Santeria
Svich says of the play's spiritual world, "I wanted to re-explore the rituals of Santeria, which have to do with exorcising ghosts and living with ghosts in your life."1 Santeria traces its origins to the Yoruba in West African. Many of the Yoruba who were kidnapped and sold into slavery in Cuba, preserved their religious practice by masking the workshop of their gods in the symbols and saints of Roman Catholicism. According to Miguiel Barnet, Santeria "boasts an eclectic pantheon of divinities who must be frequently gratified and appeased with festive ceremonies."2 The various rituals associated with this religion generally involve sacred objects and may include divination or spiritual possession. Santeria ultimately spread from Cuba to other parts of the Americans including the Southwestern region of the United States.
Svich chose Santeria as her inspiration for the spirituality in Alchemy/blues because she wanted to draw from Caribbean culture and she was attracted to the "complicated, mischievous and sexual" qualities of the gods.3 But she is careful to point out that the play's world is completely her invention. That includes the spirituality. Svich does not find it appropriate or desirable to replicated actual religions rituals on stage. She says, "When you take something out of context for theatrical reasons you violate something of the context."4 But she is very interested in exploring rituals on stage, so she has invented rituals for the world of the play.
These invented rituals in Alchemy/Blues are as syncretic as Santeria itself. The ritual of sweeping Simone's house is inspired partly by Santerian rites of cleaning the person and the house and partly by the playwright's sense that work is important in this world to keep society moving. The use of the broom is Svich's creation. She hopes that she has created a visceral experience for the audience so that they are releasing ghosts just as the women are. She notes, "if you have the right song, theatre is a place where you can discuss the spiritual with an audience."5
Works Cited:
1. Grossberg, Michael. "Svich's Ghostly Drama Addresses a Woman's Grief." The Columbus Dispatch 15 Feb. 2001, Features - Weekender: 22.
2. Barnet, Miguel. "La Regla de Ocha: The Religious System of Santeria." Sacred Possessions: Vodou, Saneria, Obeah, and the Caribbean. Eds. Margarite Frenandez Olmos and lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1997.