On Ana Diosdado’s 321, 322
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| Ana Diosdado (Buenos Aires, 1938 - Madrid, 2015) |
An interesting innovation was posed
by playwright (and novelist and actress) Ana Diosdado when 321, 322 premiered in
1991. Unlike Noël Coward’s Suite in Three
Keys (1966), or Neil Simon’s Plaza
Suite (1968) and California Suite
(1976), which showed different occupants of the same hotel suite in each act,
Diosdado’s two-act play stages what is happening in both suite 321 and suite
322 at the same time. No, we are not meaning
a scenic design split in half; the whole stage represents both suites, so their
occupants share the same space (i.e., during performance, the actors playing
characters from one suite take no notice
of the presence of the others throughout the show).
Regarding what is the
predominant interest for us here in spanishgayfiction.blogspot.com,
we are going to respectfully ignore
the events in suite 321, and focus on what is cooking in the other suite. Let’s
take a sneak peek. . .
Jorge and Sara are newlyweds: both young and beautiful and shiny happy at
first sight ― what could be wrong with them? They love playing charades envisioning what their marriage would become several years from then. .
.and the audience can soon notice through these games an obvious underlying
dialogue dripping unexpectedly disillusioned, disquieting thoughts for honeymooners.
Sara seems far from being the
typical bride. In her opinion, the wedding has been ridiculous: both her mother
and Jorge’s quickly took charge of the plans, preventing the bride and groom
from making any single choice. Why the rush after only a three-month engagement?
Jorge told his mother that Sara was pregnant; his family is a wealthy
traditional family, so the wedding had
to be celebrated. Concerning Sara, she does not care; just living with Jorge
and remaining unmarried is OK with her, but ― given her working-class background,
the in-laws presume that she has married Jorge so as to climb the social
ladder. Is she really that ambitious?
The truth is that Sara is not
expecting. How could she? They have never had sex with each other. Sara has
been waiting for tonight to ask Jorge the reason of his unjustified respect for
her all along, as Jorge has already been in the know that she is sexually
experienced. Jorge is reluctant to answer but, after Sara’s strong insistence, he
shyly admits his genuine virginity. His wife finds it peculiar, so she suggests
whether Jorge may not like women at all; Jorge gets serious and claims that he
does indeed. The wife gives in (for the time being) and blames his unspoiled status on his mother’s
hidebound influence. This controlling lady even makes an urging call to her
sonny that night: Thou shalt not covet
thy own wife. . .until she gives birth!! On account of the official version
stating that Sara is only at her second month of pregnancy ― Just do the math. Now
that the bride and groom can enjoy the sweet advantages of marriage, Jorge wants
it to happen pronto; as if it were about a surgical
intervention the patient is hoping to end soon. . .
Another of Jorge’s singularities
is that he usually interacts with an invisible St. Bernard called Buby. According
to him, Buby sleeps every night at the foot of his bed, and tonight is no
exception. Sara has always been understanding and gone along with Jorge, but
she also wonders whether this delusion of his should last much longer ― It
seems to be the night of disclosure, so Jorge reveals that Buby truly existed
in real life; his late father gave it to him when he was a child, and some years
later a truck ran over poor Buby and. . .Back then Mother explained that heaven
is no place for canines, therefore Jorge determined that Buby would stick
around, though unseen. Sara gets emotional, and you can see in her disposition
that she will never try to change her husband’s mind again; Jorge sees her resolution
as a bigger act of love.
Jorge’s life goal was becoming
a professional musician, but his mother persuaded him to get a degree in
business administration instead; furthermore, an occupation in the family
business and a brand-new sumptuous flat are waiting for him after the
honeymoon. As long as they stay together, Sara does not mind Jorge’s career
decision. On the contrary, Jorge feels that his wife got captivated by the
flawless property acquisition, exposing her feigned attitude of unselfish girl
from the wrong side of the tracks. Straightforwardly, Sara questions her
husband whether he believes that she is a gold digger. Jorge does not bother to
deny; then Sara breaks out and asserts that his only aim is acting as a regular
heterosexual guy in his mother’s eyes, since Jorge secretly loves his gay
friend Chema ― What a bomb! Jorge gets incensed; he opts to take Buby for a
walk, and the woeful wife shuts herself in the bedroom.
Later, Jorge comes back to the
suite under the influence, seeking after Sara into the bedroom. After a while,
Sara emerges furiously: she condemns Jorge’s disgusting macho behavior there
in, as if he needed to prove his cojones.
Jorge suggests that they would rather pretend nothing happened and give it
another shot; Sara agrees. . .but this time she will leave the bedroom all
disenchanted.
Subsequently, Sara remembers
how gleeful Jorge looked the happy occasion when they two and Chema danced avidly
all together; now it is about time that Jorge must choose only one dancing
partner. Eventually, Jorge confesses that he has been in love with Chema; Sara reacts
proposing a separation. He worries about scandal, and vows to be always
faithful. But now Sara is positive that Jorge got married because this is a
much comfier position for him than an openly gay relationship;[1]
she recommends Jorge to quit the family job and go on tour with his band, of
which Chema is also a member. Some months later, when Jorge will be back, they
can discuss their future; right now he must leave Sara alone in the suite and
book another one ― tomorrow he shall take Sara back to her family home.
All is over for this young
couple. . .Or at least that is what it seemed; before tomorrow comes, Jorge
enters back the suite determined to talk Sara into not throwing in the towel for
now. Jorge agrees about the tour, but with a difference this time: one band
member less ― yes, that one ― and for
good. Sara is finally at ease now; so the reunited are ready for their first breakfast
together as a married couple. . .and Buby can wait outside. THE END.
However ― what will become of
these poor guys? Why should Sara trust that her husband will never break his
vow? How can Jorge be sure that he will never fall for another man again? Are
they really going to make each other happy, or devastatingly frustrated
instead? Well, life is too complicated ― we all should agree about that. While
we keep caught in this web of mingled yarn, Diosdado’s characters decide to put
the ill aside. It might only take the time they are enjoying their breakfast,
but no one can refuse to this pair their right to esteem that they have found
Prince Charming in each other for a while ― the rest of their lives? Not our
business.
We are not going to conceal
that we have an annoying feeling with this play. Jorge’s homosexuality is more
or less subtly related to an absent father and a possessive mother; thus, Jorge
is depicted as quite naïve and confused. . .He even stays friends with an
invisible dog from childhood now in his twenties! ― No problem so far: a
positive picture of a gay man does not need to portray a kind of absolute
superman. But we find rather controversial the idea that his sexual orientation
is just a childish stage from which one could get over with the little help of a regular woman with a down-to-earth
viewpoint that Sara (arguably) represents. We are dealing with a piece of
literature from the last decade of the 20th century here; not too
distant from our times and customs ― that is why we expect a less therapeutic, more normalized treatment of the topic.[2]
Anyway, our reading might be
much more serious than what Ana Diosdado could probably expect when she wrote
the play: the stage directions suggest an unreal atmosphere, so let’s think
that the author was, just like her creations, fooling around.
[1] Remember the fact that 321, 322 premiered in the early 1990s, when same-sex marriage was a
still-to-be-legalized right to fight for.
[2] We can find a similar situation in Diosdado’s script for a popular
Spanish TV series: Segunda enseñanza (“Secondary
Education”), 1986. In episode 8, “Tabúes” (“Taboos”), a female student, Sisi (Aitana
Sánchez-Gijón), expresses her feelings for her female teacher Rosa (Ana Marzoa); in response, Rosa hopes that Sisi’s
homosexuality is just a teen phase that she is just going through ― if not, the
girl will have a friend in her, in any case.
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