by May Mahala, Dramaturgical Staff

Mahala: What is unique about directing a play like Sex Diary of an Infidel at Penumbra? Do you find a different attention to cultural nuance working for an African American theatre company? While this play takes place in the Philippines and Australia, do you see the play as having any particular resonance with communities of color here in America?

Valdes: Penumbra Theatre is the perfect venue for this play as it not only supports but also expands the cross-cultural dialogue that is visibly apparent in the world today. The communities in America have changed and continue to change. A play like this will hopefully create a deeper understanding that whatever color or race we belong to, that we are familiarly more similar than different.

Mahala: What do you see as some of the directorial challenges of this production?

Valdes: My challenges in directing this play are multiple. Firstly, it is my job to make crystal clear the story the playwright has intended to tell. Secondly, since I have decided to make a non-naturalistic set, it is doubly challenging for me and the actors to create the scenes as vividly as possible for the audience to see what is not physically apparent. An apartment would not have sofas or tables, for example. Thirdly, I will have to rely on the sound and lighting to delineate many locations (bars, airport, hotel room, inside an airplane, an army base, etc.) and to provide fluidity for the fast transitions from one scene to the next. All of these components are vital.

Mahala: There seems to be a parallel in the power dynamics between Jean and Tony and Max and Toni. Do you see any similarities in terms of the power dynamics between tourists and sex and service workers on the one hand and journalists and the people who serve as their subject matter on the other? Do you think there can be an element of exploitive voyeurism in both of these sets of relationships?

Valdes: I see Max and Jean as the exploiters, Tony and Toni as the exploited. This is about their positions in the social and economic ladder of society. In looking at a bigger picture it becomes a political arena where the first world powers usurp the third world countries. It boils down to the HAVE and HAVE NOTS.

Mahala: Do any of the issues or events in the play strike a personal chord for you in terms of your own life experience that you’d like share with theatre goers who come to see this production?

Valdes: I was born and grew up in the Philippines. All I know is that there is a lot of poverty in my country. We have a population of 80 million and only 5-10% are the very rich. Most of the big businesses are funded by or are foreign owned. The minimum wage is less than $2.00/day, so figure that. There are no events in my life, per se, that are directly connected to the play except witnessing the poverty and the struggle of my countrymen which tugs on my heartstrings.