some act 3 thoughts from rebecca

From rebecca martinez...

I had a conversation with Joaquin about it, he has family in Mexico who are very poor, who are culturally night and day from him and when he and his brother go to visit, there is always an education that takes place, so that they can understand each other, even though their lives are close to incomprehensible.



They relate on a fundamental level, about family, about how each other’s life is on a day to day level, about what the other does each day to get some sort of sense of the other person.



About what each person does to take care of their basic needs, such as food, shelter, etc…




Food is a big way they relate. He told me about his aunt who cooks on an old wood burning stove (which is all she uses) and with the simplest ingredients makes items that are amazing in taste and simplicity, but using just what she has on hand. The resources available, and how that changes and differs according to place. We've talked about it before, but is this one of the conversation starters?


(Also, we spoke about his plans for his company, and how they are structuring a meal around the evolution of a relationship, for example, a salad with several unique ingredients that are all visible on their own, but then are put together to blend, creating story in this. He is very interested in learning what the story/conflict can be in Act 3 to build the menu around that in a narrative and sensory fashion.)


The other thing, of course, this lead me to think of is that there needs to be a desire to connect with others in the first place, so I asked him. His response was that he is interested in where he comes from, where his father comes from - from the land.



Of course, most people in this country come from rural roots if you go back far enough.



It seems like we need to peel away the surface and get to the core of the matter, what is it that people relate to? What is it that will interest them enough to get them to engage with other who are different?



What speaks to people as a whole?



We also spoke about a time when he went to see a play at Sandy Actors Theatre with his dad, who heard it was such a wonderful play. Joaquin was in the front, all dressed in black and cynical, and hated the play and the acting was terrible, etc, etc, but the audience was weeping at the end because it so reflected their experience that it pulled him into their world. I was very interested in that moment, in figuring out with him why he suddenly became engaged in this sense of community when previously he was so opposite. What he said was,



“I’m so disconnected from connecting that I connect to virtuosity and talent instead of just coming together and letting the meaning being in that”



What is it that we can ask people to engage in that has a fundamental meaning?



Is it asking tables to create a toast about, not where to live, but what their ideal of a place to live would look like/be?



Is it asking them to create a toast to reflect the core values of those at the table as a way to give the bride and groom a way to guide their own life together?



Is there a fundamental difference between the couple that requires the collective brain and emotional power of 100 people to help them discover that at their core they are fundamentally compatible and the differences are superficial?



In the end, people relate to things that reflect them personally, and if they can see this on the ‘other side’, does that do anything?



It’s all very utopian, and I can’t help thinking about BUILT and the build your own city and I’m wondering if something of that on a different and expanded level needs to be in act 3.



Those are my thoughts….