I am currently working through a list of new plays published and premiered in the 2019-20 season. Scissoring became the first on my list as I looked for plays written by women about women, people of color, and queer individuals. Scissoring features an almost exclusively female cast who are racially diverse, as specifically mentioned in the dramatis personae and in the dialogue of the play. In addition to requiring diverse casting, the main character and her partner are in a queer relationship. These are my thoughts after having read the play.
Abigail is an African-American, queer woman living in present-day New Orleans with her partner, Josie. She struggles to reconcile her Catholic upbringing with her sexuality, all while trying to navigate teaching at a girls-only Catholic high school. Scissoring illustrates the clash of tradition with the contemporary of the late 2010’s. Her central character finds herself conflicted between her admiration for the Catholic faith and its blatant rejection of who she is. During her time at the school, Abigail must tread lightly around her co-workers and lie about her relationship, causing tensions across her life. Throughout Scissoring, Abigail struggles to please her boss, her coworker, and her partner until, guided by Father Ray and two allies from the distant past, she finds acceptance within herself. Quintana uses contemporary devices, including the animation of typically inanimate objects, and imaginary characters to demonstrate Abigail’s inner turmoil throughout the play.
THE PLACE
Scissoring takes place during the 2017-2018 school year in New Orleans, specifically in Uptown and the Marigny, a place flourishing with artists, although it is more gentrified in its post-Katrina years, as the playwright points out. Location plays an important role in the play, as it helps define the characters’ backgrounds. Uptown is home to St. Elizabeth Rose, the all-girls, predominately white, Catholic school that employs Abigail. Most of the interactions between Abigail, Elaine, and Celia (her boss and coworker, respectively) happen at the school; unsurprisingly, Uptown becomes a place of suppression for Abigail. On the other hand, the Marigny is the funky artists’ community within New Orleans. While Abigail is able to feel comfortable and express her sexuality at home in the Marigny, its contrast to Uptown creates dissonance within the play, Abigail’s mind, and her relationships. The strict and oppressive Uptown clashes with the free and open Marigny, just as Abigail’s Catholic upbringing clashes with her sexuality.
THE CHARACTERS
In addition to believable, modern individuals, Quintana mixes in resurrected historical figures as well as an animated P.A. System to make an outstanding ensemble of characters. The character of the P.A. System, who only appears as a supernatural entity to Abigail, functions as multiple, antagonistic voices in her consciousness. Voices heard through the P.A. System include St. Elizabeth, gossiping coworkers, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. These voices often bombard Abigail with harsh criticisms that reinforce her insecurities.
On the contrary, Elenor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok, who also only appear to Abigail, serve as a guiding consciousness for her throughout the play. As a history teacher, Abigail looks up to these two figures from the past, especially for their bravery in pursuing their passions in a world where women were supposed to be accessories to men. In addition to their career ambitions, Lorena and Elenor possessed a deep love for each other, as exemplified in Rodger Streitmatter’s book, Empty Without You: The Intimate Letters of Elenor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok (which is listed as a suggested reading for this play).
The characters of Elenor and Lorena in Scissoring help Abigail understand how she takes up space as an LGBTQ+ woman in America, and they encourage her to peruse her dreams despite the obstacles she may face. They also help her come to the realization that she is more than her sexuality and that she doesn’t have to be in a committed partnership to live an accomplished life.
THE SPOILERS
While these figures add depth and understanding for Abigail’s character, I feel other characters in the play suffer from a lack of development. In particular, I wish I knew more about Elaine, Abigail’s boss, and Josie, her partner. I wanted to see more of an arc for Josie and Abigail’s relationship; at the beginning of the play, they are interrupted by Elaine during a Mardi Gras weekend parade, and immediately we see that their relationship will suffer during the play. I wish we had more time to invest in their relationship and to develop more sympathy for these two characters together, so that the audience could really share their poignant moment in the final scene.
The character of Elaine also begs for more development. We know that she is a devout Catholic, a Black woman, and a widow, but we know little else; given such a small description, I felt her character was very flat and predictable. As a reader and audience member, I would like to see more layers to her. The writing for this character left me with questions at the end of her time onstage: Why does she lean so much on the rumor that Abigail is a widow? And why does she let Abigail stay until the end of the year once she confesses her truth? I can’t help but believe there is more to this character than her dialogue portrays. After all, she is a Black woman in a position of acute power at predominately white institution. I would have liked to see more nuances with this character, who has the potential to be an even more powerful and dynamic figure in the play.
THE CONCLUSION
Although there are parts of this play that I wish were more developed, I enjoyed reading it and would enthusiastically buy a ticket to see it on the stage. I feel this script readily incorporates the magic of the theatre, and would benefit from the life-giving elements of theatrical design. If the characters of Elenor, Lorena, and the P.A. System don’t already present an exciting challenge to directors and designers, Scissoring’s fragmented structure will. All of Quintana’s scenes melt into one another and demand seamless and instant transitions. The settings are each described as a “semblance” of and apartment or classroom, requiring that scenery be minimal yet immediately recognizable. Similarly, characters must appear out of nowhere: in one transition, the P.A. System “shape shifts” into two people. Quintana expertly sets up her play to accommodate the enticing and necessary theatrical magic that can only be experienced during a live performance.
