Proposal of Scene

My proposal is quite ambitious, however with hard work I think it could be very interesting. I imagine a selection of three or four different characters. I am thinking the mother from Night Women, the boy on the boat in Children of Sea, Guy from Wall of Fire Rising, then lastly he young daughter from 1937. While these characters are my first preference, I am open to changing them. I see the scene taking place in a coffee shop or a bar of some sort. The lighting would be very low and there would be one spotlight center stage. The characters would all be sitting at different chairs, all facing in different directions. The scene would begin with white noise, then the noise would fade however return after the people perform. This noise and minimal set/light would allow the characters to be focused on, and the nose would give an eerie feel to the moment.

The characters would all be attending an open-mic/poetry reading night. Each character would come prepared with a 2 minute monologue, spoken word, poetry etc. The writings would all have to do with one major theme from the character's chapters. Night Women would do a spoken poem on the contrast she feels between her son and her work. The poem would be passionate and angry. I imagine it to be aggressive, but also very emotional. The boy from the boat would talk about love and revolution, and how they conflict. This would also be very emotional and a bit depressing, however a balance of hope would have to shine through. Then, Guy would talk about death, poverty and touch upon gender roles. The girl from 1937, would bring in the themes of legacy, history and Haiti as a whole. Each character's poetry/spoken word would be both acting and writing challenges. Although, I believe this is a unique way to touch many themes of the book without being obvious.

After each person performed their poetry, the characters would find themselves in conversation about each other's stories. They would relate to each other, complement each other and discuss their differences. The dialogue would be very casual, as the vibe of the coffee house would be very 'chill'. The white noise would return and suddenly the lights would go out. The next scene would be the mother from Night Women, in her home reflecting. She would discuss the other performances, and have a more honest reflection of her own story. The scene would be one chair and a simple spotlight within darkness on the actor. This would be the same scene for all four actor's. Each would reflect and question their own stories. The end of the production would be them each coming back onto stage in bright light. The actors would hold hands and perform a spoken word as one, in character, reflecting on story telling. Other stories from the book would be introduced shortly, and details about Danticat would surface. The final aspect of the show would be them all embracing. I am not sure if this is enough acting, however it is a lot of character study to write and perform the spoken words I have in mind.