To become a Butterfly

There was a hilarious moment in the rehearsal process for IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES by Caridad Svich where I was working a specific scene,  focused on my tactics and my motivation.  I was dropped into my character when suddenly I felt my director’s hands on my shoulders. I pulled out of the scene to realize he was adjusting my posture.

This may not seem hilarious to most people, but I remember thinking, “Oh, Dr. Pomo, nobody stands up straight anymore” But he was right. I can not play a revolutionary if I don’t stand up straight.

To tell this specific story of the Mirabal sisters and to express the experiences and emotions as lived by Minerva Mirabal, I needed to know more than what Caridad Svich so eloquently expressed within the pages of the script.

I decided to pick up the novel (of the same name) by Julia Alvarez and read it a total of three times. My first read was strictly for content, second for notes and analysis on everything relating to Minerva, and a third time to combine both content and characterization. Once the novel was read, I compared my text analysis to my script analysis.

This also meant researching historical data on the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, The Movement of The Fourteenth of June, and knowing each Mirabal sister. All of this research lead me to combine political and historical references against the very personal emotions and thoughts conveyed throughout Julia Alvarez’s novel and Caridad Svich’s script; the real work began.

Some actors work outside-in, some work inside-out. Whichever process an actor chooses, we must prepare. For me, this meant to look, talk, think, sit, stand, walk--in short to become Minerva Mirabal. What experience was she coming from? What is she moving towards? What was her plan? Why? What did she want to happen? These questions I found answers to not only in my script/textual analysis, but in some philosophical and historical analysis as well.

So, when I think back to that day in rehearsal as Dr. Pomo corrected something as simple as my posture, I can’t help but laugh because although I knew all the history, all the thoughts, all the philosophy of Minerva, I am not a butterfly if my shoulders are slumped over.

Acting is about finding the truth. Acting is about combining the textual with the physical. It’s about transforming your research and studies into a physical embodiment of that character. Getting there takes years of practice—from classroom training to research and text study to rehearsal to the actual performance.

And with all of this, comes a struggle to be “good.” Being “good” at being this character. I have the research in my hands and my years of actor training--but still the pressure to be “good” was sitting in the back of my mind.

And in that moment that Dr. Pomo adjusted my shoulders, I realized  how little being “good” mattered to Minerva. What truly mattered was being. I needed to get out of my own way to serve their story, her story. By simply breathing into my feet, pulling my shoulders back, tilting my head high and giving my conscious mind the research, I allowed my subconscious mind to do its best work.

I wanted to know her story, which I found through my research. I wanted to find her voice, which I knew would be stronger than my own. I wanted to radiate her presence, which you’ll see to be fierce. I wanted to be The Mariposa: Minerva Mirabal, and then I was.