The Fantasticks

The long weekend before Agora days, I was in New York City with my mom. On Sunday night, I went to an off-Broadway performance of The Fantasticks. It's extremely relevant to this class so I thought I'd write a bit about it.

The Fantasticks is one of the quintessential examples of a coming of age story. First of all, it's short and doesn't need an intricate set or a lot of people so for a long time it was THE show for high schools to do. The plot and characters of the story are suited for a teenage cast as well. The main characters are a boy, Matt, who is about nineteen years old and a girl, Luisa, who is sixteen. There is a narrator, who doubles as "El Gallo" (who I'll talk about in a bit), Luisa's father, Matt's father, two old stunt men, and a mute character who is basically just a part of the set and does "special effects".

The Narrator opens the show with a song about looking back and remembering sweet, happy times of youth and then the story begins. Matt and Luisa are two starry-eyed teens, anxious to do incredible, daring things, like going on adventures and falling madly in love, so they can be like the characters in books they read and be altogether better than normal. Both spend their days reading and dreaming. Oh, and Matt and Luisa are also neighbors, however they are separated by the wall (played by the mute character) that their fathers' built between their two houses because they are "feuding". It turns out that the two fathers are the best of friends and just trying to create intrigue for their children so they will fall in love. Interestingly enough, it works. The kids do fall in love, or so they think, as they sneak around behind their fathers' backs to see each other.

Now a problem arises: how to end the feud? The fathers cook up a plan and call the resident badass/bandit, El Gallo, to assist them. Their plan is to have El Gallo and his stunt men "attack" and try to "kidnap" Luisa but allow Matt to save her. Then, the fathers' will be brought together by the joy of having both kids home safely. It works. After an absolutely wild "kidnap" scene, Matt is victorious and Matt, Luisa, and the two fathers are all happy. However, as they four stand together in their picturesque tableau, dreaming of their future, the mood is tainted by the ominous message the narrator closes the act with. He asks of the audience, how long will their happiness last.

(Coming of age aspects included: falling in love, Matt protecting Luisa. Naivete still present though. More like a children's story than real life and Matt and Luisa have dreamlike expectations for the future.)

Intermission.

In the second act, the starry-eyed lovers become star-crossed lovers. The fathers fight leading to them revealing that the rape scene was staged. Matt and Luisa subsequently fight. The song "The Plum is too Ripe" repeats the line "from scenic to cynic" which aptly describes their situation. All the fighting leads Matt to choose to go see the wild dangerous world and leaves Luisa disillusioned alone at home. Luisa's silence and depression is interrupted when she, smitten with the danger and opportunity the suave El Gallo represents, convinces him to take her to see the beautiful, sparkling world. However, what she see disturbs her but El Gallo gives her a mask that makes the horrors of the world bearable. In her fantasy will El Gallo, he takes her to a variety of places and everywhere she sees this boy being abused (it's Matt but she won't acknowledge it) but her mask makes the abuse less horrific.

Soon, she's ready to be done with the world but she can't and is stuck on the ride with El Gallo. When she finally returns home, she is further disillusioned when she gives El Gallo her mother's necklace as a pledge of her affection and he runs away with it.

At the same time, Matt is returning from his journey, beaten and battered, and reprises the up beat "I Can See It", adapting it into a contrasting movement revealing all the trials he's had. He sees Luisa, crying after her encounter with El Gallo and goes to her. They are cold to each other at first but once they talk for a while, they realize that they want to be together. This time, however, with some sense of the world and a more realistic view on the future. The families joyfully reunite and the Narrator reprises the opening song but not with nostalgia and fancifulness, but with more wisdom.

(In this act, the children lose their innocence and although it is painful, it is necessary for them to lose naivete to be successful in the world.)

Curtain.

Another aspect of the play worth noting is that both stunt men are really old and experienced and  serve as the funny men for the show. Also, one of the stunt men specializes in death scenes, heavily satirizing violent and awkward deaths and old age.