This work of art was a play and as such falls under the category of art form know as theater. The set that they use in the play is very simple, and switches between two setting, the backyard of the couples house, and inside their house. Threw the use of these very bright lights and some palm trees they give the entire play the feeling that it takes place in a desolate desert, and it does. The play in its most reduced form was a story about the relationship between a soldier and his wife. How they struggle to stay together, as time and the army, change them and pull them apart. But the play really spices the storytelling up by expressing half of the play thru the dreams of Gabriela, the army-wife. Her dreams mirror her actual struggles in the relationship she has with Benito, her husband. They did so thru two characters Cat, her house cat, and Coyote. In her dream these animals could talk (they could even talk outside of her dreams), and their animalism only accentuated the married couples struggles with each other, the push and pull that they have on each other. Not to mention the magical realism, that is prevalent in many Hispanic works, makes the story very unique and adds extra layers of meaning. The magic realism is usually expressed through the moon, who in this play is a mysterious man who plays the fiddle. He represents the life that Gabriela could live without her husband and the life she used to live without him. Throughout the play Gabriela converses and is given advice to by the Moon, and almost seduced by him. The only way that we can accept this, is by simply going along with the story, as is necessary when watching, or reading anything with magical realism. I personally very much enjoyed the incorporation of the Latino-American culture, such as the Spanglish and the ideas about men. It is a very realistic depiction of people who actually are Latino in the United States. To me this artwork has significance because of the emphasis that it puts on the importance of dreams. I personally have always put a lot of importance in my dreams. I feel that they can give me insight on my subconscious thoughts, much in the same way as Gabriela’s dreams in the play give to the audience. This play somewhat relates to the play that we saw with the class Freud’s Last Session. That is since Freud, like I am, was a firm believer that dreams could be analyzed to reveal the subconscious of an individual.
Written by: Jose Rivera
Title: References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot
Date of Work: The play was written in 2000
Materials/Medium: Play, visual and oral performance
Duration: The play was performed at Hunter College from November 3-4, 2011
Genre:Venue/Location: Hunter College at the Frederick Lowe Theatre
I saw this play with an other macaulay scholar, Christina McEachern
