPECTACLE:  The predominant element in INANA is “story.” INANA is a mystery…a thriller…a political thriller. INANA is a classic “mystery” play. It is also a love story. Our design should assist us in telling the story on stage. INANA is a quick and engaging tale. It is a human story about an epic struggle to preserve a culture. Primarily, and most surprising, this is a love story between strangers who eventually morph into a connected whole.

INANA is also a spectacle play. The spectacle is HISTORY/TIME/DESTRUCTION/INNOCENCE/MIDDLE EASTERN CULTURE. The spectacle is MEMORY. I want to create spectacle on stage…the spectacle of destruction…the desecration of a country’s sacred heritage, severed into pieces like so many body parts. I want the audience to reflect on the unconscionable desecration of war. At the beginning of the U.S. invasion in 2003, the museums in Iraq had been looted badly, and excavation sites had been destroyed. The play offers our audience the opportunity for illumination.

Tomorrow I will continue my conversation with Bob Klingelhoefer, Set Designer. I will share with you my thoughts on the MAIN IDEA of the play.

Ed Herendeen