Tympanic Theater Company Blog

(Left: Lorena Diaz, Right: Wendy Mateo)

Greetings ya'll !

Just to make sure we drive people absolutely insane.  We would like to remind you that we go totally bonkers for new works here in Chicago.  Lucky for us Chicago is a huge spring board for artists looking to share and spread their original ideas, as well as new spins on old tales. Many writers here in Chicago look for ways to bring everyday life to the stage in an effort to inform as well as inspire. I have been fortunate enough spend some time with a couple of those great minds.

I’d like to present to you the second interview in our Ripe for the Picking series.  This time with Chicago playwrights Wendy Mateo & Lorena Diaz

Huzzah!

Lorena, Wendy, It's nice to finally be able to talk to you about the exciting new show "People in the City" that will be running on Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. at iO CHICAGO starting July 9th!

Now I worked with both of you while you were developing Fuacata, Dominizuelan's last show, is "People in the City" an extension? or a completely new show derived from those efforts.  What are its origins exactly?

Lorena: “Fuacata” was the workshop version of what became “People in the City”. Fuacata went through many manifestations. We worked scenes in and then worked them out if we felt they weren’t true to our overall vision in the end. Charna ( Charna Halpern from iO Chicago, our director) has been very good about helping us get down to what this show is really about. Which is exposing on some level that half the ignorance that exists in America today has more to do with a lack of experience with different cultures, then a lack of want to know more about it? This is our way of making that experience more accessible, by bringing it to a stage where learning about it feels safe even though the topics are provocative. We may not sum it all up.  That was never our intention anyway, but we hope to create interest and curiosity where there was once fear. I think the power of theatre is the ability to do just that, make things that felt completely inaccessible accessible.

….. and we like to fart around on stage and act like fools as well. So anytime we have an outlet for that nonsense we say DO IT! do do do it !

A lot of the show is pulled from our lives. Whether its stories we’ve heard or people we’ve come across, they all live in the pages of this play. We had a pretty good director friend by the name of Paul Tei once tell us- “write from what you know”.

Wendy: What Lori said

How has working with Charna Halpern helped shape the piece that you will be bringing to the stage in July?

Lorena: Charna Halpern. Oh Charna. lol. She has been amazingly helpful. Charna has a natural ability to figure out what’s going to work or not work in front of an audience. We brought everything we wrote into her. We sat down and explained our ideas and point of view. She made sure to question EVERYTHING that didn’t seem like we had clarity over it. I think she’s able to asses what an audience would wonder about or have doubts about. Something impossible for me and Wendy to do since we were so close to the piece. If for whatever reason something we wrote didn’t translate- she was telling us about it right quick….right. quick.

She was also was very good about sitting back and letting us create. She wasn’t overbearing in anyway or trying to stuff her concepts into our show. She trusted us and we trusted her. That’s what a good working relationship is about.

Wendy: Going into work with Charna was quite the process! Charna was our original inspiration to create what was first Fuacata and what became People in the City. By the time we were ready to work on People in the City, we had a very clear vision of where we wanted to go. Anytime we strayed from that vision, Charna was really good about keeping us on track and reminding us of what we had to offer that is different from other shows in town. 

This show is pulled from your experiences in the city of Chicago but also from back home in Miami correct?

Lorena: Yes.  It is pulled from experiences in Miami, New York, Chicago, South America, Dominican Republic and all the little villages and towns in between that Wendy and I have traveled along. Both together and apart.

Lorena,  you've said in the past that lack of experience in many cultures is responsible for the ignorance in America, and that hopefully this play will create a safe environment to introduce new provocative ideas about cultures to the masses.  Are you optimistic that the Chicago audiences are ready for a show that packs such a punch?

Lorena: They better be. Or I’ll cut them.

But to be clear- we aren’t necessarily interested in providing “provocative ideas” about cultures as much as we are interested in letting people in on the fact that given these obvious differences we all do what we do for pretty much the same reason. What motivates us is all relative. (someone hug me)

Wendy, recently you've put up the show at the Chicago Improv Festival, how was it received by audiences there?  I know you've also recently been invited to play at the New York International Fringe Festival; do you think it will be harder/easier to reach out to audiences there?

Wendy:  The Chicago Improv Festival was really welcoming. We did our improv set there and had a ton of fun. We wore our “Short Hispanic” “Tall Hispanic” t-shirts and it really set the tone of the show, it was a blast. We were even complimented by a 2-person team out of Germany! So go figure!

I think the show at Fringe NYC will be received very well. NYC is my heart, I grew up in the Bronx, and many of the characters in the show are inspired by my childhood there. I think they’ll be impressed to see these characters with some real life behind it.

Lorena/ Wendy: You two have known each other for how long is it? What has kept you working with each other all these years?

Lorena:  I’ve known Wendy for almost 9 years. We have seen a lot of life together. We have a phenomenal working relationship. It’s a treat to create with that Dominican. Even though she’s shady as f*ck…. nah. (nods yes)

Truth is I’m totally co-dependent of Wendy. I need that little short Latina sass. We are lucky to do what we do. I have too much fun with her. Sometimes that fun has gotten us into worlds of trouble…ask our mothers- but deep down in there the magic comes from the mutual respect we have for one another, the ability to write/ create work and material to purposefully challenge ourselves and the fact that I can beat her up if she doesn’t listen to me…. cuz’ I’m bigger.

Wendy:   Lori’s super sexy. Period.

But fo reals, we are so lucky to have found such a wonderful working relationship aside from our friendship. Not many people get to have that. Lori is a motivated and talented performer and I am lucky to call her my Amazonian Venezuelan creative soul mate.

What do you hope to accomplish next with Dominizuelan?

Lorena:  We hope to seduce Henry Godinez of Goodman Theatre with our awesomeness and have him select us for the Latino Festival at the Goodman….. and world domination… TRANSFORMERS STYLE! (transformers more than meets the eye…)

Wendy: STARDOM!!

BONUS ROUND: WHICH CITY?   CHICAGO or MIAMI ?

Lorena:  Both. In a sandwich with lube and oil. meowr.

Wendy: Miami minus the heat, Chicago minus Cubs crowds

Be seeing you - Mac Gerber