SOURCE: "La carreta: Virtual Space and Broken Rhythm," in Critica Hispánica, Vol. VII, No. 1, 1985, pp. 75-83.

[In the following essay, Reynolds examines the temporal movement, tempo, and use of lighting and scenery to create illusory space in La carreta.]

La carreta was the first of René Marqués' dramatic creations to bring him enthusiastic critical acclaim. Indeed, the well-respected critic María Teresa Babín has said that this play "is worthy of figuring among the best works of all of Latin American theatre." The fact that La carreta is one of the most-often performed of Marqués' works, speaks to its dramatic appeal and universality. The three-act play depicts the story of a rural Puerto Rican family, who, at the insistence of the older son, leaves the traditional way of life to search for better social and economic conditions in the mechanized, industrial life of the city. Each act corresponds respectively in time and place to: 1) the poor country shack in the mountains; 2) the makeshift hut in the San Juan district of La Perla; and 3) the sixth-floor walk-up apartment in the Bronx, New York.

The play derives its dynamism from the creation of virtual space which, in combination with the treatment of tempo, rhythm and chronological time, determines the play's forward movement while creating the tension of conflict through which the play communicates to the theatre audience its ultimate message. The theatrical space which any play—and this one in particular—creates is related to the concept of what Susanne Langer calls "virtual space." To explain the concept, she uses the example of the space created in a painting, which is organized by color and shapes. This space does not exist without the arrangement of colors and shapes on a given canvas. In other words, it is a "virtual space." This is very similar to the kind of visible space created by the scenification of a play. The objects, characters, lighting, etc. create an illusory space upon the real place of the stage that ceases to exist at the end of the performance. Because the space which a dramatic work creates is three-dimensional as well as pictorial, virtual space in the theatre also includes the creation of a certain ambiance which we can associate to the virtual space created in an architectural structure, such as a house for example. This space is "the created domain of human relations and activities" and, like the pictorial space, is an illusion, since the "atmosphere" disappears when the structure is significantly altered or is destroyed.

The "virtual space" of René Marqués' La carreta is both pictorial and architectural. The play carries the subtitle "Tres estampas boricuas" and is, in a figurative sense, an engraving in which each act imprints visually and experientially for the spectator a different scene in the changing life of this Puerto Rican family. The specific setting of each act is the family's living quarters, in which objects take on significance past their contribution to the scenification, as they continually serve as a reminder of another life style. The word boricuas of the subtitle (meaning literally, Puerto Rican) signifies the vital feeling which dominates the three scenes, each of which offers René Marqués' view of the disintegration of what is Puerto Rican in the life of these particular characters. The diminishing boricuan ambiance from one act to the next transforms the play from being exclusively a costumrista work into one with universal subtleties in which two conflicting life styles are embodied in the lives of the characters. This is not the more simply stated conflict between the past and present, nor is it a plea for a return to the past; but rather, it is a conflict which develops from two co-existing ways of approaching life in the face of the particular crises of the period it depicts. As the tension between the two visions grows into open conflict, the characters are forced into a dramatic resolution which creates hope for their own future.

Time in the play interacts with the virtual space to create dramatic movement within each act and within the whole work. Against this spatial background it indicates the destructive direction in which the family is heading as the traditional rhythm of their life is broken, so that each act reflects not only the changing physical conditions and superficial relationships, but the deeper emotional ones as well. First, time manifests itself as part of the theme. This aspect is the chronological ordering that makes up the experience we call past, present and future and whose underlying principle is change. That same principle applies to the linear time in La carreta as we see the family at three successive moments, whose juxtaposition simultaneously implies temporal movement, as well as the changes that have occurred between one episode and the next.

Second, the time-related element known as tempo creates an experiential link between the play and the audience. According to J.L. Styan, tempo in a dramatic work is the certain speed in time in which dramatic impressions follow one another in a related sequence, and it tempo "always exists to evoke meaning." In La carreta, changing tempo from one act to the next makes the spectator aware of a repeated pattern of disintegration of the traditional life. While linear time indicates change, and tempo conveys the experience of disintegration, physical objects in each act symbolize the transformations that take place from year to year while simultaneously those same objects serve to point out the tempo of life at each stage.

The virtual space and vital feeling, which each stage setting creates, reflect the disintegrating rhythm of the play as well as of the way of life of the rural Puerto Rican who, as presented by Marqués in this play, has abandoned his land. In the first act, the economic and cultural conflict is evident from the beginning, in the stage setting and in the values of the characters, especially of Don Chago and of Luis. The tempo is slow and drawn out, and despite the activity of the moving preparations, not much happens, an indication of the pace of life in the rural setting. The setting of Act One is the interior of a country house made of "buenas maderas del país, como restos de una época de mejor situación económica, remendada con pichipén y retazos de madera barata importada" Thus, the very appearance of the house, against a background of a more desirable past, tells a story of the worsening economic conditions from which the family is fleeing.

Each of the family members represents a slightly different position on a scale of values, with Don Chago, the patriarch, and Luis, the oldest son, at the two extremes. Don Chago's view of life sees the dollar and "progress" as having taken the place of human dignity. While he does present the past as a better way of life, what Don Chago ultimately stands for is not so much the physical style of living as the spiritual involvement and responsibility of the people in their style of life. Luis, however, has a different opinion of where a person's involvement should lie. He is also concerned about the loss of dignity, but his concern is related to what he sees as a hierarchical social status in which progress has to do with upward mobility. He associates a "better life" with more money, and in turn, having more money with a more highly regarded social status. The play's development moves the family away from Don Chago's side of the scale towards Luis's, and then back again, making a full circle at the work's end.

The tension grows throughout the act but becomes explicit through the image of the oxcart. Near the end of this act, the sound of the oxcart's turning wheels interrupts the nostalgic scene in which the family enjoys their final cup of coffee together, and makes the confrontation with the present problem imminent. At the first sound, the characters become immobile for a short while, giving the audience time to reflect on the meaning contained in this scene. The stage directions describe the play's ambiance as follows: "Sobre ellos pasa una gran sombra de angustia, una muda interrogación al futuro, un miedo al mañana, un deseo de no actuar, de permanecer allí clavados y dejar que pase de largo la fascinación de la carreta." In this manner, the idea of the oxcart (for it never appears on stage) juxtaposed to the long, slow nostalgic scene communicates to the viewer the importance of this moment which represents a crossroad of life for these people.

The second act, taking place one year later, finds the family located in San Juan between the old fortress wall and the ocean, in La Perla. Despite Luis' dream of a more comfortable life for the family, the fact that there has been no improvement in their economic status is readily apparent. Moreover, this Puerto Rican family is embroiled in the cultural conflict between the old and the new ways of life at which the first act only hints. The economic and cultural contention is revealed in the stage setting as it contrasts to the house of the past; in the changing values and bitterness of each of the characters; in the now frenzied tempo which creates a sensation of dizziness; and in the tension which the constant presence of a rocking chair brought from the country creates visually. These dramatic elements highlight the development of the play's implicit meaning which the various contrasts and changes, together with the frenetic tempo, create.

The curtain opens onto an empty stage, thus allowing time for the audience to experience the disparities to which the stage setting itself contributes. Because of the arrangement of the house in La Perla, the spectator immediately perceives a clear similarity to the former house in the country. The material of which the house is constructed, however, is in opposition to the country home, which, although it has a rundown appearance due to the attempts at repair, is made of "good wood from the island" and therefore has a strong basic construction. Antithetically, the house in La Perla gives a precarious appearance because it lacks a solid foundation and is nothing more than an accumulation of unmatched, discarded non-durable type materials. In the brief moment at the beginning, when the stage is empty, then, the audience has the opportunity to perceive the obvious economic and cultural changes which have taken place, and to become aware of the growing disillusionment throughout the act which causes the disintegration of the family's intimate relationship with each other as well as that of each individual's personal values.

Throughout this act we see the value system of each family member threatened and while not totally destroyed, at least diminished in the face of the new crises which confront each character and which bring the family to one of the lowest points of morale. Chaguito, the youngest son, is the first to succumb to the city life as he is caught and imprisoned for stealing money from tourists while trying to sell them the San Antonio statue he had stolen from his own mother. Doña Gabriela's daughter, Juanita, is raped and reluctantly agrees to an abortion and then attempts suicide. Luis' plight at first seems to have improved, as he has finally found a job and has many plans for the future. However, he, too, becomes disillusioned as the way of life destroys his dreams one by one. Doña Gabriela, through all of her family's tragedies, holds on to her father's ideals of "digniá y vergüensa," but she, too, finally gives up, leaving Luis to make the final decision about the future.

The rhythm of this act that serves as background to these crises, is the final dramatic element that combines with the setting and actual events to convey the characters' experience of desperation to the audience. Various sounds as well as the frenzy of activity and ups and downs in tension convey to the spectator a dizzying tempo. The focus of this act is on the actual experience of the characters, surrounded by a way of life to which they have no means of adapting. Sounds associated rhythmically with the action figure prominently in the experience of vertigo as the characters search for a direction to follow. The first of these sounds is that of a jukebox whose harsh music does not blend with what remains of the vital boricuan feeling within the family home. What the spectator perceives visually is a house resembling the old one. Experientially, the viewer perceives the stark contrast between the jukebox music and the solitude on stage. Throughout this act, the music penetrates at key moments from the outside until it becomes an intruder over which the family has no control.

The change in the rhythm of life between the first act and the second is most obvious at the moment when Juanita opens a hand-carved replica of the oxcart which her former boyfriend sends to her. The sight of the gift evokes the way of life behind as Juanita lifts up the oxcart and the spectator hears the words as if from Juanita's memories of the oxcart driver. Those words are then drowned out by the sound of an airplane. In this scene, we find Juanita symbolically and emotionally torn between Don Chago's world, which the oxcart evokes, and her brother Luis' world, for which the airplane stands. As the sound of the plane drowns out the sounds of Juanita's memories, we are reminded of the changing pace and of the lost values. Significantly, each of these sounds communicates meaning when examined as an integral part of the whole act. Each sound has a rhythm of its own and the variety of rhythms as well as the quantity of different tempos work with the rapid scene changes and variety of happenings to convey the experience of frenzied movement which seems to bring only negative results.

The presence of a rocking chair, obviously brought from the old house, serves as the focal point, physically and spiritually, of the constant cultural crises which the family undergoes in this act. Because of the contrast it offers to the rest of the furnishings, the chair becomes a constant visual reminder of the life left behind. Moreover, its position in the center of the room makes it symbolic of the central place the former life still maintains within the family nucleus. The back and forth rocking motion contrasts directly to the frenzy of the world revolving around the chair and reflects the differences in values as well as in the pace of life. Throughout this act, then, the rocking chair's central position on stage constantly reminds both audience and characters of the cultural (and personal) tensions at work in this dramatized world.

The last scene of act two brings together the differing life styles and creates a second crossroads revealing to us the further disintegration of family and of its ideals. Here the juxtaposition of the rocking chair itself to the sounds of the jukebox music communicates the downward direction in which the family is heading. Each one in his or her own way tries to escape the problem without really facing it: Chaguito by stealing; Juanita by attempting to end her life; Doña Gabriela by rocking and going nowhere, and all have failed to change or alleviate their worsening situation. Only Luis is left to impose his way of escaping, which is to go—by plane—to New York.

The third act shows many changes—both economic and cultural. The absence of the once traditional way of life is evident in the stage setting as well as in the supposed values and in the characters' physical appearance. The stage setting, so totally different from the first two, offers almost no link to the past. The Bronx apartment reveals both poverty and foreignness as we compare this home to the two previous ones. The arrangement of the room has no similarity to the previous stage settings and many aspects suggest isolation and distance, physically as well as culturally, from the original rural setting. Not the least of these is the fact that the apartment is on the sixth floor, vertically adding distance to that between the family and their homeland. In addition, the presence of a steam heater and heavy winter clothing—uncommon sights in the Puerto Rican past—also lend a certain foreign aura to the surroundings.

Changes in the physical appearance of the characters reflect transformations in their personal values as well as in their family relationships. Ironically, the cause of the changes comes from the fact that, although the family's economic condition is much improved over the previous acts, their spiritual and emotional well-being has deteriorated to the point of making them either bitter, as in the case of Juanita, or desperate, as is Luis. Juanita's choice to move away from her family and isolate herself from them reflects the tendency of the Puerto Ricans in this particular play to each go in his or her own direction alone, so that the family, which once moved together, no longer has a unity with which to face the strange new life.

In the first few moments of this act, sounds and rhythms set the tempo as well as reflect the play's direction and denouement. Not only is the tempo here syncopated and fragmented, but it is at times a violent and destructive force at work in the lives of these characters. As the curtain opens onto the empty stage, the sounds of a jackhammer and of an elevated train enter through the window. These rhythms, together with that of blues music heard a few minutes later, blend with the various forms of fragmentation prevalent throughout the act as well as within the characters' sense of lack of direction in their lives. However, after this impression, the well-known Puerto Rican danza, "Margarita" replaces the blues music, an indication of Juanita's progressive awareness and definite decision, and a suggestion, in a subliminal way, of the final direction she and her mother will take.

In addition to conflicts within the family group and evidence of the adulteration of their language, which takes on many anglicisms in this act, the most significant relaters of the tempo are the varied events which involve people from outside the family. These events seem to suggest the possible avenues which the Puerto Rican might follow and together form a chaotic world whose roads lead either to unhappiness or to physical destruction. Such incidents indicate the chaos surrounding the protagonist family, while simultaneously, the lives of Luis and Juanita take on specific directions. Luis, motivated by his fascination for the industrialized society's machines, holds stubbornly to his dream of progress. Throughout the act, and despite his feeling of unrest and disappointment Luis follows the course he has set for himself even before the play begins, a course which costs him his life as the machine that so attracts him, in the end, destroys him. Juanita's own direction begins to take form and it is, finally, through the lesson she recognizes in Luis' death that the play's message becomes clear, unity is restored to the family, and hope for regaining the lost spiritual relationship between man and his homeland once more seems possible.

Just prior to news of Luis' death, Doña Gabriela reveals what the play has clearly suggested from the start—that Luis was neither her nor her husband's son. Although some critics have objected to this relationship, it seems quite relevant when taken as part of the ultimate message hinted at throughout the play. Doña Gabriela reveals this final part of the lesson to her daughter as follows: "Pero Luis siempre ha sio un huéfano. ¿No lo veh perdío en ehte mundo que no eh el dél? ¿No te dah cuenta que se la pasa buhcando, como un cabrito perdío que no encuentra a su madre?" At this point, Luis becomes a symbol of that Puerto Rican who, according to René Marqués, is an orphan because he does not recognize where to look for his parent, but rather, follows blindly the direction set by foreign values and ways of life.

Through Luis' sacrifice then, Juanita, with her new knowledge, imposes the final order on the play as she makes of the oxcart the symbol of the "correct" (according to the playwright) direction one should follow. Juanita's famous words reveal her new knowledge and strength:

Porque no eh cosa de volver a la tierra pa vivir como muertoh. Ahora sabemos que el mundo no cambia por sí mihmo. Que somoh nosotroh loh que cambiamoh al mundo. Y vamoh a ayudar a cambiarlo. Vamoh a dir como gente con digniá, como desía el abuelo. Con la cabesa muy alta.

Juanita, in her various experiences, and finally in Luis' death, has learned the meaning of what her grandfather said when the family left their home and what Doña Gabriela repeats—that the land has the capacity to nurture and to give dignity and respect to its people, but that those people must recognize their responsibility to return their own love and respect to that land in exchange.

In conclusion, La carreta presents three separate visual and experiential impressions which convey the dramatically conceived "vital feeling" of the conflictive Puerto Rican life. The creation of this virtual space upon the stage couples with disintegrating rhythms to communicate to the spectator the spiritual losses within a system that, in the dramatist's view, is attempting to reconcile its cultural heritage with a changing life style. In the work's development, as the family becomes more and more torn apart physically and spiritually, the remaining members come to an awareness that only by accepting the legacy of the Puerto Rican heritage while simultaneously fulfilling their responsibility to their native land can they maintain intact their spiritual integrity.