"Innocence, tenderness, a sense of humor, a special kind of joy"--these are the ingredients María Irene Fornés wants in her plays. Structure or form makes these ingredients cohere. According to Fornés, structure is not necessarily words or plot but what takes the audience from one thing to another. "Structure is a personal and idiosyncratic sense of order which is abstract and instinctive." She compares structure in drama to form in abstract painting: "When looking at an abstract painting, we see the elements basic to painting. When looking at a figurative or representational painting, we are not as aware of the abstract elements of composition which must be [present] in order for the painting to be good. Structure refers to the basic elements of playwriting which must be there regardless of content."
Her experimental plays have earned her recognition and critical support. Author and critic Phillip Lopate has written that Fornés "helped clear a way through the claustrophobic landscape of Broadway vapidity and Off-Broadway ponderous symbolism, by making theater that was fresh, adventurous, casual, fantastic, perceptive and musical." Like that of many other recent avant-garde playwrights, Fornés's work has earned both recognition and financial support from several universities and philanthropic foundations.
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