Walking Segre. December.

Walking Segre. December.

Told-you-so versions of

anthocyanin + my own guesswork

make demands I’m willing to meet

somewhere around halfway online.

Colors of winter weedpatch tangle

are in there somewhere, vying with

rivercurrents, a light breeze, enough

sunshine staining the canvas that

won’t work but has to be tried.

In memory (aided by photos) eye

struggles along the coat phrase of

earths, red wines, some whites even,

the swirl of branches stared at

from the rocky unpaved pathway. 

Schiller's "Mary Stuart" at the Teatre Lliure

Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart as currently staged at the Teatre Lliure in Barcelona presents a minimalist confinement of the Scottish queen’s forced confrontation with her English counterpart. Acting opens behind iron prison bars on an otherwise bare stage with few other props than a writing desk. As events continue a few added suggestions are considered necessary and added sparingly—a handful of chairs replace the bars, invoking Elizabeth’s court, a large lantern is set swinging, crucially invoking the passage of time and the English queen’s famous indecisiveness about signing Mary’s death warrant. Or is the slowness of enlightenment being noted as well, a different view of history somehow held back by Machiavellian circles? In any case director Sergi Belbel places the audience on two sides of this simple jail, “casting” them as it were in one sense outside, in another, inside its bars.

The Catalan translation, not surprisingly, is briskly spoken. Also, in keeping with the play’s economy, the more than 17 actors called for in Schiller’s original are reduced to seven. The narrative of events leading up to the play’s immediate events then has to be set out as context by the actors that survive the cuts. This also reflects on one of the play’s historical concepts, “the people,” expressed (for example) in Elizabeth’s concern for public opinion. However from the outset we know one basic thing about the ending: Mary will be beheaded. That stark image offers some understanding of Schiller’s decision to fictionalize (among other things) the face to face meeting between the two monarchs. For while that meeting never took place, the two did exchange letters, offering some insight into their different psychological make up. Mock-up reinventions like Mary Stuart expand our understanding and expectations of the history involved. Perhaps the psychological feature is Schiller’s greatest gift to the play’s twenty-first century actors in business suits whose roles as advisors to the queen are so well performed. Bravo Lliure!

Information about the production is at http://www.teatrelliure.com/en/agenda/temporada-2015-2016/maria-estuard

Catalan Independence

Catalan Independence

Two of my main media sources on the Catalan independence process are the daily newspapers Ara and La Vanguardia. Both of these publications have online versions which I recommend. By way of example, a recent article in the “Debate” section of the former, by the economist Miquel Puig and titled “República i Repúblicans” (Ara 4.xi.2017, p. 33) suggests that “the Process” in Catalonia “has three enemies: impatience, violence, and disunity.” Process in this context, as most readers know, refers to the negotiations necessary to achieve Catalonia’s statehood. Note that independence is looked on here as process, that is, something not immediate, something already implying a good deal of patience and unity. However it is important to address that third “enemy,”  violence, for a good deal of ink flows daily in attempts to counter the fact that Catalan self-determination is (and has been for some thirty of forty years) a peaceful endeavor. An important reminder of this is the repeated affirmations by Catalan leaders regarding the common bonds between the different regions of the Spanish State and beyond. Given the amount of history involved, of course, it would take a good deal of space to explain these things in depth. The main point is that in addition to the historical ties to Spain, there are also—no surprise here—global bonds. Happily Wikipedia and Socialmedia (if I may write it like that) offer the interested reader ample takes on much of this history, both long past and very recent. Additionally “Linguistic sustainability for a multi-lingual humanity,” a paper by Albert Bastardas-Boada of the U. of Barcelona, may help understand wider contexts. Citing from the paper, “Just as sustainable development does not negate the development and the desire for material improvement of human societies but at one and the same time wants to maintain ecosystemic balance with nature, so linguistic sustainability accepts polyglottisation and intercommunication among groups and persons yet still calls for the continuity and full development of human linguistic groups.” And yes there is of course entanglement with well-known arguments on social engagement and poetry. I think these articles well worth the time. Professor Bastardas-Boadas’ bibliography is also good regarding further reading. The link: /https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236214159_Linguistic_Sustainability_for_a_Multilingual_Humanity/

Pond photos retouched

Second attempt.......

Harvest

Harvest

Grapes in abundance—

slash strokes of blue-black,

red violet, hazed amber.

Pendulum heat keeps them

grouped in dusty air,

fall announced like an urge

to squeeze and press along

down cluster-assuaging rage.

Untitled (experimental repost from 20 July 2015)

Buncrana (2)

A view on the hillside,
then panoramas from the beach,
and back up to look out
from the hill to the river...

Heather. Not sure what the yellow flower is...

On the beach, a first attempt at the view out over the river...

Moving to the camera's right...

Back up on the hill and path