Monday,
August 07, 2006
"In Spite of Myself": Relationship of
Italian Mother and her Americanized Daughter
The ANNOTICO Report
"In Spite of Myself" is a play that examines
the relationship between an Italian mother and her Americanized
daughter, and the gap between cultures and generations, done in
exquisite monologue form by actress turned writer Antoinette LaVecchia .
The relationship is often confusing and commanding, as
well as distant yet close, offers a mysterious chain of conflict and
harmony. Every minute of this show, even its most hilarious moments, hides a
nagging desire for understanding.
In Spite of Myself
The Performance of a Lifetime
Letizia Airos
from
When Italian-American theater
becomes universal: the exquisite monologue by Antoinette LaVecchia
on the relationship between an Italian mother and her Americanized daughter as
well as the spectacular play THE SWEEPERS by John Picardi.
Whoever is expecting to see a regular play about the relationship between a
mother and daughter, even according to the gap between cultures and
generations, will be amazed. Even from the opening seconds of the monologue,
you can tell that the woman standing in the middle of the stage wants to give
all of herself to her audience. She is engaged, excited, unpredictable, and
even melancholic at times, but she is always full of subtle irony. In this
piece, the Italian-American actress and writer, Antoinette LaVecchia,
relates the lack of communication between an Italian-American mother and her
Americanized daughter while showing their diverse levels of communica!
tion. Mother-daughter
relationships are often confusing and commanding, as well as distant yet close
thanks to a mysterious chain of conflict and harmony. Every minute of this
show, even its most hilarious moments, hides a nagging desire for
understanding.
At the beginning of the show, we find Antoinette describing
her birth. The psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung once said that every woman
contains her own mother and her own daughter within her inner self. The
irreverent, instinctive, and, at times, profane gestures that the actress uses
to simulate her birth question us about the mystery of this blessed event. The
audience is not just watching a birth; Antoinette, in her movements and through
her voice, allows us to enter the uterus of her mother while she is giving
birth. We watch and live the first moments of the newborn who is about to make
her initial contact with the outside world and who literally has to detach
herself from her mothers umbilical cord. We follow Antoinette until the
moment of her birth. At the same time, we watch the contractions, the
pain, and the fear of her mother; we also hear her internal cry of Go back
inside. The act of b! irth
is there in front of our eyes in its purest and crudest form.
From this point on, mother and daughter confront their own
unique identities by following a path that constantly shifts between moments of
attraction and repulsion. The entire monologue is a brilliantly improvised
crescendo during which the Italian-American experience transcends ethnic
boundaries and assumed universal characteristics.
An instinctive actress: Antoinette LaVecchia tells us
about her autobiographical monologue IN SPITE OF MYSELF.
My mother hasn
There is irony and anger but also tenderness, distance, and reflection: two
women tell their life stories in an unsuspecting show of similarities. The
crucial moments of family life are relived across a series of flashbacks and
therapeutic self-evaluation where the mother figure is often found to be at
fault, There
This sense of constant guilt where it seems obligatory to feel condemned to a
certain lifestyle clashes with the daughter
The mother-daughter voices are striking; they look for each other, even if they
don
We met the writer-actress, Antoinette LaVecchia, at
the end of her performance. From the second she opened her mouth, it was easy
to understand that her involvement in this show is not only professional but
also personal.
"My mother has never seen this show, she might
see it sometime next week. I am a little nervous but I think it will do her
good to see it. I am very sure that my way of life, especially my divorce, has
made her reflect on her own lifestyle and, as a result, she has become more
independent as a person. She is now 57 years old and thanks to her interactions
with other people, she is getting stronger. It took her 10 years to learn
English and she lived an isolated life which she devoted to the needs of her
family.
Antoinette, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you
were able to write this very personal piece.
"My family is originally from
When did you write this monologue?
"I didn
The story that you portray is found within the
Italian-American culture. Do you think the message it contains goes beyond
cultural boundaries?
"Certainly. The mother-daughter relationship that
I describe has a universal appeal. Many women have seen themselves in what they
have seen on stage and they were not Italian-American.
How do you think that women in American cinema and theater are portrayed?
"They are often portrayed badly. The representations are not true to life:
the female voice has not yet been heard as it deserves to he.
Let
"I like her strengththere are women out there who are like that. But the
character herself is exaggerated: she is too masculine. Also, the
representation of the Mafia is overdone and unrealistic. There is too much
fiction...
Do you have any projects for the future?
"I would like to talk more about families and
relationships. I enjoy acting; I am an actressbut this experience of being a
writer has been amazing.
Is there an actress that influences your work?
Without a doubt Anna Magani. She has a very instinctive acting
style.
It is true, the most striking part of In Spite Of Myself is Antoinette
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