Mermaid in Transit

"How's that mermaid dress coming?" people ask me. Friends, relatives, colleagues, and even a city bus driver I happen to know. I can't escape talking about the process. Artists don't often make the artistic process transparent because it's such a fragile period. Yes, I am feeling vulnerable, thanks for asking. Ask a caterpillar what it's like turning into an entomological soup in a cocoon and I'm sure he'll tell you there are some hairy moments. Anyway, I'm in the deep rehearsal stage. The script is written and now it's a matter of getting it off the page and into my body. However my body has a mind of its own. It wants walk, garden, eat, and laze around on the couch reading mystery novels. I'm at the point where I need to "over-learn" the text, rehearse it and block it over and over in a variety of ways so that in performance I will be able to adapt the actions to the venue. I am my own director in this case, so I have to relay on my third eye.

The story itself is called The Laughing Dress and is inspired by a particularly slippery mermaid tale, the medieval story of Melusine. Originating in France, it was one of the spinning tales women told while they were spinning yarn or thread. The first recorded version, by William de Portenach has been lost. It was this story, among others that Jean d'Arras researched when he wrote the tale down in the late 1300's. It was so popular that Melusine was translated into German, Dutch, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, and Italian. At the heart of the story is a mythical marriage between a fantastical female creature and a human man. Melusine's husband must agree to give her absolute privacy when she is taking her Saturday night bath. When he breaks the vow and curses her, Melusine must leave.

This story is an example of pagan culture meeting Christian tradition. Melusine is a pre-Christian water sprite, daughter of Fey Pressine. One one version of the story Melusine promises to pray to God and go to Church like a good Christian wife. Since she is doomed at the end of the story, it serves as a warning to those who cling to pagan ideals. Martin Luther believed the story of Melusine and condemned her as a succubus. There is another story I read about mountain women in Europe, the Hulder-Maidens, who have little tails that drop off when they are married in a Christian Church. "I pronounce you man and wife. Plop. You may now kiss the bride!" (This story is in a book called Trolls compiled and illustrated by Doug Cushman.)

My Melusine story is like a painting that has been inspired by and painted on top of earlier works. We scrape the surface to see what lies beneath. Each version of the story reveals something of the context in which it was created. My version is a murder mystery inspired by the slew of British mystery novels I consume weekly. Well, that's all for now folks, I'd better get back to work.