Scenes from a Telenovela: Jorge
Year: 2018.
Type: Theaters, Stage Designs.
A novela or soap opera is narrated by a filter, a person who chooses what stories to use, how to showcase those stories, what parts to leave out, what perspectives to center, and most importantly how to create drama within these stories. “Scenes from a Telenovela,” is a fiction-reality. It is the story of my uncle Jorge and his life after his immigration to Los Angeles in the 1960’s. When I first heard the story from my uncle’s perspective, it was filled with sorrow and happiness. However, my grandmother’s side of the story was always full of anguish, excitement, and drama. These stories are pieced from a first, second, third, and even fourth person in order to highlight the cacophony of voices that make up the story.
Selected as a Winner for American Illustrations
LIVE: The US-Mexico Border.
Jorge was born on September 5, 1950 in Guerrero, Mexico. He was born in a time when the United States contracted Mexican farm workers to work in the U.S. through the Bracero Program. Although the program was terminated in 1964, the migration from Mexico to the U.S. continued to appeal to many generations of Mexicans since there were more economic opportunities for them in the U.S. than in Mexico. On August 24, 1967 Jorge leaves Mexico
Scene 1: Alive in Los Angeles.
Characters: Jorge (Main character) & Adrian (Stranger)
Camera angle: Top left, 120 feet above the left platform.
Voiceover/Non-Diegetic Music: Aunque no sea conmigo (Even if it's not with me) by Celso Peña ft. Cafe Tacuba.
Action: [After seventeen year old Jorge arrives to South Central, Los Angeles from Mexico, he has to live outside a gas station for eight months as a homeless man. It is November 18, 1967 and he encounters Adrian, a stranger walking down a street on a sunny, bright day].
Jorge: [coughs] Excuse me Sir…
Adrian: [grunts]
Jorge: Sir, can you please help me?
Adrian: [whispers while walking] What?
Jorge: I can’t seem to find the street Slauson. Is it nearby?
Adrian: It’s close if you drive, but far if you walk. It’s that direction. [points north of the stage]
Jorge: Thank you very much sir, I am trying to find a person my Ma told me about. Would you want to buy this pendant? It’s very expensive.
Adrian: No thank you. [hurries out]
Jorge: Please sir, I have no money to take the bus, I’m homeless, please help me out!
Adrian: I said NO, please… [a loud explosion happens nearby]
Jorge: What was that!?
Adrian: Oh my god, the gas station is in flames!
Jorge: [screams] What! No!
Adrian: [whispers to himself] Oh my god...
Jorge: [runs toward the gas station screaming] My backpack! My clothes! My Stuff! I live outside the gas station!
[Cops, ambulances, fire-trucks, and cars show up at the scene]
***End of Scene 1***
Scene 2: Nereids in the Factory.
Characters: Jorge (Main Character), Rosa (Work colleague), & Maria (Work colleague).
Camera angle: Right side at Eye Level, 25 feet from the stage.
Voiceover/Non-Diegetic Music: Nereidas (Nereid) by Acerina y Su Danzonera
Action: [A few years later Jorge finds a job at a factory making jackets for a small company. It is September 5, 1971, he is happy, sewing a jacket, and looks out a window. Rosa and Maria come in giggling in Jorge’s direction].
Rosa: [shyly] Hi Jorge?
Maria: [giggling] Hey Jorge…
Jorge: [frowns] What happen?
Maria: Oh Jorge! You’re always so serious. We just came to chat.
Jorge: I have a lot of work.
Maria: [takes the gold fabric from Jorge’s hand] Wow that a pretty fabric, what are you sewing with it.
Jorge: [angrily] I have a lot of work!
Maria: Oh come on! So, Rosa and I were wondering about those flowers you have there.
Rosa: [giggles]
Jorge: [annoyed] I have a lot of work girls.
Maria: Just answer the question.
Jorge: Esteban, our boss gave them to me. It’s my birthday.
Maria: Oh my god! Happy Birthday! [hugs Jorge]
Rosa: [giggling] Happy Birthday. [touches Jorge on the arm]
Jorge: Thank you. I have to finish this Jacket today and I’m behind.
Maria: Let’s go out for drinks after work!
Rosa: [screams] Yes!
Jorge: I can’t, I have to get to my next job after work.
Maria: [frowning] You can’t skip it?
Jorge: [face turns red]
Rosa: We should go Maria.
Maria: Oh Alright, but I’m taking your coke! [snatches the soda bottle]
Maria: Bye Jorge. Happy Birthday.
Rosa: [sighs] Happy Birthday Jorge.
[Jorge continues to sew while more people come to congratulate him]
***End of Scene 2***
Scene 3: The Wake in Construction.
Characters: Jorge (Main character), Ms. Elva (Flower vendor), Sara (Rosa’s mom)
Camera angle: Center, 75 feet above the main entrance.
Voiceover/Non-Diegetic Music: La Huella de Mis Besos (The Footprint of My Kisses) by Chelo Silva.
Action: [It is the evening of June 21, 1981, the air is still, the sun fiery-bright, and the world seems too big for Jorge. He has fallen in love and is walking over to where his date lives. On his way to see her, he stops in front of a church. Jorge is a religious man, but he is not there to see the church. He stops to buy flowers from an old woman, Ms. Elva, standing in front of the church].
Jorge: Hi, Ms. Elva. How are you today?
Ms. Elva: Hi Jorge, you’re happy today.
Jorge: [blushes] I want to buy a bouquet of flowers.
Ms. Elva: [delightfully] Oh. Who’s the lucky lady?
Jorge: [blushes]
Ms Elva: Well I don’t have any bouquets today. I only have funeral arrangements right now.
[Jorge looks directly in front of the church. He could smell the incense coming from inside the church and the mourning of wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, children and family].
Jorge: Is there a funeral?
Ms. Elva: Yes, that is why I am out here selling these arrangements.
Jorge: I feel sorry for everyone in there.
Ms. Elva: Now, now, take this single rose. [hands Jorge a rose and says with a flirtatious voice] A single flower says more, it’s romantic. It’s more intimate. On the house!
Jorge: Wow, thanks Miss Elva! You made my day! Have a good evening!
Ms. Elva: [Waves] Bye Jorge.
[As he approaches to see his loved one, he feels a sense of fright, but a bit of fret as well. Like fruit-flies flying in his stomach; like all eyes were on him. He knocks with his key on the grey fence and waits. He knocks again and waits. No answer. As he is ready to walk away, he hears the door cringe and open. From far away, a crying woman steps out and approaches Jorge. Her eyes were as fiery-bright as the evening sun and her voice sounds like an untuned organ.]
Sara: [crying] Jorge…
Jorge: What’s wrong?
Sara: [crying]
Jorge: Sara, are you okay?
Sara: [cries louder]
Jorge: [shakes Sara’s arms] Sara what’s wrong!?
Sara: [murmurs] Jorge...Rosa passed, she’s dead, she’s gone!
[Sara runs back in the house.]
***End of Scene 3***
Scene 4: A Caged Home.
Characters: Jorge (Main character) & Sofia (Jorge’s mom)
Camera angle: Left side, 30 feet from the stage, 10 feet above eye level.
Voiceover/Non-Diegetic Music: Sin Pensar en tí (Without thinking about you) by Celio Gonzales.
Action: [It’s December 22, 2017, Jorge has permanently brought his mother from Mexico and they are both sitting at his house watching television. Jorge gets up to change the channel.]
Sofia: Son, put channel 34. The news is about to start.
Jorge: [angrily] Why do you always want to watch the news!
Sofia: [in a loud voice] How else are we supposed to know when bad things are happening?
Jorge: Mom! We have two doors that are always locked, a gate outside, and I only go to work and the grocery store! How is anything bad going to happen? You don’t even get out the house!
Sofia: [frowns]
Jorge: I’m sorry Ma. I’m just tired, I’ve been living in Los Angeles for forty-eight years and have not stepped out at all. Maybe we should move somewhere else?
Sofia: [confused] Move? Where? To Mexico? We are not going back there!
Jorge: No Ma, somewhere in the states.
Sofia: [mad] I am not moving from here! No sir, I am not! Visit somewhere!
Jorge: [pensive] And who’s going to take care of you?
Sofia: Martha!
Jorge: [screaming] Martha can’t even crack an egg! Yet alone cook it!
Sofia: [sigh]
Jorge: [sigh]
[Jorge turns back to the television and changes the channel to the news.]
***End of Scene 4***