by Maria Staiano-Daniel
Daily Lobo
Playwright Elana Greenfield likes to write plays that defy the rules of genre and force the audience to pay closer attention.
Tricklock Company will present two of the visiting UNM professor plays, "Nine Come" and "Possessed by a Demon: Two Tales of the Devil," at Rodey Theater this Friday as part of the Words Afire Festival.
Greenfield said "Possessed by a Demon" is the story of two women's encounters with the devil. "Nine Come" was harder for her to describe.
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"It's impossible for me to synopsize," she said. "Since no one would help me, I came up with three different ones."
These synopses range from a love story broken by war to historicism at the sushi bar. In general, Greenfield said, "Nine Come" deals with how war and violence affect memory.
Greenfield began writing plays in her mid-twenties, after writing fiction and poetry. She still writes poetry and short stories, as well as what she calls cross-genre works.
Greenfield's plays might be cross-genre works themselves, since they don't follow the traditional rules of onstage narration.
"Some people don't call them plays," she said.
According to Greenfield, the rules of a genre, while elegant and pleasant to use, can be limiting, and rules allow laziness from the audience.
"Because they're known containers, people could be less attentive than they should be to what's inside," she said.
Greenfield is inspired by writers who perceive the world in new ways and challenge the preconceptions of their readers.
She is also inspired by language. Greenfield said growing up bilingual made her realize how much language influences the way we see the world.
"If you don't have a word for something, it controls what you think exists," she said.
Greenfield is amazed by the Words Afire Festival, having never encountered a program that lets student playwrights see their work performed. She wondered if the participants realize how lucky they are to have such an opportunity.
Greenfield will stay at UNM only for the fall semester, teaching a graduate play writing workshop and an upper-level class in writing for performance. She hopes students will leave her classes with a set of tools they can use in future writing. Greenfield also wants to create an open and respectful environment for them.
"I want them to feel a certain freedom," she said.
Greenfield was impressed by the quality of theater in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. All the productions she attended were energetic, and their caliber was stellar, she said.
"I think it's very exciting, theatrically, here," she said.
At first, Greenfield said, she was scared to come to Albuquerque. She said she hasn't felt comfortable outside of New York City for a long time.
Greenfield said New Mexico's desert beauty reminds her of the Middle East, where she lived as a child.
"I feel like I should have had a passport to get into New Mexico," she said.
