Summary: Following the apparent suicide of their adult son Bill, upper middle class Houstonians Will and Lily Dale build their expensive dream home. Will is fired from a company where he has worked for 38 years shortly after they move in. When he asks his wife for some of their savings, she sheepishly tells him that she has given much of it to their son's "friend" from Atlanta. After Lily Dale reveals that she has been speaking to Will's friend and sending him thousands of dollars, Will is incensed. When the friend unexpectedly shows up, Will refuses to see him on the grounds that, "There are things I'd have to ask him and I don't want the answers" (109).
Thoughts: The word "gay" never appears in this play, but all talk of Bill's friend is fraught with tension. In her final monologue on the last page of the play, Lily Dale says, "He said Bill insisted on giving him the money, for buying nice things. He said he was like a father to him....He said, too, that he wished he could have gone down in the water that day with Bill. That's how much he loved him and missed him" (110). Her husband assures her that everything will be "all right" soon and the play ends.
This play is short and confined to familial interactions. Family secrets surrounding money, suicide and homosexuality are omnipresent, but rarely verbalized. Foote's characters suggest that these are the three topics that should, under no circumstances, be discussed outside of the stifling confines of family...and sometimes not even inside the confines.
Showing posts with label child death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label child death. Show all posts
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
There Shall Be No Night by Robert Sherwood (1941)
Summary: The entire play takes place in the Helsinki living room of Dr. Valkonen (who has recently won the Nobel Prize) and his wife Miranda. The play chronicles the interactions of the family and various friends from 1938-1940. In the early scenes, Valkonen spends an extensive amount of time talking about his reasons for being a pacifist and abhorring the war (Finland's Winter War with the Soviets) before his son Erik enlists. Eventually, Valkonen himself joins the medical corps. In undramatized moments, both Valkonen men die. American-born Miranda is left both a widow and a grieving mother who feels responsible for the care of Erik's unborn child and sends his fiancee to America to have the baby.
Thoughts: In his lengthy preface, Sherwood explains that this play is the sequel to Idiot's Delight, in which Dr. Valkonen was a minor character stuck at the hotel with a zany crew of fellow cast mates (Pulitzer Prize, 1936).
Once again, I feel like Sherwood had a lot to say, but perhaps a play was not the best possible platform for his thoughts. When the characters of the play are interacting with plot-driven dialogue, the play moves quickly and believable characters and relationships are created. However, the bulk of this play (like Abe Lincoln in Illinois and Idiot's Delight) is made up of lengthy monologues about the nature of humanity and war. In his thirty page preface, Sherwood quotes extensively from his other works and seems to make many of the same arguments that he has made before--war is not the end of humanity, but instead a chance to reflect on our mistakes and learn from them, though he seems dubious about that actually happening.
Thoughts: In his lengthy preface, Sherwood explains that this play is the sequel to Idiot's Delight, in which Dr. Valkonen was a minor character stuck at the hotel with a zany crew of fellow cast mates (Pulitzer Prize, 1936).
Once again, I feel like Sherwood had a lot to say, but perhaps a play was not the best possible platform for his thoughts. When the characters of the play are interacting with plot-driven dialogue, the play moves quickly and believable characters and relationships are created. However, the bulk of this play (like Abe Lincoln in Illinois and Idiot's Delight) is made up of lengthy monologues about the nature of humanity and war. In his thirty page preface, Sherwood quotes extensively from his other works and seems to make many of the same arguments that he has made before--war is not the end of humanity, but instead a chance to reflect on our mistakes and learn from them, though he seems dubious about that actually happening.
"Patriotism as now practiced is one of the most virulent manifestations of evil" (79).
The Kentucky Cycle by Robert Schenkkan (1992)
Summary: Nine short plays are set on the same acreage in Kentucky, spanning from 1775-1975. The plays chronicle the lives of three families, which are intertwined through rivalry, slavery and marriage.
Thoughts: I checked this book out of the library during the first two weeks of the project and have complained about reading it since. 9 plays?! 332 pages?! I saved it for a long plane ride and then for the day after Thanksgiving and when both of those days came and went without me opening the cover, I knew I needed to commit to reading it in one sitting...which is what I did between the hours of 11 PM and 4 AM this morning.
To my surprise, reading this play was not difficult. Because there are nine short plays, a sustained attention span is not necessary. Though the same characters appear in multiple plays, Schenkkan's character description page preceding each play specifically states how old these characters are in the play to follow. Schenkkan's decision to bind the plays chronologically is also very helpful. Though names repeat (a number of the boys are named after their fathers/ancestors), this was never confusing for me because Schenkkan is brief and direct about who these people are.
The Cycle is obviously very broad, and certain plays are more enjoyable to read than others--perhaps because some of the main characters are quite one-dimensional and therefore are easy to categorize as "good guys" and "bad guys." Schenkkan's portrayal of the women in these plays is very interesting. Though they are never the main characters of his stories, they are almost unequivocally good people--trying to make the right choices even when their husbands are doing evil things based on greed.
Importantly, in the first play, when Michael asks the Cherokee for land, the Cherokee attempts to dissuade him from taking land on the mountain. He repeatedly issues warnings to the effect of, "You will find this a dark and bloody land" and "you live here, it is not the Cherokee you need fear" (23). Though he explains that the land is cursed (and the manifestations of this curse are seen in the eight plays that follow), the curse is never mentioned again.
- Masters of the Trade-1775-Michael Rowen, a former indentured servant from Ireland, makes deals with the Cherokee exchanging ammunition (the Cherokee have recently acquired firearms, but no ammunition) for pelts and land. This land is the setting for all nine plays in the Cycle.
- The Courtship of Morning Star-1776-Rowen has captured a Cherokee girl named Morning Star to be his wife. He cuts her Achilles tendon so that she can never run away. She has a baby, Michael is pleased to have a son.
- The Homecoming-1792-Michael Rowen returns from a trip to the city with a slave named Sallie, who he plans to breed (with himself). Enraged at the idea that he might also have a second family in the city, his son Patrick Rowen (16) shoots and kills him. Hearing the gunshot, neighbor Joe Talbert comes over, reveals that he has been having an affair with Star (Patrick's mother). Patrick kills him, sends his mother away and states his plans to marry Joe's daughter.
- Ties That Bind-1819-A judge comes to Patrick's land and informs him that he is deeply indebted to a man named Patrick, who now owns his bank loans. As they attempt to reconcile this debt, Patrick ends up selling everything that he has ever owned--including slave Sally and her son Jessie (who is actually Patrick's brother). In the final moments of the play, it is revealed that Jeremiah is Jeremiah Talbert-son of murdered Joe and brother of Rebecca, Patrick's wife. As part of the deal, Patrick's sons are "employed" to work for Talbert...a vengeful man who is actually their uncle.
- God's Great Supper-1861-Richard Talbert (39), son of Jeremiah visits the rundown Rowen house and informs Jed Rowen (28) that they will be riding into Bowling Green the next day to join the Confederate Army. Jed is needed because he knows the land better than anyone. Jed wisely makes a deal with Jeremiah that his family's land will be taken care of while he is away (by slaves) and he will be paid for his time and allowed to work off some of his family's debt. Richard agrees. Jed has actually agreed to go on this trip because he has planned to kill Richard (and his entire family supports this idea). After Richard is dead, they will only have to kill the remaining women and children of the Talbert house and then they will have their land back and no debts. Lots of killing happens.
- Tall Tales-1885-Jed Rowen, now 52, is visited by a "storyteller" who eventually asks him if he'd be willing to sell the mineral rights to his land for $1 an acre. After being told that someone will remove the rocks from his soil, Jed enthusiastically agrees. His daughter (Mary Anne) narrates the story as old and young versions of herself and eventually talks about the destruction caused when the coal companies came in.
- Fire in the Hole-1920-Mary Anne now has a ten year old son (Joshua Rowen) who is sick, probably with typhoid fever. They have lost their house and are now living in the awful conditions of a coal camp. A boarder named Abe (a secret union organizer) comes to stay at their home; gradually telling her about unions and Mother Jones. Abe eventually persuades Mary Anne and her husband Tommy to start a coal union. Abe and Tommy are eventually killed (for being an organizer and a snitch, respectively) but Mary Anne has started the first coal union.
- Which Side Are You On-1954-Things are not good for the Union. Joshua (44) is now the president of United Mine Workers District 16 and has been skirting safety regulations for months. His son is recently back from Korea and takes a job as a "yes man" to his father. As Joshua struggles with the idea of telling the Union members that there will be more cutbacks, there is an accident in the mine (because he has been ignoring safety issues to save some money). His son Scotty and 12 others are killed because of his negligence.
- The War on Poverty-1975-Three sixty-five year old men (a Rowen, a Talbert and a Biggs--descendant of slave Sally) are walking around the land, attempting to figure out how much it is now worth. "Mountaintop Removal Mining" has come into existence and the three men speak about it in tones mixed with awe and fear. In casual conversation, a reference is made to grave-robbing that is now apparently popular in the mountains of Kentucky, involving the search for Native American artifacts. As the men amble around the land, they see a partially exhumed grave and lift a buckskin pouch out of it--a pouch that contains the well-preserved remains of a baby. This is actually the second child of Morning Star. When Michael Rowen saw that this child was not a boy, he took it out into the woods and buried it alive.
Thoughts: I checked this book out of the library during the first two weeks of the project and have complained about reading it since. 9 plays?! 332 pages?! I saved it for a long plane ride and then for the day after Thanksgiving and when both of those days came and went without me opening the cover, I knew I needed to commit to reading it in one sitting...which is what I did between the hours of 11 PM and 4 AM this morning.
To my surprise, reading this play was not difficult. Because there are nine short plays, a sustained attention span is not necessary. Though the same characters appear in multiple plays, Schenkkan's character description page preceding each play specifically states how old these characters are in the play to follow. Schenkkan's decision to bind the plays chronologically is also very helpful. Though names repeat (a number of the boys are named after their fathers/ancestors), this was never confusing for me because Schenkkan is brief and direct about who these people are.
The Cycle is obviously very broad, and certain plays are more enjoyable to read than others--perhaps because some of the main characters are quite one-dimensional and therefore are easy to categorize as "good guys" and "bad guys." Schenkkan's portrayal of the women in these plays is very interesting. Though they are never the main characters of his stories, they are almost unequivocally good people--trying to make the right choices even when their husbands are doing evil things based on greed.
Importantly, in the first play, when Michael asks the Cherokee for land, the Cherokee attempts to dissuade him from taking land on the mountain. He repeatedly issues warnings to the effect of, "You will find this a dark and bloody land" and "you live here, it is not the Cherokee you need fear" (23). Though he explains that the land is cursed (and the manifestations of this curse are seen in the eight plays that follow), the curse is never mentioned again.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Buried Child by Sam Shepard (1979)
Summary: Vince is driving across the country with his girlfriend Shelly and stops in Illinois to see his grandparents. Immediately after arriving at their house, it becomes clear that something is not quite right: his grandfather does not recognize him, his uncle is putting his fingers in Shelly's mouth and his grandmother is nowhere to be found (we later find out that she is probably having a sexual relationship with the local priest). Vince informs Dodge (his 70 year-old grandfather) that they are on their way to see New Mexico to see his father. Dodge replies that Tilden is no longer in New Mexico, but has moved back to Illinois after "some trouble" and is, once again, living at the family farm home.
As the play progresses, outsider Shelly unearths some of the family history and repeatedly states that she knows that there is a secret and she plans to find out what it is is. The secret is finally revealed in the last few pages of the play when Dodge enters into a long monologue revealing that a baby that is buried in the backyard. The baby is not his, but instead the child of his son Tilden and his wife Halie. After revealing this familial incest and reading his makeshift will aloud, Dodge dies. The final scene of the play involves Halie talking about the growth of new surprise crops while Tilden enters holding the corpse of a baby that he has presumably just exhumed from the backyard.
Thoughts: Well, that just happened.
I have now read this play twice, both times very quickly because I was compelled to reach the climax and learn the secrets of this family. While the major secret of the play obviously involves incest and murder, each of Shepard's seven characters have both a secret and a personality quirk that creates a general feeling of unease throughout the entire play. Usually, these quirks are not explained...they just happen. For example, Bradley sticks his fingers in Shelly's mouth moments after meeting her and cuts his fathers hair while he sleeps--leaving a bloody scalp and, by all description, a terrible haircut. Regardless, no one seems to question either of these choices--including Shelly, who has no familial obligation to put up with these bizarre antics.
Shepard makes extensive use of monologues to reveal the exposition of the play--usually from Halie and Dodge, the oldest members of this family. While I initially criticized this dramatic technique, I also think it is a deliberate choice to indicate that the family has stopped interacting with each other through meaningful dialogue, so monologues directed at strangers are the only effective way of revealing these family secrets.
This play won the Pulitzer Prize twenty years before August: Osage County was given the award, and the parallels between these scripts border on uncomfortable. Clearly, they are both "about" dysfunctional families who have their share of secrets involving incest; but they also start the same way (the patriarch sits in darkness while the matriarch rambles upstairs). Further, the dramatic action is dependent on the reactions of an outsider--Shelly here, Johnna in August: Osage County.
As the play progresses, outsider Shelly unearths some of the family history and repeatedly states that she knows that there is a secret and she plans to find out what it is is. The secret is finally revealed in the last few pages of the play when Dodge enters into a long monologue revealing that a baby that is buried in the backyard. The baby is not his, but instead the child of his son Tilden and his wife Halie. After revealing this familial incest and reading his makeshift will aloud, Dodge dies. The final scene of the play involves Halie talking about the growth of new surprise crops while Tilden enters holding the corpse of a baby that he has presumably just exhumed from the backyard.
Thoughts: Well, that just happened.
I have now read this play twice, both times very quickly because I was compelled to reach the climax and learn the secrets of this family. While the major secret of the play obviously involves incest and murder, each of Shepard's seven characters have both a secret and a personality quirk that creates a general feeling of unease throughout the entire play. Usually, these quirks are not explained...they just happen. For example, Bradley sticks his fingers in Shelly's mouth moments after meeting her and cuts his fathers hair while he sleeps--leaving a bloody scalp and, by all description, a terrible haircut. Regardless, no one seems to question either of these choices--including Shelly, who has no familial obligation to put up with these bizarre antics.
Shepard makes extensive use of monologues to reveal the exposition of the play--usually from Halie and Dodge, the oldest members of this family. While I initially criticized this dramatic technique, I also think it is a deliberate choice to indicate that the family has stopped interacting with each other through meaningful dialogue, so monologues directed at strangers are the only effective way of revealing these family secrets.
This play won the Pulitzer Prize twenty years before August: Osage County was given the award, and the parallels between these scripts border on uncomfortable. Clearly, they are both "about" dysfunctional families who have their share of secrets involving incest; but they also start the same way (the patriarch sits in darkness while the matriarch rambles upstairs). Further, the dramatic action is dependent on the reactions of an outsider--Shelly here, Johnna in August: Osage County.
In Abraham's Bosom by Paul Green (1927)
Summary: In 1885, twenty years after the legal end of slavery in the United States, Abraham McCranie has stayed near the place where his family members were once owned in North Carolina. Two references are made alluding to the fact that he is the mulatto son of Colonel McClain (who once owned slaves) and a now deceased former slave. Therefore, Colonel McCranie feels some sort of responsibility to Abraham. He ensures that Abraham has a place to live and later, a job teaching in a schoolhouse. This does not, however, prevent McCranie from savagely beating his secret son when Abraham threatens to kill his other (non-secret) son Lonnie. The seven scenes of the play follow Abraham's life from 1885-1906...an existence of considerable tumult and struggle.
From the beginning of the play, Abraham attempts to educate himself and is often teased for spending all of his time with books. Near the end of the play, he gives a speech about building a new school and is harassed by some white men. Enraged, he proceeds to kill Lonnie (his half-brother) and knows that this will be his end. Moments later, a mob of white men arrive at his cabin to kill him in front of his wife, son and mother-in-law.
Thoughts: Many of the plays I have encountered in this project have raised troubling questions in relation to performance today, often because of specific treatments of race and gender. As I have probably mentioned before, adding the tag "n-word" to the blog was an unwelcome surprise of the project. However, many of those plays (All the Way Home, The Green Pastures) have highly redeemable characteristics; either because of the strength of their story or, in the case of The Green Pastures, the fact that the production employed large casts of black actors and was the first all-black cast on Broadway (and even God was portrayed as a black man).
This play, on the other hand, contains multiple usages of the n-word, a savage whipping and two brutal murders. The troubling take-away message seemed to be that, no matter how hard the white man tries to help the black man by providing opportunities for him, the black man is trouble....even savage. While outwardly racist statements come from the white characters in the play, they are perhaps more disturbingly uttered by the black characters themselves. Abraham's mother-in-law says to him, "Time you's learning day white is white and black is black, and Gohd made de white to always be bedder'n de black. It was so intended from the beginning" (Coe 416). On the third page of the play, three characters have an equally troubling exchange about Abe's mulatto heritage:
Lije: Abe is bad mixed up all down inside.
Bud: White and black make bad mixtry.
Lije: Do dat. (Thumping on his chest) Nigger down heah. (Thumping his head) White mens up heah. Heart say do one thing, head say 'nudder. Bad, bad.
Puny: De white blood in him coming up to the top. Dat make him want-a climb up and be sump'n. Nigger gwine hol' him down dough. Part of him take adder de Colonel, part adder his muh, 'vision and misery inside (Coe 387).
From the beginning of the play, Abraham attempts to educate himself and is often teased for spending all of his time with books. Near the end of the play, he gives a speech about building a new school and is harassed by some white men. Enraged, he proceeds to kill Lonnie (his half-brother) and knows that this will be his end. Moments later, a mob of white men arrive at his cabin to kill him in front of his wife, son and mother-in-law.
Thoughts: Many of the plays I have encountered in this project have raised troubling questions in relation to performance today, often because of specific treatments of race and gender. As I have probably mentioned before, adding the tag "n-word" to the blog was an unwelcome surprise of the project. However, many of those plays (All the Way Home, The Green Pastures) have highly redeemable characteristics; either because of the strength of their story or, in the case of The Green Pastures, the fact that the production employed large casts of black actors and was the first all-black cast on Broadway (and even God was portrayed as a black man).
This play, on the other hand, contains multiple usages of the n-word, a savage whipping and two brutal murders. The troubling take-away message seemed to be that, no matter how hard the white man tries to help the black man by providing opportunities for him, the black man is trouble....even savage. While outwardly racist statements come from the white characters in the play, they are perhaps more disturbingly uttered by the black characters themselves. Abraham's mother-in-law says to him, "Time you's learning day white is white and black is black, and Gohd made de white to always be bedder'n de black. It was so intended from the beginning" (Coe 416). On the third page of the play, three characters have an equally troubling exchange about Abe's mulatto heritage:
Lije: Abe is bad mixed up all down inside.
Bud: White and black make bad mixtry.
Lije: Do dat. (Thumping on his chest) Nigger down heah. (Thumping his head) White mens up heah. Heart say do one thing, head say 'nudder. Bad, bad.
Puny: De white blood in him coming up to the top. Dat make him want-a climb up and be sump'n. Nigger gwine hol' him down dough. Part of him take adder de Colonel, part adder his muh, 'vision and misery inside (Coe 387).
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill (1957)
Summary: The play takes place over the course of one day in the summer of 1912 at the Tyrone summer home. Patriarch James Tyrone is a mediocre but working actor, his wife Mary is a not-so-recovering morphine addict and his living sons Edmund and James are grown boys who drink too much, enjoy the company of whores and can't seem to hold continuous jobs. Younger brother Edmund (who once did hold a job as a sailor) has an ominous persistent cough that is eventually formally diagnosed as tuberculosis, though all members of the family are slow to accept this fact. As the day progresses from 8:30 AM to midnight, the men of the family get drunker as Mary slips into morphine-induced hysteria.
Thoughts: Though I have not yet checked the tag counts, I am fairly certain that the most used tags in this project have been "dysfunctional family", "drama" and "alcohol." This play is perhaps the most distilled example of the combination of these subjects. Many of the plays in the project have taken place in living rooms, with people sitting around: first talking to each other, then fighting with each other. This play is certainly no exception. From the beginning, O'Neill makes it clear that the fights on this day are not new. Instead, they are conflicts that have been familiar to the Tyrone family since the first child (Jamie) was born.
While the play depicts the ugliness of addiction and the specific sting of family arguments, the importance of the past is a major theme in the play (reminiscent of so many recipients of the Pulitzer Prize). The theme of "the importance of the past" is unearthed by characters with contrasting opinions on the issue (reminding me of The Piano Lesson and Topdog/Underdog). James is hard on his sons because he wants them to do something with their lives and create a future for themselves; while Mary is obsessive about remembering the past. She states, "The past is the present, isn't it? It's the future, too. We all try to lie out of that but life won't let us" (Act 2, Scene 2). Later, she stresses, "Only the past when you were happy is real" (Act 3). Though things have gone wrong in her life (death of an infant named Eugene, addiction to morphine, single alcoholic sons, etc.) she yearns for a time when things were better....even though this time may be a highly fictionalized creation of her drug-addled mind.
In the Norton Anthology of Drama Introduction to this text, Martin Puchner writes that this play is probably very close to autobiography for Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill's father was an actor. After having some success in a production of The Count of Monte Cristo, he stayed in that role until the end of his life and was never given the chance to blossom as an actor. Though comfortable, he probably wasn't artistically fulfilled (much like James Tyrone). Likewise, O'Neill's mother hated traveling and never felt that the family had a "home" since they accompanied their patriarch on his tours across the United States. This play is one of the longest in the project, and there are very few moments of levity or hope in the text. The dramatic structure of the play (and therefore any reading/watching of it) closely mirrors the title.
Thoughts: Though I have not yet checked the tag counts, I am fairly certain that the most used tags in this project have been "dysfunctional family", "drama" and "alcohol." This play is perhaps the most distilled example of the combination of these subjects. Many of the plays in the project have taken place in living rooms, with people sitting around: first talking to each other, then fighting with each other. This play is certainly no exception. From the beginning, O'Neill makes it clear that the fights on this day are not new. Instead, they are conflicts that have been familiar to the Tyrone family since the first child (Jamie) was born.
While the play depicts the ugliness of addiction and the specific sting of family arguments, the importance of the past is a major theme in the play (reminiscent of so many recipients of the Pulitzer Prize). The theme of "the importance of the past" is unearthed by characters with contrasting opinions on the issue (reminding me of The Piano Lesson and Topdog/Underdog). James is hard on his sons because he wants them to do something with their lives and create a future for themselves; while Mary is obsessive about remembering the past. She states, "The past is the present, isn't it? It's the future, too. We all try to lie out of that but life won't let us" (Act 2, Scene 2). Later, she stresses, "Only the past when you were happy is real" (Act 3). Though things have gone wrong in her life (death of an infant named Eugene, addiction to morphine, single alcoholic sons, etc.) she yearns for a time when things were better....even though this time may be a highly fictionalized creation of her drug-addled mind.
In the Norton Anthology of Drama Introduction to this text, Martin Puchner writes that this play is probably very close to autobiography for Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill's father was an actor. After having some success in a production of The Count of Monte Cristo, he stayed in that role until the end of his life and was never given the chance to blossom as an actor. Though comfortable, he probably wasn't artistically fulfilled (much like James Tyrone). Likewise, O'Neill's mother hated traveling and never felt that the family had a "home" since they accompanied their patriarch on his tours across the United States. This play is one of the longest in the project, and there are very few moments of levity or hope in the text. The dramatic structure of the play (and therefore any reading/watching of it) closely mirrors the title.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (2010)
Summary: A middle-class suburban family deals with the challenges presented by living with a matriarch (Diana) who is a diagnosed manic depressive. In addition to the "mountains and valleys" of the disease, Diana literally sees her dead son Gabe as an eighteen-year-old (though he died as an infant) and is treated with electroshock therapy before finally deciding that she needs to leave her husband and daughter in the hope that they will all have a more peaceful normal existence.
Thoughts: New York Times reviewer Ben Brantley's quip, "It is something much more than a feel-good musical: it is a feel-everything musical" appeared on promotional material across New York and is now the first blurb on the back of the printed edition of the play. True, this is a far cry from other huge-grossing Broadway musicals, but not just because of it's subject matter. When the play came out, comparisons to Rent were immediately drawn due to the pop-like musical score. However, unlike Rent, Next to Normal is not a musical of memorable songs that will be used in advertising and hummed on the way out of the theatre. I saw this musical in New York three months ago. While reading the text of the songs in the recently published Pulitzer edition of the play, I was only faintly reminded of the tune of these songs (highly unusual for me).
Next to Normal is unquestionably a different kind of musical. Much of the play is very dark, and even the moments of sung tenderness are underscored with the feeling that this is a family that can never be truly happy. When I saw this play, I liked it. I was moved. I did not love it and I was not overwhelmed like countless people told me that I would be. Having read two of the other three 2010 nominees (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and In the Next Room), I wonder if Next to Normal won the Pulitzer because it is, in fact, a "different kind of musical."
Thoughts: New York Times reviewer Ben Brantley's quip, "It is something much more than a feel-good musical: it is a feel-everything musical" appeared on promotional material across New York and is now the first blurb on the back of the printed edition of the play. True, this is a far cry from other huge-grossing Broadway musicals, but not just because of it's subject matter. When the play came out, comparisons to Rent were immediately drawn due to the pop-like musical score. However, unlike Rent, Next to Normal is not a musical of memorable songs that will be used in advertising and hummed on the way out of the theatre. I saw this musical in New York three months ago. While reading the text of the songs in the recently published Pulitzer edition of the play, I was only faintly reminded of the tune of these songs (highly unusual for me).
Next to Normal is unquestionably a different kind of musical. Much of the play is very dark, and even the moments of sung tenderness are underscored with the feeling that this is a family that can never be truly happy. When I saw this play, I liked it. I was moved. I did not love it and I was not overwhelmed like countless people told me that I would be. Having read two of the other three 2010 nominees (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and In the Next Room), I wonder if Next to Normal won the Pulitzer because it is, in fact, a "different kind of musical."
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| Personal Photo: Next to Normal set, Broadway: August 2010. Strange, great lottery seats obtained by Jessica Watkins. |
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Look Homeward, Angel by Kitti Frings (1958)
Summary: The Gant family owns the Dixieland boarding house in North Carolina. While Mrs. Gant does most of the work, Mr. Gant spends his time drinking and tending to his dwindling headstone business. The play follows the lives of two of the Gant boys--Ben (who ends up dying from pneumonia) and Eugene (who falls in love with one of the boarders and is torn between staying at home with his woman and moving to Chapel Hill for college). Ultimately, Laura (Eugene's love) reveals that she is already engaged and encourages him to go to Chapel Hill.
Thoughts: This story chronicles what it is like for parents to watch their children grow up, and what happens when children discover that their parents are human beings with very real flaws. Though Mrs. Gant has always fought her husband's desire to send Eugene to Chapel Hill, she ultimately finances Eugene's education at the end of the play.
Perhaps in a move away from a traditional family drama that includes only relatives, the story is set in a boarding house--allowing outsiders to witness the very personal interactions of the Gant family.
Thoughts: This story chronicles what it is like for parents to watch their children grow up, and what happens when children discover that their parents are human beings with very real flaws. Though Mrs. Gant has always fought her husband's desire to send Eugene to Chapel Hill, she ultimately finances Eugene's education at the end of the play.
Perhaps in a move away from a traditional family drama that includes only relatives, the story is set in a boarding house--allowing outsiders to witness the very personal interactions of the Gant family.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Beyond the Horizon by Eugene O'Neill (1920)
Summary: In Act 1, the Mayo family is preparing for the departure of their son Robert who plans to go on a three year sea-voyage with his uncle. Because he has never been one for farming, his mother and father feel that the trip will be a great way for him to find himself while his younger brother Andrew (a natural farmer) stays at home and possibly starts a relationship with Ruth (the girl he spends most of his time with). Hours before he is supposed to leave, Robert reveals to Ruth that he has always loved her; because she elatedly reciprocates, he decides to stay. Andy, angry and heartbroken, hastily decides he will go on the voyage instead--a distressing revelation to both of his parents.
Act 2 opens three years later. Robert and Ruth are decidedly unhappy, have an infant child and the farm is steadily declining. In a moment of intense anger, Ruth reveals to Robert that she has always loved Andrew. Moments later, Andrew enters--back from a successful journey.
Five years later, Act 3 begins and things have gotten markedly worse. The infant has died, the marriage is miserable and Robert has a terminal illness. Andrew returns with a specialist to take care of Robert, and Robert makes his wife and brother promise to marry after his death. They try to argue with him as he draws his dying breath. The play ends with Ruth and Andrew looking at each other, not sure what to do.
Thoughts: I have put off reading this play for weeks because it is one of the longest, but I really enjoyed it. While it is another in a long line of plays about unhappy families, O'Neill's writing stands alone (meaning: I don't think I necessarily need to see this play to fully appreciate the story/characters).
As a sickly young child, Robert spent much of his time looking "beyond the horizon" and imagining what was "out there" waiting for him. Because he chose to stay at home, he never got to discover the world and was left with a pile of what-ifs and might-have-beens.
Act 2 opens three years later. Robert and Ruth are decidedly unhappy, have an infant child and the farm is steadily declining. In a moment of intense anger, Ruth reveals to Robert that she has always loved Andrew. Moments later, Andrew enters--back from a successful journey.
Five years later, Act 3 begins and things have gotten markedly worse. The infant has died, the marriage is miserable and Robert has a terminal illness. Andrew returns with a specialist to take care of Robert, and Robert makes his wife and brother promise to marry after his death. They try to argue with him as he draws his dying breath. The play ends with Ruth and Andrew looking at each other, not sure what to do.
Thoughts: I have put off reading this play for weeks because it is one of the longest, but I really enjoyed it. While it is another in a long line of plays about unhappy families, O'Neill's writing stands alone (meaning: I don't think I necessarily need to see this play to fully appreciate the story/characters).
As a sickly young child, Robert spent much of his time looking "beyond the horizon" and imagining what was "out there" waiting for him. Because he chose to stay at home, he never got to discover the world and was left with a pile of what-ifs and might-have-beens.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Abe Lincoln in Illinois by Robert Sherwood (1939)
Summary: This play chronicles 30 early years in the life of Abraham Lincoln. The opening scene depicts him being tutored (around high school age) and the final scene is his farewell to Illinois immediately before leaving for Washington, D.C.
Thoughts: This play was a little dull, but raised a number of historical "did that actually happen?" questions for me. Lincoln's humanity is most vividly depicted early in the play when he reveals his romantic feelings to a girl named Ann...who dies a few pages later. He later convinces himself that marrying ambitious Mary Todd is the right decision, though feelings of romance toward her are never illuminated. Clearly, Lincoln's oratorical skills warranted exploration which results in this play having a number of long sweeping monologues, most about labor and abolition. This is another play whose audience enjoyment would depend almost entirely on the strength of the lead actor.
The Gassner/Barnes introduction revealed a number of interesting facts about Robert Sherwood. As a teenager, he attended Milton Academy and then Harvard, where he "survived the threat of three expulsions for youthful capers and became an active member of the Hasty Pudding Club." Additionally, Sherwood is responsible for writing The Best Years of Our Lives which happens to be one of my most cherished movies. Near the end of the short biography, Gassner/Barnes remark, "The rest of his career, which included conspicuous assistance to to President Roosevelt and the invaluable service in the O.W.I. belongs to political history" (306). An interesting followup to Archibald MacLeish, it seems.
Thoughts: This play was a little dull, but raised a number of historical "did that actually happen?" questions for me. Lincoln's humanity is most vividly depicted early in the play when he reveals his romantic feelings to a girl named Ann...who dies a few pages later. He later convinces himself that marrying ambitious Mary Todd is the right decision, though feelings of romance toward her are never illuminated. Clearly, Lincoln's oratorical skills warranted exploration which results in this play having a number of long sweeping monologues, most about labor and abolition. This is another play whose audience enjoyment would depend almost entirely on the strength of the lead actor.
The Gassner/Barnes introduction revealed a number of interesting facts about Robert Sherwood. As a teenager, he attended Milton Academy and then Harvard, where he "survived the threat of three expulsions for youthful capers and became an active member of the Hasty Pudding Club." Additionally, Sherwood is responsible for writing The Best Years of Our Lives which happens to be one of my most cherished movies. Near the end of the short biography, Gassner/Barnes remark, "The rest of his career, which included conspicuous assistance to to President Roosevelt and the invaluable service in the O.W.I. belongs to political history" (306). An interesting followup to Archibald MacLeish, it seems.
"Ran into Stephen Douglas--and we had some argument in public..."
Sunday, October 3, 2010
J.B.: A Play in Verse by Archibald MacLeish (1959)
Summary: Mr. Zuss and Mr. Nickles are omnipresent narrators who guide us through the story of J.B. (a modern-day Job) and his family. Occasionally, they are joined by "Distant Voice", who we can surmise is God. After individually revealing each of J.B.'s trials, they return to the scene to swap some theological banter and guide us into the next depiction of things getting progressively worse for the wounded protagonist.
Thoughts: Ashamedly, I groaned a little when I discovered that this was a 153 page "play in verse." Wrong! So wrong! Structurally, this play is one of the most sound and interesting I have encountered in the project. With Zuss and Nickles as guides, MacLeish facilitates the telling of a Biblical story in a very human and potentially timeless way. As things go from wonderful to terrible for J.B. and his wife, their roles and thoughts about God are essentially reversed.
We know from the outset that, after J.B. has endured all the trails that God has in store for him, things will get better; but MacLeish masterfully makes each new heartbreak a deeper descent into darkness.
I think my fourth grade brain added the word "rhyming" to the subtitle "a play in verse." While it did not rhyme, the language of this play was stunning, and for me, reminiscent of the often theological patriotism of Norman Corwin. For those keeping score at home, MacLeish holds two additional Pulitzer Prizes (for Poetry), an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Because he wasn't busy enough, he also served as the first Librarian of Congress...and came up with the idea that the United States should have a poet laureate.
I can already say that when I finish this project, one of the most substantial riches I will have gained is the discovery of Archibald MacLeish.
Thoughts: Ashamedly, I groaned a little when I discovered that this was a 153 page "play in verse." Wrong! So wrong! Structurally, this play is one of the most sound and interesting I have encountered in the project. With Zuss and Nickles as guides, MacLeish facilitates the telling of a Biblical story in a very human and potentially timeless way. As things go from wonderful to terrible for J.B. and his wife, their roles and thoughts about God are essentially reversed.
We know from the outset that, after J.B. has endured all the trails that God has in store for him, things will get better; but MacLeish masterfully makes each new heartbreak a deeper descent into darkness.
I think my fourth grade brain added the word "rhyming" to the subtitle "a play in verse." While it did not rhyme, the language of this play was stunning, and for me, reminiscent of the often theological patriotism of Norman Corwin. For those keeping score at home, MacLeish holds two additional Pulitzer Prizes (for Poetry), an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Because he wasn't busy enough, he also served as the first Librarian of Congress...and came up with the idea that the United States should have a poet laureate.
I can already say that when I finish this project, one of the most substantial riches I will have gained is the discovery of Archibald MacLeish.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire (2007)
Summary: The play opens a few months after Becca and Howie have lost their four-year old son in a freak accident involving a teenage driver and an unlatched gate. Almost immediately, Becca's sister Izzie reveals that she is newly pregnant (unmarried) and this adds another level to the grief and stress that Becca and Howie are already experiencing. Additionally, the teenager (Jason) desperately wants to meet Becca and Howie to make some sort of amends. Becca eventually meets with Jason and they talk primarily about his own science fiction writing.
Thoughts: Hmmm. I saved this play to read when on a night when I had little motivation, thinking that I would absolutely love it. Lindsay-Abaire is fantastic at writing dialogue, so the play was a very fast read...but I did not become as attached to this play or it's characters as I had hoped. Other nominees in 2007 included Bulrusher, Orpehus X and A Soldier's Fugue; none of which have received the same sorts of popular acclaim as nominees in 2005, 2006, 2008 or 2009. I certainly did not dislike this play, but also wasn't as invested or moved as I had anticipated.
Thoughts: Hmmm. I saved this play to read when on a night when I had little motivation, thinking that I would absolutely love it. Lindsay-Abaire is fantastic at writing dialogue, so the play was a very fast read...but I did not become as attached to this play or it's characters as I had hoped. Other nominees in 2007 included Bulrusher, Orpehus X and A Soldier's Fugue; none of which have received the same sorts of popular acclaim as nominees in 2005, 2006, 2008 or 2009. I certainly did not dislike this play, but also wasn't as invested or moved as I had anticipated.
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