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Courtesy of 'The Rest I Make Up'
The Rest I Make Up: Maria Irene Fornes
The Rest I Make Up has three characters.
1) Cuban-American Maria Irene Fornes (May 14, 1930 – October 30, 2018), is the legendary off-Broadway playwright who wrote more than 40 plays, won nine Obies, and mentored countless playwrights
2) Michelle Memran is the journalist and filmmaker who first met and interviewed Fornes in 1999, and produced and directed this thoroughly engaging portrait of Fornes. Beginning in 2003, Memran spent time filming with Fornes in New York, Cuba, and Miami. The playwright was experiencing memory loss, eventually diagnosed as Alzheimer’s.
3) The third character in The Rest I Make Up is the camera. Memran is concurrently holding the camera and dialoguing with Fornes. Here, the camera becomes a medium of connection rather than a barrier to connection.
Memran’s portrait of Fornes is of a delightful, intelligent, passionate, creative, accomplished woman with a golden heart. Yes, Memran does confront the subject of memory loss, but in doing so it becomes clear that the above-mentioned qualities are still present—as words and time conduct Maria Irene Fornes to her passing.
The Rest I Make Up filled my memory with the feeling of a sparkling bright presence.