Espejos: Clean Study Guide

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DIRECTED BY

Melissa Crespo SOUND DESIGN SCENIC DESIGN

COSTUME DESIGN

LIGHTING DESIGN

AND ORIGINAL MUSIC

Mariana Sanchez

Lux Haac

Colleen Doherty

Daniela Hart & UptownWorks

PRODUCTION PROJECTION DESIGN

STAGE MANAGER

Lisa Renkel

Laura Jane Collins*

COMMUNITY PARTNER

Robert Hupp

Jill A. Anderson

Melissa Crespo

Kyle Bass

Artistic Director

Managing Director

Associate Artistic Director

Resident Playwright

Espejos: Clean received a rolling world premiere production in March 2022 between South Coast Repertory Theatre (Costa Mesa, CA, USA) and Neworld Theatre (Vancouver, BC, Canada). Clean-Espejos was developed and workshopped with the support of The Lab at South Coast Repertory Theatre (2021 Pacific Playwrights Festival), Neworld Theatre (Vancouver), Theatre Aspen (Solo Flights Festival), and Tarragon Theatre (Urjo Kareda Residency, Toronto), and received additional support from Aluna Theatre (Toronto), the Playwrights Lab at the Banff Centre the Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council (Canada). Espejos: Clean was dramaturged by Daniela Atiencia. Espejos: Clean is produced by permission of the Playwrights and Marquis Literary (Colin Rivers) www.MQlit.ca This program is made possible by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding from the City of Syracuse Arts & Culture Recovery Fund Program, a regrant program of the City of Syracuse administered by CNY Arts.

February 15 - March 5, 2023

Table of Contents pg. 4) Letter from Education Team pg. 5) 2022/2023 Educational Outreach Sponsors pg. 6) Before the Show pg. 8) After the Show pg. 9) Meet the Playwright

Robert M. Hupp Artistic Director Jill Anderson Managing Director Melissa Crespo Associate Artistic Director

pg.10) Meet the Director pg. 11) Tourism and Cancún pg. 12) Comparing and Contrasting Chetumal and Cancún pg.13) Get Involved at Syracuse Stage pg. 14) Sources

Joann Yarrow Director of Community Engagement & Education Kate Laissle Associate Director of Education Theorri London Community Engagement & Education Coordinator

Tracey White Audience Development Manager Talia Shenandoah Audience Development Assistant Box Office (315) 443-3275

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Dear Educators, The best way of learning is learning while you’re having fun. Theatre provides the opportunity for us to connect through performance and stories, allows us to find ourselves in other people’s lives, and grow beyond our own boundaries. We are evermore excited to share these new theatrical pieces with your students as they shape and define us. Giving students the opportunity to watch stories come to life, as well as the power to create their own, is part of our lasting impact on the world. Coming to see a performance as a part of a larger community brings us together as one. Live theatre is Syracuse Stage's connection to the world and each other. We invite you and your students to engage with the stories we tell as a starting point for you and them to create their own.

Sincerely, Joann Yarrow, Kate Laissle, and Theorri London Community Engagement & Education Team Syracuse Stage 4

2022/2023 Educational Outreach Sponsors Syracuse Stage is committed to providing students with rich theatre experiences that explore and examine what it is to be human. Research shows that children who participate in or are exposed to the arts show higher academic achievement, stronger self esteem, and improved ability to plan and work toward a future goal.

Many students in our community have their first taste of live theatre through Syracuse Stage’s outreach programs. Last season more than 21,000 students from across New York attended or participated in the Bank of America Children’s Tour, artsEmerging, the Young Playwrights Festival, Backstory, Young Adult Council, and/or our Student Matinee Program.

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Before the Show Synopsis

Written by Community Engagement & Education Intern Erin Keith

Performed in English and Spanish with supertitles in both languages, Espejos: Clean takes place at a resort in Cancún, México. The story features Adriana, the manager of the housekeeping staff, and Sarah, a guest from Vancouver, Canada, and maid of honor for her sister’s wedding. The play starts with Adriana telling how she left her home in Chetumal, México, to escape her abusive father and work at the resort in Cancún. We then meet a drunk Sarah, who also has a tumultuous relationship with her family. Adriana and Sarah then meet for the first time when Sarah walks in on Adriana cleaning her room. After their brief interaction, Adriana learns that her father has passed away. Adriana has not returned home since she left eight years ago and did not plan to, so she attempts to forget about her father and return to work.

Rain then hits the resort, causing panic. Sarah and Adriana both dread the ramifications of a rainy day at the resort and enter their respective memories. Sarah recalls a major depressive episode, and Adriana recalls her mother’s fear of her father. They both reenter reality, and Adriana realizes that she and her staff will be stuck at the resort for the night due to flooded highways, so she ignores the constant calls from her family and attends the hotel staff party.

Adriana attempts to loosen up by letting her hair down and drinking. When she sees her ex-boyfriend Nicolas, they dance and leave the party together. Still lost in her memories, Sarah leaves her room and goes into the pool while Adriana and Nicolas kiss nearby. Adriana starts to instigate more intimate actions before her feelings about her father erupt, and she bursts into tears. Sarah overhears Adriana’s tears and calls out, thinking that Adriana is being assaulted.

The play then enters fantasy, and we see how each character imagines the aftermath of this alleged assault.

Eventually, we snap back to reality, and Sarah tries to help Adriana, but Adriana is too nervous about getting into trouble with hotel management to engage with Sarah fully. Sarah is concerned for Adriana, and Adriana finally tells Sarah not to tell anyone about what she saw.

They both reenter fantasies where Adriana imagines returning home for her father’s funeral and confronting her mother about staying with him. Sarah imagines telling her family about her assault and the guilt she feels about Syracuse Stage 6 preventing it from happening to her little sister.

Back in reality again, Sarah and Adriana reflect on the previous night’s events. Sarah sends a message to Adriana, asking that she visit her hotel room so they can talk. Adriana shows up to Sarah’s room, and Sarah tries to help Adriana, insisting that they call the police. Adriana insists that she was not assaulted and was crying “for some other thing.” Sarah reveals, "what happened to you happened to me," and Adriana assures Sarah that she is “sorry for her,” but nothing happened and to please leave it alone. They both go through the conversation with clarity as Sarah vows to communicate with her sister, and Adriana returns home to bury her father and reunite with her mother.

Pre-Show Discussion Questions Have you ever been on vacation outside of the United States? Where did you go? What did it feel like to be immersed in a culture outside of your own? What similarities and differences between cultures did you observe?

How do you feel about your hometown?

Pre-Show Activity No One, Everyone In this activity, each person in the group takes a turn saying something they think everyone has done and then they say something that they think no one has done. The other people in the group either nod their heads yes or shake their heads no in response to the statements. If someone shakes their head no, others in the group try to guess which statement is false. The person who said no can choose to elaborate on their experience with a story. After this activity, write a reflection on what you learned about yourself and how you view others.

Example Statements: Everyone has eaten ice cream before No one has ever run 300 miles

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After the Show Post-Show Discussion Questions What was your favorite moment in the play?

Were the actors believable? What performers were most successful in their roles? What made them successful?

Did there seem to be a unifying idea behind the production? What is that idea? How was it conveyed to you through the production?

What was your opinion of the set? How did it contribute to the performance?

What was your opinion of the costumes? What information did the costumes tell you about the play and characters?

How did the lighting affect the mood of the performance?

Did this play have any observations about people, society, relationships, or anything else?

Would you recommend someone else to see this play? Why or why not?

Reading List

Living Beyond Borders: Stories About Growing Up Mexican in America by Margarita Longoria Twenty stand-alone short stories, essays, poems, and more from celebrated and award-winning authors make up this YA anthology that explores the Mexican American experience. With works by Francisco X. Stork, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, David Bowles, Rubén Degollado, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Diana López, Xavier Garza, Trinidad Gonzales, Alex Temblador, Aida Salazar, Lupe Ruiz-Flores, Sylvia Sanchez Garza, Dominic Carrillo, Angela Cervantes, Carolyn Dee Flores, René Saldaña Jr., Laura Perez, Justine Narro, Daniel García Ordáz, and Anna Meriano.

In this mixed-media collection of short stories, personal essays, poetry, and comics, this celebrated group of authors share the borders they have crossed, the struggles they have pushed through, and the two cultures they continue to navigate as Mexican American. Living Beyond Borders is at once an eye-opening, heart-wrenching, and hopeful love letter from the Mexican American community to today’s young readers.Goodreads.com

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Meet the Playwright Born in Los Angeles to a Mexican-American father and a Dutch-British-Canadian mother, Christine is now a grateful visitor to the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people (also known as Vancouver). Creation/Performing highlights include Espejos: Clean (translated and adapted by Paula Zelaya Cervantes), premiere with Neworld Theatre and South Coast Repertory; Never The Last (co-created with Molly MacKinnon), produced by Delinquent Theatre, recipient of 5 Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nominations and winner of Significant Artistic Achievement; Selfie (Governor General’s Award nominee, winner of the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding TYA Play, the Sydney Risk Prize for Outstanding Script by an Emerging Playwright, and the Tom Hendry award for TYA). Her writing has been translated and performed in Spanish, French, ASL, and German. She was honoured with the 2017 Siminovitch Protégé Prize for Playwriting from Marcus Youssef, and holds a BFA in Acting from the University of British Columbia.

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Meet the Director Melissa Crespo is a director of new plays, musicals, and opera. She will direct the upcoming OffBroadway world premiere of Bees and Honey by Guadalís del Carmen at MCC Theater. As a playwright, her play Egress, co-written with Sarah Saltwick, received the Roe Green Award at Cleveland Playhouse and has since been produced

by Amphibian Stage and Salt Lake Acting Company.

Fellowships and residencies include: Time Warner Fellow (WP Theatre), Usual Suspect (NYTW), The Director’s Project (Drama League), Van Lier Directing Fellow (Second Stage Theatre), and the Allen Lee Hughes Directing Fellow (Arena Stage).

Melissa received her M.F.A. in directing from The New School for Drama. She is a founding editor of 3Views on Theater and was featured in the 2020 Broadway Women’s Fund “Women to Watch on Broadway”.

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Tourism and Cancún Everybody loves a beach vacation, but what about the beaches?

Written by Community Engagement & Education Intern Ada Wennstrom

In the 1960s, Cancún was a nondescript town of 100 people in one of the poorest regions in México. That is until the Mexican government Cancún in 1985 underwent a huge project to expand tourism in the country, attempting to boost the national economy. The government compared successful resorts' climates and amenities with sites along México’s coastline. Out of around 6,000 miles of coastline, Cancún was specifically chosen for its white sand beaches, blue seas, and perfect, year-round weather.

Additionally, Cancún's high poverty rates meant that it was a cheap place for the Mexican government to build real estate and transform into a resort town.

In 1974, the first hotel opened in Cancún. In a year, more hotels popped up and 100,000 tourists visited. Today, Cancún welcomes around two million visitors every year and makes up for 25% of the tourism for the entire country. In 2016, tourism in México reached over $13.3 billion, 21% of the country's entire income.

35% of the jobs in Cancún are in tourism, and about half of the money Cancún in 2019 the city makes comes from tourism. Many Mexican people living in and around Cancún find work in the service of foreign people. Meanwhile, its transformation from a small, impoverished town to an expensive resort destination means a lot of locals cannot afford to live in Cancún and have to live far outside of it.

The large amount of tourism also has environmental impacts. Sewage from all the hotels has overpowered the city's treatment facilities, overflowing into the sea and damaging the ocean life. Similarly, garbage has increased, which is often sent to illegal garbage dumps. More hotels being built and extra traffic on beaches have led to erosion, threatening local reefs and coral systems. Increased production has also destroyed mangrove ecosystems. Mangroves are responsible for protecting against erosion, capturing carbon from the atmosphere, and providing vital fish Images from earthobservatory.nasa.gov habitats. In 2009, Cancún spent $20 million to ship in sand to restore Syracuse Stage 11 beaches that had been eroded due to mangrove loss.

Comparing and Contrasting Chetumal and Cancún The character Adriana in Espejos: Clean lived in Chetumal, México before moving to Cancún, México where the story largely takes place.

Written by Community Engagement & Education Intern Erin Keith

Chetumal, México and Cancún, México are both located on the East Coast of the country on the Chetumal, México Yucatán Peninsula. Chetumal is located just north on the Belize border, and Cancún is located on the northeast coast of the peninsula. Both cities are in the state of Quintana Roo with Chetumal serving as the capital, although many think Cancún is the capital.

Both cities are on the sites of former Mayan settlements. The land of Chetumal is made up of tropical rainforests with forest products such as lumber and chicle serving as major exports historically. Recently, Chetumal became a major site for trade between México and Belize as well as a tourism site. Cancún was a small town that focused on fishing and gathering until 1970 when the Mexican Cancún, México government chose the location to be developed for international tourists. Currently, Cancún is almost exclusively a tourist town with a much larger population of around 890,000 people compared to Chetumal’s roughly 170,000 people. The entire city is made to serve the resorts on Cancún Island that are right on the shore of the Caribbean Sea. Money made from tourism accounts for almost half of the city’s entire Gross Domestic Product, making Cancún the most tourist-dependent city in the world in 2018.

Images from flickr.com and commons.wikimedia.org Syracuse Stage 12

Get Involved At Syracuse Stage!

Young Adult Council (YAC) The Young Adult Council is a place for teens to meet other CNY students with an interest in theatre, have a voice in the programming designed for them, and explore how theatre impacts their lives. The program focuses on peer led discussion and events in addition to advocating for theatre and arts participation to fellow students. YAC members also get a free ticket to each show in the current Syracuse Stage season.

Young Playwrights Festival Every year Syracuse Stage invites Central New York high school students to write original ten-minute plays and other performance pieces for entry into our annual Young Playwrights Festival contest. Our panel of theatre and literary professionals evaluates each student's play. Semifinalists are invited to attend a writing workshop with Syracuse Stage where their plays will be read and critiqued. Finalists will see their plays performed as staged readings by Syracuse University Drama Students.

Find out more at www.syracusestage.org/education Syracuse Stage 13

Sources “Course:GEOG352/2019/Environmental Impacts of Tourism in Cancún - UBC Wiki.” Wiki.ubc.ca, 2019, www.wiki.ubc.ca/Course:GEOG352/2019/Environmental_Impacts_of_Tourism_in_Canc%C3%BAn. “Living beyond Borders.” www.goodreads.com, www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/48920181-living-beyond-borders.

Patel, Kasha. “How Cancún Grew into a Major Resort.” Earthobservatory.nasa.gov, 24 Jan. 2020, www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146194/how-cancun-grew-into-a-major-resort.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Cancún | Mexico.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Cancun.

---. “Chetumal | History & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Chetumal.

Yucatán Magazine. “Report: Cancun Is World’s Most Tourist-Dependent City.” Yucatán Magazine, 16 Nov. 2018, www.yucatanmagazine.com/report-cancun-is-worlds-most-tourist-dependent-city/.

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