Erica N.'s response to "The Fourth"

Affirmations:

I just have such a soft spot for this play. Even when characters are talking in their most sexualized and sexist language, I believe that it comes from deep need and vulnerability. You walk a fine line but I think the heart of this play keeps you on track and us invested in these people.

I want to reiterate my enjoyment of the voice-mail sequence. Love it.

I also think you deserve props for being tuned in enough to your own process to know when you need to write something (like the Seth/Adrian scene) for your own sanity rather than to set something in stone.

I think this count as as an affirmation: I think it speaks really well of your play and your and Patrick's process this semester, that the class seemed so much on the same page. Everyone seemed to be most invested in the same relationships, and most felt the same things were missing. This makes me think that you're in a place now where you can really start to nail down the essential elements and ideas of the play, and then concentrate your efforts on action. Exciting!

Questions:

I still wonder about the independence of these characters in terms of their parents. Do they all live with their parents? Some of them? None of them? What's keeping them in the neighborhood? How does Henry play into this dynamic?

What purpose is Jessica serving in the story? I understand why you need the idea of her, but I'm not sure I understand her physical presence. I think partly this is because she's that character that feels like she teeters most dangerously toward problematic gender representation...but it might also be because she feels peripheral to the *action* of the piece, if not the relationships..

Opinions:

I think you've done AMAZING work this semester solidifying conventions, characters and relationships. My opinion is that your next step is to really concentrate on action and plot. What are the big events of this journey? (Also, I want to say: don't be afraid of linearity *if* you want to keep the idea of an odyssey. There's a momentum to the idea of a quest that gets a little lost in some of the flashbacks.) What is the re-cap version of this story? If someone said, "what happens in this story?" and you had to say it back to them with the linking phrases of "and then...", "so," and "but" what would that story be?

I really want to see the scene at the park under the fireworks!

Great work this semester!!!

Priscilla's final reponse to Love, Candy

Affirmations:
I am both interested and attracted to the Candy Darling you have created. I think it is incredibly difficult to create a single character (or almost single character) play and keep the audience attentive, but your character is so compelling that she can carry the play. I love the device of the one male/one female actors to play all of the other roles. I think it works well because it keeps our focus on Candy -- we never really invest in any of the many characters that they each play. I look forward to seeing/hearing more from this play.

Opinion:
It was a great exercise to allow us to pull apart your text the other day and assign new voices and roles. I believe that Candy's real life and what you've created are both rich enought that the play could be done either way and be successful. It would certainly be a totally different play though, and I have to think that it would cost Candy a good degree of her agency.

Question/Opinion:
Was the blackboard thing that you did during the NWF reading part of the script? It didn't seem in keeping with the rest of the play and really took me away from Candy and her story. I like the anatomy lesson, but wanted it to be directly tied to her and how she feels cheated by the time in which she lives.

Question/Opinion:
On the one hand, I really agree with your idea of not making Candy overly beautiful/feminine on stage (so as it doesn't turn into a drag show). But on the other hand, it also sort of seems untrue to the real Candy, as she so did not look like a man in a dress and make-up. In the pictures I've seen of her, she very much appears to be a female. I'm wondering how you might be able to give her that appearance and not make her stage transition drag-campy. I feel there's got to be a way to do it. (Don't you just love questions without possible solutions?)

Priscilla's final reponse to Fourth of July

Affirmations:
I still love this play. I love the town, the 4th, and each of the characters. Each time you’ve brought in new pages, I feel the relationships of the characters are deeper and more specific – but at the same time the characters have stayed true to their original selves and you have managed to keep the great story you’re telling.

I was thinking about our discussion in class of the nostalgia we all have for the 4th – and it’s so true that everyone has their mythology surrounding it. I feel that way about the community you’ve created in your play as well. I did not have the small town, Fourth of July experiences that you write about, but there is something so true in the place and the community, that it resonates for me nonetheless.

I particularly liked the changing out-going messages you brought in this week – brilliant and effective. I hope you find a place to incorporate them into your play.

Opinion:
You play has made me think a lot about how we communicate through different mediums. I like the way you have sometimes used the different mediums to counter one-another or as subtext. I think you could do more.

I love the pink pool and Adrian arriving at Connor’s. I hope it manages to stay in the play.

I think it is more effective to never have Seth get what he wants (Adrian). For some reason, it makes us connect with him and invest in him more.

Question:
I was wondering about Connor living with his parents and having the party. He says they’re coming home the next day and invites Adrian to stay over and help him clean up in the morning. But then there was something about another party the next day – I forget now exactly what it was – but it seemed to me something that would be particularly problematic given that the parents would be back home.

erica s.'s final blog on saving mom.

(finally)...

Affirmations:
Soo-Jin, your voice is so consistently funny and touching- each new draft/scene/version of this play holds and displays this humor and heart in a thrilling way.
I really enjoy your explorations of theatrical conventions in the newest draft- specifically what having it set in McDonald's has done for you... it seems like by containing it in this way all sorts of creative and fantastic(al) doors have been opened! There is also something really smart about McDonald's... the things that McD's represents in our culture (and the world) parallel this play in a really smart way. (this might be very obvious and so I will not expand but if you want me to explain what I mean by that I'm happy to!)


Questions:
What (or who) is the nucleus of this play? or-
What (or who) is the thing that is necessary to everything (or everyone) else?

Opinions:
My biggest, most opinionated opinion- is that I don't see how the molestation is necessary (or even part of) the story any more.
It feels as though you have about 3 possible plays here... or that there are 3 major stories at work- the molestation being one of them- but it seems like you have started writing away from that... that your exploration of the mom/rev story has really exploded and is (for me) what wants to be driving the play.

Third on the Fourth, by Carrie

Ok, so obviously the stage directions--totes great--How often do I get to say crotch and erection and "pulsing movement" in an academic envirnoment? (It's usually phallus, tumescent phallus, and jouissance).

[segue into real affirmations]

AFFIRMATIONS

I loved the tension between how honest the scene is (watching porn with someone else--how often do we see this?), how personal it is, and yet how during the whole scene there is a level of dishonesty operating. I really liked the comment that "this is what Connor has to do"/his ritual of pretend accidental bonerism with Adrian. Its so clear that Connor is controlling/orchestrating this scene without wanting to take any responsibility for it--like when you to come up for coffee and your pretending, oh yeah, i'm just making coffee--oh yeah, no, we're just you know, watching porn for porn's sake and oh, well now i have an erection, and what am i going to do about that? (And I love that there are 29 other gangbang girl's)

This scene also really brought back those pictures we drew of Connor's room as musty/dirty bachelor den

-I've loved all the new scenes you've brought in, particularly the ones having to do with technology and pushing it as far as it can go--I agree with Erica N that these are the moments that the play becomes most theatrical (pushing such a non-theatrical/technological convention to its extremes). Sometimes on major holidays when everyone is trying to call one another you get those "system busy" or "call failed" messages which are super annoying/also bad news when you accidentally send a text to the wrong person which is so easy to do, or even just everyone's phone slowly running out of juice one by one. I also really liked the idea of the phone breaking at some point and (moving to question for second half of thought)

Questions:
Wonder if the breakdown in technology might coincide with some of theold fashioned "magic" of the fourth, fireworks, simpler ways that people are related, come together on this very traditional/community/homey holiday?

What if Connor's favorite moment in the porn was a blow job scene--or is that too pointed?

Does Connor watch porn with his other friends? (Dave and Gerald?) I realize that was part of the "oh no, this is just porn" but still, I wondered if this is a "guy thing" or what (this scene and the discussion of what does it feel like to be in a pussy seems like the most honest discussion/aknowledgement of Adrian's sexuality btw between Connor and Adrian--which I really liked)
(ooooh, what if it was Jessica's?)

I wondered when you raised S.'s comment of there not being more writing needed if you feel like there is (it seems like it if you raised the question)

-I still have a lot of questions about Henry (sort of in response to that) which may be repetitions of my last blog, but i wonder why he is back, what it means to leave this town (if that is rare) what it means to him to come back, why he is trying to keep such a low profile, and what his relationship is to Connor (I kind of love Michael's suggestion that he is Connor's older brother--I think the connection I feel with Connor and Henry is that Connor seems so stagnant and stuck in one place and Henry is obviously has made choices: to go and to come back--i feel like this choice/non-choice is related or in response to a similar something)

-I'm *really* curious as to what happens after the scene you brought in between Seth and Adrian--I would assume that Adrian extricates himself, but I really wanted to see what was going to happen even knowing that--though there is something a little creepy about Seth almost taking advantage of Adrian when he is wasted and flailing around in a kiddie pool, then again, kinda sad, first year he was too drunk to do anything, second Adrian was too drunk to know what was going on or remember

-I like Connor a whole lot more than I did initially (and think he is a lot more layered) but I am still not really sure what he is going through and dealing with, what he wants, why he is doing what he is doing

-Did Connor love Jessica when they were together?

OPINION
(I sort of feel like my opinions creeped into my questions and comments...so not a lot of comments)
Ok, just as someone said that they didn't believe Connor drank fancy whiskey I'm not sure i have Mia pegged as a New Castle kinda girl.

Jessica seems almost too pathetic in the voice mail scene (yes I know, she is the character who forced herself on her ex and then tried to get Henry to come over) but I wonder if she can't have just a little bit of dignity, or at least end up with one of the other porn swapping boys. Where is she when the fireworks go off? really still at home?

Really wonderful writing and workshops all semester!

Erica S.'s (final) blog on the fourth!

Affirmations:
First of all, I really loved the stuff you brought in yesterday...
The characters have become more and more complicated and real and therefore more and more engaging and sympathetic.
I am especially keyed into and invested in the Connor/Adrian relationship ... (and the fact that the new scenes are really hot doesn't hurt.)
I really enjoyed the explorations of how voicemail can be used in a dramatically exciting and communicative way. I thought that the reveal of internal thoughts through voicemail was brilliant- it seems like such a consistent impulse of yours to get the internal monologue out - and this way of doing it is really taking advantage of your voice and what play logic allows us in a great way! (that was a really convuluted sentence... i hope it makes sense)

Questions:
What happens to characters who get what they want? (as in, what would Seth be left desiring if he got Adrian? or Adrian if he got Connor?)
How old are these characters? (lame question, but I've never been quite sure)
Would ALL of the characters ever be in the same space at the same time? What are the overlaps?

Opinions:
I've really enjoyed watching this play develop. I am endlessly interested in the characters and their individual desires/problems/quests... However, I don't know that I have any overarching questions or story to hang on to... I"m also not sure that I care at this point- but it seems like for you to find your ending there might be some distillation of story that needs to happen? maybe not.
I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing more. I feel like I really really know these people and want to know what happens to them. It's like fantastically juicy gossip (delivered through precise and skilled language)...

-Erica

Michael on "The Fourth," finally.

Robert, Patrick: Wow! Way to end the semester with a BANG!
(pun, double entendre intended)

Congratulations!

I so love this play now!

I have to admit when we started the semester, I was familiar with it from before. I liked things about it. I liked most of the characters, but I remember thinking it felt like a bunch of cool people looking for a story. And while you may not have every detail nailed down: You've found it!

I love how you've shaped this into Adrian's play. Full of Adrian's angst and unrequited love and increasingly requited sex and crossing back and forth across these threshholds. I feel like he has a bit of self-worth and he's in search of claiming it back--one way or another. I love how he seems to be tortured with the need for Connor, but his brain and something deep down says Seth. I love that Connor is coming around (no pun intended,) that this is forcing Adrian into a decision of sorts, and that it's going to be messy one way or another.

I love the motion and movement and journeys of this play. I hope you explore this even further. The movement in your presentation was very cool. I'd love to see more of it in how the story is told as well.

I second Daniel on your ability to capture voice and language of people exquisitely.

QUESTIONS:

Is Adrian journeying toward or away from the fireworks? Does this mean anything? In my head, he'd always been going away from them. And as we discussed in class yesterday, there's something very different about watching fireworks from the roof a mile away and lying on your back in the park underneath them. Could this dichotomy/symbolism be explored more? Which characters are going to see the fireworks on their backs (no pun intended, but an interesting one to ponder) and which ones are going to watch them from afar?

Ever thought about making Henry the estranged older brother of Connor? The brother that can't go home because something bad happened between him and his folks? That Mia isn't supposed to tell Adrian that he's back in town, but might? That Mia can't tell Henry about Connor's "explorations", but might? (Or might not?) This might add some tensions and tangle up their webs even more. (I've never thought of that before. It just popped into my head as I was thinking of questions. I thought of editing it because it isn't all well-thought out and is a bit prescriptive, but then in the spirit of responses bubbling up and knowing you'll take them and leave them as you will, I thought "what the hell.")

Are you still building toward the big fireworks show?

What if Seth has two shitty 4ths in a row?

Will Adrian make his decision actively? Or passively?
(definitely no pun intended! I think we explored active/passive quite well in class. I'm talking about the resolution--or not--of his love triangle)

IF the latter, will it be Seth or Connor who makes the decision for him?

FURTHER OPINIONS:

I'm not sure I like Adrian getting so drunk. It seems to be taking some of his responsibility away from his actions. Unless you're trying to make this a huge part of the stoy. I like that he's got this box of wine and that he's hitting it as he journeys. Although I imagine it gets hotter as he goes--well I guess that's just an assumption I've had that it's cheap chablis. If it's red, it doesn't matter. If it's white and getting warmer as the play goes on, then it starts making Adrian seem like a transient-level alkie. I'm not sure what the answer is on this. I can see it various ways. I just wanted you to know that it's something I thought about and I think you need to really think about to what level he gets drunk.

It might be my age, but technology/communication devices are the part of this play that carries the least heat for me. (I follow the characters and the angst and the excitement of the 4th and the journey, etc.) That being said, I think you've made some real progress in your use of cell phones and text messages in the play, and they are totally in character for this group of characters. But I caution to really think about each message, each voice mail (unrequited call), each picture sent via phone and make sure it's totally germane to the plot. There may still be some times this all feels more like atmosphere or convention to me.

YET, yesterday I loved the surreally honest voice mails. LOVED that scene. I don't think you could do that through out the play, but for one scene WOW! It's almost like you took the devices and are making fun of it and then using them to really tell what is happening. That moment can be very powerful and you can convey a lot of info in a memorable and cool way! A cool perception shift.

In conclusion, I applaud y'all's work on "The Fourth" this semester. I think y'all have cracked open so much and moved this play to a great place that you both should be proud of. I'm honored to have been a part of it and can't wait to see where it goes from here!

Soo-Jin's Response to "The Fourth" (Final)

Fabulous new pages, Robert and Patrick!

Affirmations:

I LOVE the energy in the scenes we read yesterday. Something brave and vulnerable and engaging surfaced for me.

The porn/sex discussion felt real. FYI, it didn't sound like "this is our first time talking about sex," whether that was your intention or not. I liked the casual yet serious curiosity they both had about it.

I love when you messed with the answering message greetings in the 2nd scene. That was fun and humorous. I love when rules are broken with technology like that. When rules of repetition are broken. It's like a breath of fresh cool air on that hot July 4th day.

I enjoyed the play in your last set of scenes from yesterday. I also enjoyed how active Seth got even if it was just an exercise for you. Made me respect Seth more.

Questions:

1) This was the only time I've ever wanted to know more about Mia besides being Adrian's sidekick. I wonder what her wants are because she is a pretty big presence in your ensemble. Adrian is chasing after his dream guy. I wonder what Mia is struggling to chase...just so I know where her vulnerabilities may lie.

2) What keeps Connor from making his relationship with Adrian official/public?

3) How aware is Connor of his bisexuality?

4) Has Adrian had past lovers/interests?

5) What is something new that each person in the play discovers? It can be small or huge. I guess phrased another way, how is each person different by the end of the play?

6) Will Adrian stay "secret lovers" with Connor if that's the only choice Connor gives him?

7) What will Jessica's reaction be to finding out about Connor and Adrian having had a "past?"

Opinion:

I wanted the first scene to go further. Perhaps Connor asking Adrian how far he's gone with a girl, etc. What Adrian's first experience with a guy was like, etc... I felt this refreshing "truth or dare" playfulness in their banter but wanted more. Just hungry for more.

I've enjoyed the world you've created...where people are not pretentious. They just say what's on their mind. It's fun and engaging and has attitude. Can't wait to see more.

Notes on "The Fourth" from Jenny

Robert and Patrick,

Great work this semester! You've made us all think so much harder about systems of communication, and in ways that seem to really be serving your play. I really look forward to seeing upcoming drafts of "The Fourth" -- I hope you keep me in the loop.

Comments,in no particular order:

-I love Mia

- It was really interesting to see the Seth/Adrian kiss scene yesterday, and people's reaction to it. You'd sort of expect us all to cheer when Seth gets Adrian, but it didn't play that way. Huh.

- I second George's love of the "subtext" voicemails, partly for the reasons Carrie described (it's what the listener is thinking when he/she gets voicemail) and partly, as George says, because it takes us further into the realm of the fantastic.

- I don't know that I WAS obsessed by the Fourth of July before we started working on this play (haven't seen fireworks in years) but thanks to you, I am now. I've actually been obsessing over this thing I read about ten years ago, when I lived in Valencia, Spain. I googled it and found it. It's in Spanish (so if you don't read Spanish, y'all, just scroll ahead) and it's LONG (sorry)...but I've been chewing on it and I didn't know if maybe you'd find something to chew on. Actually, you know what? I just tried to cut and paste it and it was WAY too annoying. The full text is on the following website.

http://www.marxists.org/espanol//////////////bajtin/rabelais.htm

I thought it got interesting beginning with the paragraph "La dualidad en la percepcion del mundo"

The upshot was its discussion of the cultural place of "la fiesta" -- the festival, the carnival, the holiday, loosely -- in ancient rome, in the middle ages, in "el pueblo" -- the town, the population, the people, loosely -- and how it both tears down and enforces the rules by which people live the rest of the time -- a temporary suspension of the Social Contract, if you will, to allow us to let off steam and live under it the rest of the time. It talks about high and low, official and unofficial fiesta, and the difference between the religious and state/official holiday. I got to thinking about where Independence Day might fall in that, and your characters, and I thought it might be useful to you. It's a little heady (yay, Marxist theorists discussing Rabelais), but it's something to read and forget and think about later. And I do think there's some resonance.

- At the risk of repeating what I said in class, part of me would like to see Adrian encounter more obstacles, or have whole journey twist somehow (Suzan's perception shift).

- Henry is still a character I'm really curious about.

- Jessica occupies an interesting space in this play. We haven't talked about her a lot, and I'm wondering what might lurk in the corners of this "straight ex-girlfriend," or how else she might represent Connor's world away from Adrian.

- Do Jessica and Mia know each other?

- Do Henry and Connor know each other?

- Do Henry and Adrian know each other?

- Who else does Seth know?

- How do these people act around each other normally? Is it the Fourth that has freed them?

Great, great work all semester. Your in-class exercises were so much fun, and so in the spirit of the play. I can't wait to read more!

Jenny's Final Elephant Blog

Hi Erica and George,

Great, great job this semester! It's been really fascinating to watch the two of you approach the play -- I feel like a lot of the work you were doing was on as much of a micro-level as a macro-level, which was very instructive. I think that everything you've done has helped to clarify and magnify Mary's story, which is exciting. George, I'm gonna take a page from you and give my comments in no particular order.

- I love the Hungry Townsperson at the end. Like Carrie, I think the only reason he ever needs to give for his clear memory is that he eats peanuts; while the anthropologist/Henry James lover is totally interested in his liminality/outsider status, I think that's actually a function of the degree to which the play allows me to feel like "audience" -- because if I were in the audience, this is probably what I'd talk about at the coffee shop the next day.

- I liked just about everything you did to the text during NWF. George knows this already because I was sitting next to him and kept elbowing him at every change, saying "nice."

- At the risk of repeating what has been said in class and on the blog, I'm a fan of the Strongman, and his lyricism in the final monologue is nice. Don't know whether it was how he was played or the text, but I feel like he's still the character I'd like to see clarified and/or made more vital to the motion of events.

- Speaking of motion,I think a lot of the questions I still have relate much more to the play's staging, and how to keep a strong sense of motion going. The text certainly does; it's how to bring that same sense of vitality and push forward to a fully staged play. Given that as my lingering question, I am SO excited that we'll all get to see it staged next year, and that you'll have George's favorite collaborator here to do it.

- I feel like, at your reading, each character who took the stage became my favorite character for the duration of their monologue, only to be usurped by the next player.

- Again, this is the audience member/ anthropologist talking. This idea of (misplaced) ritual cleansing in an increasingly secular, ostensibly "modernizing" society is really fertile. The contrast of a ritual killing (a primitive, primal, communal act) to the mechanizing, impersonal, anti-communal yet "connective" influence of the railroad is wild. The fact that the one is the agent of the other is a delicious, terrible irony. Not saying I'm hoping for more to punch that up, simply that it's all in there.

George's Final Response to the "The 4th"

Hey guys,

Great job this semester - Robert, you and Soo-Jin win the Courage in Rewriting™ award. Robert, kudos to you for your willingness to play with your play and kudos to Patrick for pressing you onward. I hope you're both excited and pleased with everything you've discovered this semester - I think you've made real progress.

Random final thoughts:

- As I said in class, I am curious if "independence" comes into the play at any point.

- Also a rehashing of class, I'm curious if the communication methods can come to a head at some point in the play, perhaps as the interpersonal come to a head as well. I love your idea of smashing the phone - perhaps that is independence of a kind?

- I would love more obstacles to Adrian's quest other than booze and distance. Mia spurs him on, could Seth or others seek to stop his quest?

- Love the voice mail section you brought in today - great way to reveal inner voices as well as take the technological into the fantastic. Also like the idea of a changing message - some of us leave our outgoing message the same for years - something to play with there?

- I agree with Jenny that I would like more surprises in the play. Adrian knows what he wants to say to Connor and then he says it. Is there a way to play with that more? Mess with it and our expectations?

- I liked the Seth scene and think that the scene could be a challenge for Adrian to overcome - a temptation on his quest.

- I agree that Henry seems important - I'm not sure how yet, but he seems like he belongs - maybe he is another obstacle to Adrian somehow

- I agree that the fireworks are a great ticking clock - I think you had Adrian sleeping through them in one draft - I think that could be a lovely end to the play if he sleeps through what he's really been looking forward to all day (because he has Connor and that's more important). Sweetly satisfying.

Okay, I think that's it. Congrats to both of you!

George's Final Response to the "Play Formerly Known as Love, Candy"

Hey gals,

Great work this semester. It's been exciting to watch the play develop in your capable hands. Your classes have been so structured and targeted - kudos to you both.

Here's my thoughts/comments/opinions/questions in no particular order:

- The questions that pull me through the play are “will Candy be successful in her quest to become a woman?” and “how did she meet Andy Warhol?” and "how did she become famous?"

- because I don't know the details of Candy's life, the non-linear method of storytelling in the play can be confusing at times. I applaud your instinct to avoid structuring the play so that it climaxes with her interaction with Warhol (they typical VHI version of the story), but at the same time, avoiding this more obvious choice leaves me feeling driftless at times, unsure of what climax I am headed toward.

- I may have said this before, but I'm most engaged when the story is most specific (EZ Bake Oven) and less general (the "lecturish" stuff)

- I wonder if the play might kick off with more of a bang somehow - watching it I felt there was a need for something to kick things off - part of this was Simon's performance, but the play in peformance seemed to get off to a slow start. Talk to me about this and I will make more sense (hopefully).

- as I think I said in class, I'm a little confused by the framing device in the play - Andy and his assistant seem to be the gods of the play at the beginning, but then they somewhat disappear into other characters (and I don't feel them behind those characters, they seem like different characters).

- I really loved the caring nurse character that showed up in class last week - I think that's worth pursuing. Could she be the mom as well? And simply dividing the lines you'd already written carries a lot of potential - might be a way to control the Warhol presence in the play if he is presented as a part of Candy's persona, i.e., her desire for fame, etc. Worth exploring, I think.

That's all for now, but please feel free to ask me any questions you might have. I think you're on the brink of something very exciting and wish you continued experimentation and exploration of all the possibilities this play has to offer!

Oh, and I'm fine with the title as well.

Michael's Final Blog on Love Comma Candy

Erica and Jenny,

Y'all have made so much progress on this piece this semester. And so much of that has been your willingness to play with the play--to try new things, ideas, scenes, etc.

It was fun to watch it in New Works and see how one director took it and staged a workshop in ways that I hadn't envisioned. Like I said in class, I had just imagined actors double/triple cast in the play, but I hadn't envisioned them chorus like. I didn't really get that from the workshop, but from your conversation the other day and it intrigues me.

Y'all have really unlocked many rich things about Candy. And much of this was due to your work in class and re-writes and outside explorations. Congratulations!

Your in-class exercises were truly creative and fun to participate in. The type that I thought about for awhile afterwards. (This includes this week. Very good job, y'all!)

Questions:

How much do you see the play as unfinished? How did y'all feel about New Works workshop? I enjoyed it. Thought it was fun to watch, but I wondered if it left you with more questions or answers. I don't think either is a bad thing. And I don't have an opinion on it.


Opinions:

I love the way the 15 minutes emerged during the process, but like someone said in one post-New Works discussion (Steven's class?), you might explore not having the stage manager announce every minute. You might announce a few then skip a few. This might play with our perception of time even more.

The opening with the film scene still throws me a bit. On one hand I like it, but I don't know why it's there. I keep wanting to come back to it. Maybe if Andy were filming the whole thing?

In class on Thurs, I loved how Andy's presence turned Candy up more. I don't necessarily want the play about Andy, but I think you ought to play with that and see if it works or deters. And to not be afraid if it becomes more about him. It wasn't your original intent, but if you get into playing with it and that emerges that would be cool too. If not, I think it will teach you even more about Candy.

I especially liked y'all's session this Thursday. That was nice. It was still full-steam work on the play, which I think is great! It felt like y'all were taking what y'all saw during New Works, etc and using class as an opportunity to play with these while you have the luxury of having a captive participants that know the play. I thought this was very smart! AND I thought what y'all devised for that was very smart as well. I hope the exercises provided helpful insight into areas that can be played with and possibly changed up. It was also a fun exercise to do.

My opinion is that I think the best title is "Love, Candy." That was a fun little closure exercise, but i think you have a great title. It's obviously landed with you and I don't think a few people's comments in a talk-back (or whatever) should make you second-guess it. If YOU don't like it, that's another thing. But I for one, like "Love, Candy."

Again, this was a fun play to work on in class. I've liked this play since the first time I experienced it, reading it in lab. I think you've unlocked a lot and you have a solid footing to stand on as you move to the next phases of development.

Congrats!

Michael's Final Blog on The Elephant

What can I say?

It's been a great semester for this play. I think your sessions were so focussed on things that were germane to making progress and cracking open tensions and relationships.

Seeing it with actors and costumes and staging (albeit limited) and the drum during New Works was a privilege. It was great to watch a play I'd been involved with electrify an audience. Since I knew it, at times I paid attention to the audience and like Jason T. said, there were collective gasps and periods of tears and periods of laughter. You had them at hello.

And I think a lot of that came from y'all's work this semester. Trying out various forms of various scenes in class seems to have benefited the play.

I love the subtle punch of this play.

Questions:

Are you going to get to have some age-specific actors for the main-stage production? I hope so.

Opinions:

I like the presence of the train in the play. It provides a sense of industry and effeciency. And it is neither town nor circus. But it might take up too much time. I know it's the "solution" for the hanging, but I'm not sure I need as much of it as is in the play. (Also it's sort of expository feeling because it is neither town or circus. I'm not vested in learning that much about it.) Again, I think you need it. But consider the amount.

The chants of "kill it" worked, but I'd like more build. Maybe one occasional "kill it" then slowly more, then picking up steam like the train. I know this is also a directorial issue, but I included it because it was the subject of one of our sessions in class. (maybe off-stage voices by the stagehands?)

I love the strong man. I think you should play him up, turn up his flamboyance, his arrogance, his strength. Then he has further to fall as he admits his helplessness and loss. (I think he should be big and strong--not a parody of a strong man.)

Of course I still love the trainer.

I like that the Sheriff has stakes--a reason to want to kill Mary. This worked well--without over-working it. (It would've been real easy to do that. Congrats on hitting a great balance there.)

I think the Preacher's purpose and role is much more clear, but it might have room to be worked with. Whether that's a directorial thing or text, I don't know. I like that we see at least some of the negative effect of the hanging in him.

I love seeing the "I can dig that for you" scene at the end--instead of his monologue. I'd suggest possibly showing us a few more important scenes. BUT this is a play of monologues, of over-lapping remembrances and stories. Of over-lapping points of view. I'd caution against trying to change that too dramatically. The response of the audience at New Works shows that it's working. But in a bigger production, I think it would be great to explore (as I think it was Daniel who said a while back) more things happening at once--like a circus. Thus monologues may over-lap even more, work as scenes in a sense--like many do now. I think this is a potentially rich area to explore.

George and Erica, you did a very good job this semester. Congrats!

Soo-Jin's Response to "Love Candy" (Final)

Affirmations:

First off, it was great to see your play with actors at New Works. The use of the chorus playing different characters works well for me. I keep anticipating what each person will play next.

I love your activity of laying out just text and asking us to sculpt the scene by separating lines among anybody. That was really challenging to do at first but once we got going, it was fine. We just used logic and intuition. And when we read it aloud, that's what I realized the potency of giving the lines to certain characters. How effective that can be. I love the existential nurse. The wise, one-liner sage. I love it. We sculpted her from what you gave us.

It has been so awesome to watch you bring in new scenes. To have you and Jenny do process work with us in class. Taking us to the dressing room.

I love the easy bake oven scene.

Questions:

(1) Why did you change the dream cock from black to red? The red just reminds of dog's genatalia. But that might just be me. ;)

(2) Was there anything sexual between Andy Warhol and Candy?

(3) Who was the love of Candy's life?

(4) Who did Candy want a visitation from on her death bed?

(5) What would interrupt the 15 minutes from continuing? What would speed it up?

Opinions:

I agree with Michael that I want to see more of Andy as he adds color to Candy. The more Andy appears, the more I like Candy. I want Andy's aura to penetrate Candy's world more. At least before her sickness. After is also interesting as you did the Boal technique in your 1st session.

I'm curious about the Factory People. What that world was like more. I guess I crave some more behind the scenes there just 'cause I'm not an expert on Pop Culture of the 60s.

I love Sheila's idea of perching the bed high above the stage as the nightmare's happen. Very powerful.

Soo-Jin's Response to "Elephant's Graveyard" (Final)

George & Erica...you guys have worked so hard this semester and it has been a pleasure to watch you work ur magic and be a participant in ur process during class. Thank you.

Affirmations:

I like how the strongman waxes poetic at the end. Moves me. Just 'cause he's the last person I'd expect that from.

I like the new cut you made and shared with us in class of the "peanut" townsperson mentioning the lynching at the end. I like how he explains things simply but profoundly. Direct and honest. I like that a lot. And I agree with others who mentioned in class that the "fire" rumor steals a bit of thunder from the lynching subject.

I enjoyed all the cuts you made and some edittings you made (You had new lines dispersed here and there) in the New Works Festival draft. Loved them.

Questions: (not necessarily asking for these questions to be answered in the play. just some new questions that popped into my head)

(1) Were there black people at the lynching? I guess peanut guy was there. I wonder if there were others. If they were there, I'm curious if they were there to support Mary's hanging or not.

(2) Did anybody mourn Red's death?

(3) What would a lawyer (a townsperson) think of Mary's hanging? Ludicrous or necessary?

Opinions:

I really loved Daniel's comment on how Elephant's Graveyard sheds light on the history of American violence. I request it to be written up in the program even only 'cause it's so huge. And perhaps people would get it but not everyone might.

EG is a moving play that hits you in the guts. Bravo to you both!

Love, Candy or C[andy] or [C]andy ([c]arrie)

A BRIEF MUSING ON WRITING THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG
Actually its sort of interesting what a difference there is in [C]Andy and C[andy]--we could do a close reading there a la the days of undergraduate poetry workshops and talk about the "c" as partioned off and outside as opposed to the "andy" as internalized within--either way it points me back to your original reluctance to include Andy Warhol in the script and to wonder if you are happy with the amount of presence he has in your current manifestation (I'm thinking about Michael's comment as to how Andy and his assistant begin the play but we never come back to them--maybe a good title would be Candy/[C]andy so there is a balance or a tension between the Candy who is her own creation and a Candy who is a product/creation of her time and the influneces around her--i have more to say about this in relation to the exercises.

AFFIRMATIONS/COMMENTS: (I'm trying to stay in the structure!)
Another fun and informative session, I loved hearing Jenny say at the end of class (or maybe it was out at the bar...clearly too much post-reading celebration for me) that the structure of the workshops came very naturally out of her collaboration with Erica--I've really enjoyed the fun-ness of all of your sessions.

I also think it was very generous of you (Erica) to allow us to stick our fingers and pens into your play (more cutting than adding as it were) and to play with it. I was really surprised to hear Naomi Wallace talk about letting other people "push in" or write parts of her play, at first I was a little shocked, but I hope it was useful to see what other people made with your work.

What I liked particularly about the text activity was the impulse to understand/fully integrate what you called the chorus--but what seems like more of an ensemble. I wrote in a previous blog how taken I am with the idea in all the plays we've been working on of making everyone "earn" their place in the ensemble and on the stage. I think using these characters fully helps bring to the forefront some of the ways that particulalry gender but also all cultural constructs are learned first and then internalized/normalized. This was particularly true in the Easy Bake Oven Scene we were working on, but also in the Hope cigarette scene. I really love the philosophizer nurse!

I also had a real sense of a sort of personal geneology of Candy as these scenes openned up to include more characters--I had a good sense of what the making of Candy Darling was through the manipulation of language (important for a character who uses language to re-name herself several times.
QUESTIONS:

I'm really glad you called attention to the dreams--I had forgotten about them and they are so interesting. I wonder if you imagine them happening together (there is such a strong sense of flow from one to the next: symbols/inversions/how fairytale is working in each one/violence/family etc) or if you imagine them spread throughout the text? Regarding the screen/live playing--I wonder what it would be like if Candy were watching the ensemble members play out the dreams(that is one of those pesky proscriptive questions that are actually suggestions yes, lets move down to suggestions/comments)
SUGGESTIONS/COMMENTS
Anyway, I could see either one dream flowing into the next or scattered--I wonder if they also might coincide with the administration of morphine or other drugs?

I think it would have been great to see the scene that we all worked onif we had had time--but I suppose you guys have that information--and to talk through/process the why of some of those choices--I know in our version (George Michael TM) we felt that those lines needed to stay with Candy and I do wonder about maintaining that balance of showing Candy as a product of her influences/time and Candy as a pretty remarkable, pioneering autonomous person who has a core and a strong sense of who she is.

I think its also really important to see Candy struggle (I'm thinking about the lines in the communal scene that were split up between Andy and Candy) about death and the afterlife--and i so love the line about death being a rite of passage that is completely universal) with the lighter and darker sides of her personality)

We had started to write the easy bake oven as a scene where Candy is playing out the action of the scene while the chorus narrates--might be interesting.

Great work all semester!

Love, Candy/Final Session

First of all, great job Erica and Jenny—it’s been a pleasure to be part of the development process for this play! Once again, because of the nature of your final session, I’m not sure that the final affirmation/question/opinion structure is necessary, so I shall just meander through and provide feedback as it comes to me!

I really enjoyed this final activity—I hope it proves to be as fruitful for you in developing the script as it seemed to be in class. As soon as you described the activity, I remembered what Debbie Saivetz said during your previous in-class session—she mentioned the presence of the “theory voice” that emerged in some sections of the play as perhaps another character all together. I thought about that throughout yesterday’s activities (I was expecting to find “theory voice” as the other voice we were “supposed” to separate)—and when I found other voices instead, I began to wonder who all of the voices are. If I remember correctly, the characters lines are divided in the script as male ensemble/female ensemble, not as Nurse (female) or Hippy (male) or what have you. I’m wondering if creating a list of these characters/other voices and THEN discovering the gender balance might be helpful I love the idea of them functioning as a chorus, an ever present gender spectrum that frames, organizes, and sometimes interrupts Candy’s narrative—and this was incredibly clear, even in the staged reading at New Works—delicious.

So two questions here include:

Who are all of these voices?

How are they gendered? (some of these are specific/explicit…but some not. Why is the nurse female? What might it look like if Candy’s mother was played by a drag queen, whose gender is never commented upon.)

How can the male and female ensemble members on either side of Candy both be “opposite” of one another and create a spectrum?

Is the entrance of the female ensemble member a direct reaction to the male ensemble member who just had his “scene?”

What is the chorus doing for the play when they are onstage but not interacting with Candy directly?

Maybe this is taking the structure of affirmation/question/opinion…

I don’t remember what was done with the “theory” voice during New Works—but I’m wondering if that might come in the form of the existential nurse? At least in the context of what my group produced yesterday, the theory lines might fit well/resonate well with the other lines that were stolen from Candy and reassigned to the nurse.

Also, along the same lines with George what George mentioned in class—so much of this play is about the power of celebrity, but I’m not sure that I ever learn the extent/see the extent to which Candy achieved that status.

I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Carrie's Final Response to Elephant's Graveyard

Great work George and Erica- Your process conversation brought out a lot of interesting ideas about the semester as a whole and some of the challenges of producing new work. I think I too am going to eschew the traditional in order to respond.

1) First of all--the prompt you began with "What would you miss?" Made me sad in a way, or made me feel like possibly you got a lot of conflicting feedback, the over all thrust of which was to cut down or get rid of various elements (but maybe that there was disagreement about which). In a sense this seems like its been a huge part of the work that you as a team have done this semester, continuing to refine/cut/condense--i think you've both worked really well in this capacity without losing anything from the story--but even the pages you brought in attest to what a skill this is (balancing what is potentially lost through condensing--specificity in the case of the hungry townsperson's speech) vs what is gained.

1a) That being said--something else I would really miss would be the presence of a Young townperson--a sense of generations (particularly since you are dealing with history--the idea of how history has been transmitted and the sort of childlike joy of the circus that goes so quickly wrong)

2) I was interested in the conversation that came up around casting, particularly in reference to race, for several reasons. I think the one that we did not actually talk about was that it brought up a few questions for me about process and development--how much of the final product or a published script comes out of a collaboration (not just between playwright and dramaturg or playwright and director) but playwright and the actual logisitics of a time/place/bodies s/he has to work with--is that making sense? I suppose that none of us are making art in a vaccuum and the fact that this play is being developed here and now will have some effect on it.

3) That being said, I would like to weigh in--literally--on the strongman. I agree that the strongman should have some real heft about him. (Walking around Winship last night I was definitely giving more than a once over to anyone I heard muttering his lines over and over to themselves. For me, this is an issue that has come out around all of the plays we've worked on this semester which is ensemble building or earning your place--coming out of Erica's comment about Priscilla's play and something I've been thinking about a lot with Soo-jin's play as well, I think it is important that the Strongman has a rightful place within the Circus--I also just can't imagine how the lines would hit where the Strongman recounts how crushing it is to see the crain hang Mary--I think that I, at least, need to believe that the thought of him trying to lifet Mary is not purely laughable. On a second read through that speech, the connection between the image of ballet girl wrapped in Mary's trunk and Mary wrapped up in the crane is even stronger to me--When he says I could never lift her like that, I am also thinking about the allure of Mary parading around with Ballet girl and the weird interesting nexus of desire/danger etc in that original image as explicated by ballet girl. What those lines also do (particularly in overlaying those images) is bring the circus/technology (train), town trifecta into focus in a readable/understandable way. If the crain has become Mary and Mary has become the ballet girl, it is in a sense as if the circus as a whole is wrapped up and suspended for a moment by technology/progress...and then crushed. Maybe an oversimplification and i am sure there are far more interesting and sophisticated readings of that moment, but it really works for me.

4) Can I repeat how wonderful I think it is that the Hungry Townsperson remembers simply because he eats peanuts--I really don't feel like I need or even want a bigger reason than than, a) because its a lovely little nod to the circus and the lore around elephants 2) because its such a simple little arbitrary thing that anyone can do, anyone can remember, not only those who are connected by race or social status/position to once side of violence or the other--maybe some, because of these things, have a harder time forgetting, but really, anyone can remember.

I think it is so cool that you are going to Erwin this summer--good work both of you!

Carrie

Final Response to "Elephant's Graveyard"

I don’t know that the model of affirmation/questions/opinions will work (for me!) in terms of responding to your “closing-day” activities, so I think I’ll just verbally meander through some of what we discussed it class and try make my earlier articulations more specific.

What’s essential/What’s the play ABOUT

Not only do I think this play is about the way history repeats itself and reproduces violence on substituted bodies, I think it demonstrates the way violence as a “cultural truth” (to use Daniel’s words!) is remembered by the body—or certain bodies at least. This broadens up the play’s question to: What do people chose to (not) remember? What memories are cerebral, and what memories are physical? How is resistance against physical and cerebral memories different?

Going back to “what’s essential”—I completely forgot to speak up in class. The preacher’s monologue! His speech is so effective at problemitizing the “us. Vs. them”dichotomy of Erwin and the circus. As much as the play uses that dichotomy well, I particularly love those moments (such as the preacher’s monologue) in which the ability to use “us” and “them” so monolithically becomes increasingly difficult.

I really wish I had been able to see the show during New Works so that I could have experienced the drum and the costumes—I suppose I shall just wait contently until fall-time.

I’m really enjoying the strongman’s presence in the play—for reasons I stated in class (his disliking Mary because her presence both overshadows and calls into question his skill as a performer, as it does Ballet Girl). Given Carrie’s observation as well, I’m wondering where the relationship between Ballet Girl and Strong Man might be headed. Also, in terms of casting—I really think what you’ve written relies on (or possibly calls for) an ACTUAL strong man. Casting a “humorous” strong man doesn’t allow for the tension I previously described (not that my observations need to be your sole basis for casting,but…), but also might not make it possible for the Strong Man to have the relationship he has with the crane. Just something to think about!

I was also in complete agreement with Carrie about HOW the Muddy Townsperson remembers—I wanted to make the same comment but also had the fear of stating the obvious. Using the consumption of peanuts to catalyze or even CAUSE memories in some way really makes memory a choice—which, while this of course not always the case, it does seem to be the case with the population of people in your play. This might seem silly as well, but I think it also gestures to “what do elephants and people have in common?”—that is it humanizes Mary and elephantizes (a popular academic word, I know) the humans.

Isn’t the phrase “an elephant never forgets a friend!” (or is it just “an elephant never forgets”? I might just be thinking of a slogan used by the Howie Mandel character in the early 90’s cartoon Bobby’s World). But if the phrase is “an elephant never forgets a friend”—I wonder if there is something to that? Is the Muddy Townsperson Mary’s friend? In some way, is his effort to foreground her in everyone’s memory an act of friendship?

Also, I really enjoyed writing my note to Mary. If I didn’t vocalize this earlier, don’t read it!

I really enjoyed being a part of this process this semester—I wish George the best of luck at his writing over the summer and can’t wait to see this play fully staged this fall!

Jenny's Response to Saving Mom Final

Hi Priscilla and Michael,
I basically kept a running response to the play as I watched it, and am sorting out those responses into affirmations/Questions/opinions below.

AFFIRMATIONS
I like that we're starting with Anna's voice, and I really like the first monologue as a point of entry innto the play.
I like that Jon and Anna now sleep together BEFORE Anna has the "slick" scene with Carol.
I love Jon's attempting to say that Six is a lucky number, and Anna calling him on it.
I like Anna interrogating Carol about relationships...I especially like it because it's a place where Anna is very focused and active and externalized in her pursuit of information/outside ways of thinking. Not that this is necessarily something to strive for in a million places, but that it lets me see that Anna CAN be/do that, that it's in her to.
I REALLY like watching Anna put together what's going on with the hair. Watching her "solve" that mystery is something that keeps me really engaged.
I love the conversation at the end of act one, where we get the play's title. It feels really honest and true.
I pay a lot of attention every time Anna gives us something about why she's so fascinated by the hair, what the fact of hair/memory might mean to her.
I like Jon's full court press for more momentum in the relationship.

QUESTIONS
Why does ANNA want the hair thing to be true? I guess I'm still left wondering what, in full, the fact of memory hair means for Anna. How does wanting more and not settling in a relationship tie into the hair? Does it?
Why is Carol so dead-set on "I'm married, thus I'd never leave?"
Why does Jon want to be Anna's oasis? What is he drawn to in her, right from the get-go?
Does Jon love falling in love or being in love? If he loves falling in love, I understand why he would go after someone who makes it clear that she is in a relationship and thus only available in the short-term. If he loves being in love I understand why he pushes to go deeper in his relationship with Anna, but I'm less clear why he would be initially drawn to someone who has made clear that her "availability" comes with strings and a time limit. Or is it that he loves both, or changes his mind partway in? It may be that this is entirely clear and I'm a dunce, but I was left sort of wiggling the tooth of that when Seth/Jon was talking about love in last week's reading. For what it's worth, it's the first time I've thought about it.

OPINIONS
I really love this play and where it's headed. I love the poetry of it, the deepening of the love triangle and my growing sympathy for the people on each side of it, I love the imagery you've got going all over and the fixation on memory.

Is it fair that, in a play that is dealing with poetry and a kind of...floating quality...that I still find myself wishing to be PULLED through the play a little more? I'm torn between wanting the motion to feel dreamlike/contemplative and wanting more thrust. Maybe my feeling torn isn't so far from the two kinds of relationships Anna's torn between :).

Betty's drowning scene is just stunning. I love Anna's phone call to her mother. I think I keep spelling Anna wrong, but I'm not sure.

Fantastic, fantastic work to both Priscilla and Michael! Kudos on a great semester!

Priscilla's response to Saving Mom

Affirmations:
I think the story you’re trying to tell is interesting and meaningful, and I respond to it every time we read it (even though you are constantly making radical changes). I think you are writing about a very touching and complex situation with no easy answers – which may be why you are finding so many facets of story and character that need exploring. In the earlier drafts, I didn’t understand why this was “Finding Mom”, as it really didn’t seem her story; however, I think you knew all along that it was. As you’ve made changes, it becomes more and more clear that Mom is truly the focal point in all of the other character’s lives and is the machine driving the play.

Questions:
I still have questions or confusion about Sunshine’s role in the play – maybe because I haven’t seen her take her own journey yet (although the homeless guy can certainly be part of that.)

I’m wondering if the scenes in the church are gone or might be coming back. Maybe I just liked them because they were so proactive on the daughters' parts.

I’m still wondering if the preacher and Mom had a sexual affair – and maybe that’s your intention. I don’t think that I even really need to know, but I am curious.

Opinions:
Just one – don’t let McDonald’s hijack your play.

Priscilla's reponse to Fourth of July

Affirmations:
This might be my favorite piece of all your work that I’ve seen or heard. It has been so interesting to see it develop over the last two years. I think what I really appreciate is that while you are getting closer and closer to the heart of your story, the characters (including the character of the town) have remained constant and vibrant. I love all of the clearly defined voices – even the not-always-nice Jessica. I appreciate that you’ve made some very bold story choices, and they have just made the play stronger (and hotter).

Questions:
I’m wondering how all the text and voice mail sections will work. I’ve been thinking about whether the messages will just be on a projection or will be vocalized as well and wondering how the separation of text (or voice) from the character will feel in the play. I am also wondering what happens on stage when messages are sent – do characters get spot lit to emphasis, go dark to focus the audience on the projection, stand frozen so the audience has time to read? You probably visualize how you would like to see this done. I’m just wondering.

Opinions:
I think the way you are engaging different communication systems is so smart, particularly the way you are really looking at what can be said in person v. on the phone v. in a text message. I think you can use this almost like a great subtext tool – which you already do now – but I hope you continue and use it even more.

It was great to see your play on its feet in your workshop. In my humble opinion, I think there was some rather prescriptive feedback and maybe even some posturing going on. I hope you don’t let it guide you unless it is something you really believe you want to do.

Response to final "Feel the Bend" Session!

Affirmations:

I expressed this a bit in class the other day, but something about casting a younger Carol worked really well for me. I know Priscilla said that she had lowered the ages of both of the characters, but the gap in ages seemed to be a really productive, active space for me as a spectator (more on this in my questions section.

The verbal thread that tied together everyday vocabulary with the vocabulary of “Anna and her hairs” was incredibly clear in this draft. I’m thinking particularly of the ways “I’m not cutting (you out of my life)” resonated with cutting of the hairs, etc. There were a few other words/phrases that floated between these two different worlds, though I’m afraid they escape me at the moment. I’ll update this as I remember them. Connecting these two worlds together was explicit, but still nuanced.

On the whole, I loved this draft of the script and the adjustments you’ve made—it’s so exciting to see the script find its structure!

‘I want to talk to her but she’s a ship” remains my favorite line, ever!

Questions:

Are all of Anna’s cards somehow related to her “victims”?

Is the fact that they are grey hairs new? (Possibly just my shoddy memory)

What memories would Betty catalogue, if she could?

How often did Betty/Anna fight pre-John?

I remember when Debbie Saivetz spoke about the presence of the “theory voice” in “Love, Candy.” I notice a scene where the “theory voice” of “Feel the Bend” erupts from Anna, and I’m wondering where that is rooted. It’s early in Act II, when she has a lengthy explanation of how bisexuality works. Where does this “theory” voice come from and how does it fit with the rest of the otherwise relatively realist dialogue?

Opinions:

Has the “do you want sex” scene changed? It’s still heartbreaking, but I wasn’t as affected by it in this reading (perhaps related to where its placed in the play’s structure?). It’s such a beautiful, heartbreaking, and hilarious scene—and I’d hate for it not to be maximize our understanding of Betty. It’s probably my favorite scene in the entire play, and the one in which we learn the most about Betty.

Overall, lovely, amazing work this semester—I’m so exited to see where this play is headed!

Erica N's Response to Feel the Bend

Great work Priscilla and Michael! It's so nice to see how this script has come alive throughout the semester. I'm sorry I couldn't come to the full read-though (parents in town...) so my comments about the play are restricted to act two.

Affirmations:

My biggest affirmation is you've really deepened all of the characters in this revision. Their language is more specific, their desires are more clear, and I completely buy their relationships. John, in particular, has become more interesting to me (I always loved Betty and Anna). See the question section for a little more on John...

I also really like the integration of the poetic language - as I said in class, it helps me believe in the possibility of magic in this play. Does this kind of language permeate act one as well?

The last moment of the play is lovely.

I really love the way Anna is situated as the center of this world and other characters kind of revolve around her. And yes it doesn't feel like she's the only developed character - just that her POV is the one the audience is asked to take. Which is doubly interesting because she's less easy to sympathize with than Betty and John. Very cool.



Questions:

This question would have been answered if I'f been able to see act one, but i'll ask it anyway... as an audience, are we building up to Anna's confession of her "black widow-ness"? I'm sure that we are building a tension of "why is she so afraid of commitment?" "Why does she act so strangely in relationships?" but I'm not sure those tensions alone earn the black widow confession. Are there other clues peppered throughout? The black widow conversation feels a little unearned right now, and I'm not sure whether smaller cues will help us with that, or if the black widow idea is just one too many interesting ideas in this play.

In this draft I started to really get a sense of how the idea of memory/fogetting/choosing to forget was connected to choices around Anna's ability to love and commit. I'm not sure that I can TOTALLY articulate how it's connected - the emotional logic was there for me, but I think you could push it further so that the parallels and connections are a *little* more on the surface. Connected to this, I wonder about how John is connected to ideas of memory and forgetting. The connection is a little less tricky with Betty for me - maybe because the themes of aging and femininity that are also tied up in the hair idea can apply to her more directly. While John has become more likable and interesting in this draft, he still seems a bit like he's only a character in reference to Anna. How might he connect more to the forgetting? What does he want to forget? What are his thoughts on remembering painful memories? How could the hair/memory stuff be related to the ways that he fights to keep Anna?

Opinion:

As you know, I have trouble with Carol in the play. I think she's a fun character (and so beautifully performed by Allison) but I think the structures you've set up (at least in act two) are just aching for this to exist as a three-person play. Like a little atom with Anna at the center. I have an image of this play becoming more and more tightly would as Anna negotiates her love, loss, memory, and commitments with John and Betty. Every time I add Carol into this mental image, that momentum and tightness diffuses...This may not be true in act one, but in act two she feels SOMEWHAT like a character who is there to offer Anna a chance to express herself verbally in ways that she can't with J and B. But to this I say, there are much more interesting ways for Anna to express herself (a la the scene where we watch her cut her own hair). Ok, I'll stop banging the kill Carol drum. I just think she might need her own play and to leave this one to the very dynamic trio at it's center.

Nice job in class - you both have done great work, and the restructuring of act two feels really right!

George's Final Response to "Feel the Bend"

AFFIRMATIONS
It was great to hear/see so many of the in-class discussions come to fruition. You both clearly investigated questions in the previous classes that you genuinely cared about and incorporated them into the latest draft.

Great new Carol/Anna scenes - did not miss the office at all.

I LOVE the Betty drowning section, particularly the "it wasn't your fault" chorus.

"Unexpected oasis" rules.

Liked the motion™ of the jump into bed with John after only one pick-up scene.

Continue to love the "married someone else before Marie got back" line

Great work, you two - "Feel the Closure."

QUESTIONS
John's dialogue in their first "in-bed" scene sounded like they'd been involved for some time. Is that true?
What leads Betty to swim her final swim?

OPINIONS
1st scene of 2nd act - "Anna, I don't want to lose you" ends the scene. I'm curious to hear how that scene would continue. How would Anna respond?

Betty's poetic interludes are great, but have the effect of making her seem deeper and more interesting than Anna. In general, Betty has become a great, complicated character (yay!)- the only danger with that is that to me she's become more interesting than Anna and feels like the main character of the play.

I wonder if there's some way to combine all three characters' reactions to Anna cutting her hair into one scene? (Anna in the middle, having a simultaneous conversation with all three?)

Here's a biggie - take it or leave it as you please. The play increasingly seems about relationships (the new opening and closing push it even farther this way) and as a result, I am less interested in the hair and black widow aspects of the script. The hair used to be the hook of the play to me, but now it feels like an unecesary appendage. Which is a credit to all the work you've done on the relationship material. Again, take or leave.

Again, great work to you both.

George's Final Response to "Saving Mom"

AFFIRMATIONS
I think I've said it before and I'll say it again - Soo-JIn, great work on your willingness to explore your play and its characters, to be such a restless interrogator of your work. You are to be commended and props to Carrie for spurring you on.

As I said in class, I felt the characters become more human in your last bunch of pages. I believed they were a family and one that loved each other despite what they had put each other through. The use of insults now clearly hides or is a defense for the need the characters feel toward each other. Nice work.

I also enjoyed Sunshine steppin' out in these pages and becoming her own woman. I wasn't sure what age she was now, but I really enjoyed her scenes with Denny and their exploration of the world they've been presented with.

I continue to relish the moments when the dialogue seems to be untranslatable Korean.

I like the dad owning a McDonald's. Good change.

Great work, you two!

QUESTIONS
Are Mom and the Rev conducting their affair in the very same McD's that Dad owns?
How does Harriet go from hating the Rev to caring for him in the hospital?
The Rev dirty talk was great - is it only "allowed" in voice mail?
Was the Rev's nickname always "the perv"? Where did it come from? Before or after his attempted molestation? Or was it after the phone call?


OPINIONS
My main affirmation/opinion is that you have presented yourself with so many wonderful ideas and directions for your play this semester. Now you have the luxury of sifting through them and choosing which avenues appeal to you the most and following them. I can't wait to see what happens.

Congrats to you both!

Carrie's Final Response to Feel the Bend

First, I'm sorry I couldn't attend the full read through after class (the class I TA for had a workshop with the Rude Mechs) so my comments pertain to the shape and content of the 2nd act as they were when read in class yesterday.

AFFIRMATIONS:/OBSERVATIONS
(As promised Michael!) Nice sense of closure/completion by focusing our attention back on your initial goals--the work that you both have done in class and with Leslie seems to have flowed in a smooth trajectory toward those goals. It was even nicer to hear Priscilla say that this was not so much a conscious effort but seemed to come right out of the work itself. I think I said in my first post that the strength of your collaboration seemed to come out of a really keen and acute listening to the play and letting it direct you, great work this semester!

It was lovely to see the play with actors--as I mentioned in class, just in watching John adjust the height of the music stand and watching Jon and Betty flow in and out of Anna's space helped me to understand Anna better and see the way that these different worlds and influences were washing over her and pulling at her.

The new structure of act 2 seems like a more aggressive and focused way to get into some of the big issues your play is grappling with. In the first few scenes the issue of commitment vs gender (as a way of making choices/loyalties/self-defining) was really popping for me--the repetition of "This is not about the sex/This is just sex" (which actually functions as a play on words--the physical act of sex vis a vis commitment, or the biological gender--maybe i'm reaching here) came out in the alternation of scenes between Anna and Carol, Anna and Betty, Anna and John.

The above is really heightened by the strap-on scene, where the strap on becomes the physical object that takes the place of the elephant in the room--the placement of this scene *really* worked for me

Its really funny that Carol is threatened initially by Anna's description of bi-sexuality (But I don't WANT to sleep with a woman!)

Betty is a much stronger character in this revision--I particularly attached to the lines: "I won't make it that easy for you" and "At least I know there is a guilty bone in your body." John seemed much more likeable and understandable/much less slick and sleezy--(I love it when he talks about Marie) the line where he and Anna are talking about love that is something along the lines of "you just put it somewhere so you can go on" is heartbreaking.

The theme that was really popping for me in the second half of the 2nd act was the integration of dreams/memories/reality--its lovely how these lines blur, that there are memories of dreams, dreams of memories, and that both memories and dreams seem to have a way of structuring reality. I'm not sure if this theme is dealt with in the first act but it really gave me a way in to the "logic" of the play and made me feel (as I said in class) that the play was reflecting in its structure Anna's inner logic and journey.

The mesh between the first half of Act 2 and the second seemed to be around the idea of accidents, fate, control: that we don't pick who we love and can't control it, whether or not Anna could/does control how the people she loves dies

QUESTIONS

-The idea of forgetting as part of Anna's project (that she could control what she remembers/holds onto) becomes a strong theme that connects the hair to the "black widow" idea--but I'm not sure I totally understand why Anna decides to keep the hair

-Is Anna also losing her hair as well as pulling it out? (I'm sorry if that's answered in Act 1)
-Does Anna really love Betty? When did she stop? (before Jon? after John?)
OPINIONS

What I really loved in this version was the shortness of the scenes, the realistic feel of the conversation/dialogue in contrast to the sort of magical realism quality of the world of the play--I felt pulled out of that by the first scene between Anna and Carol--Anna seems very preachy/didactic in this initial scene which makes me a) not like her as much and b)lose that great contrast between the very believable and real quality of each individual scene against the larger magical quality of the progression of the scenes

I'm not sure I agree about there being an evolution in Anna's "insanity" (again, I don't read her as crazy--but) her level of losing touch with reality seemed somewhat static to me, and the response of those around her (Anna you need to get help, you should see someone, you should talk to someone) also seemed a little repetitive. I think that where the hair cutting comes in is great and is one spot that really anchors this trajectory, but it might be worth tracking what we learn in each of the scenes that show Anna losing it, and how the responses of those around her change/escalate etc

I had a really strong image in my head while listening to this act of a bed in the middle of the stage with a sort of gauzy/blue fabric draped over it that could be lofted from underneath to sort of roll like the ocean and spread out accross the stage in the dream scenes/ocean scenes--I don't know if that is useful, but that is what I was seeing throughout

I have to agree with Erica N's really insightful comment about both how powerful the round robin is at the end and how strange it is that Carol is sitting on the side-lines during this amazingly powerful scene--I wonder if there is a way that she might have a right to enter into this round some way--if she has a larger stake or is pulled into the themes of this play in a personal way that might earn her a slot in this ensemble?

Soo-Jin's Final Response to "Feel the Bend"

Affirmation:

Priscilla and Michael and Leslie. Wonderful, wonderful job. I can see you guys have worked so hard before and during the rehearsals. I am pleased to be a witness and part of your process today. Very good closure in class today.

(1) I noticed this time around more than any other time before how beautiful your language is, Priscilla. Phrases that stood out to me: "criteria that creates attraction," "when holding your hand made me wet," among others.

(2) Your scenes flowed naturally from one to the next. I told you I felt like your play was drifting on the ocean, going from one interesting space of discovery to the next. My favorite two scenes back to back was the monologue about Betty becoming a dolphin chasing Anna and the scene where we find out she has drowned ("It wasn't your fault."). Very intense and moving. You gave us two things to tie together. You let us fill in the blank in between, allowed us to sew together the logie. You get my point. Powerful.

(3) I love how you start scenes in the middle of the juicy part of conversations so I can slip in and participate in what's going on as a voyeur.

Questions:

(1) In the first act, I think this may be the second scene showing Betty and Anna together but I remember Ana being annoyed with Betty and I wasn't sure why. If you show me the script, I can point it out for you. Maybe it was in the acting but I think it was in the text, too. It seemed as if Anna was annoyed with Betty's stubbornness of staying home and not going to the beach...so Betty not being agreeable. My read on this scene may also be influenced because in previous drafts, Betty has always seemed agreeable and more well-adjusted than Anna. But then I may be filling in blanks...imagining Betty to be more out-going and friendly to folks than Anna, just cause we haven't seen scenes of Betty with other people. (Whoa, that was a long paragraph on one point...end of the semester delirium, pardon me. This one also rolled into strange opinion land.)

(2) What is Anna not getting from Betty?

Opinion:

I thought the hair system worked great in your current draft. One thing though for you to consider (throw this idea away if it doesn't float your boat) is that during the bed scene where Anna buries a hair in her book...I wanted that memory to come alive...for her to revisit and enter that memory...not necessarily in monologue form but happening on stage. I just felt that place just begged to be opened up. What is the first memory Anna would experience with her first hair? Going on with hair memories (I know you've been saying your play has a lot of scenes but I enjoy them so much...keep giving birth...hehe), I would love one of those memories to be when Anna fell for Betty. Another hair memory I'd love to see or be told about is when Anna felt the bend. When was the first time, last, etc. I just want to understand that concept better. Sounds cool but I'm not sure exactly what it means. And maybe I don't need to.

I hungered for the "hair" to be introduced earlier, not necessarily in a huge way where it deserves it own scene. But remember when Daniel picked up a hair from my t-shirt during our improv and started playing with it? I remember my own body and the other bodies in the room going "ahhhh." That was a magical moment and I give all the credit to Daniel. But something as simple as that. Perhaps when Carol and Anna are eating lunch and Anna gets fixated on Carol's hair or her own...doesn't have to verbalize anything. But just a simple motion can later be reflected as profound by the audience. On this hair notion, I would love to see somebody brushing Anna's hair. Just visually I see that being a rich moment.

The "black widow" confession feels abrupt to me and because it's placed near the end of the play, I feel it even more so. I am totally dipping into prescription land here so you can stop reading or read and completely disregard...but how about if the death of the football player or other people she fell in love with being scattered throughout the play...that it shows up earlier so when we get to the black widow speech, it's a nice payoff. Not sure if it's gonna work, but just a suggestion. I just wanna see that "black widow" aspect of the play build. It doesn't work as a surprise explanation for me or at least in this draft.

Like I told you already, I am very excited about your play. The characters, especially Jon and Carol have been fleshed out so much more. I love the discussion of the strap on between Ana and Betty. It's heartbreaking 'cause Betty is trying so hard to please and Ana is so over Betty sexually it seems.

Speaking of sex, I noticed today that Ana and Jon do not discuss the specifics of sex much. For instance, Betty mentions a strap on. Even Carol doesn't get much sex info. But that is just the lech in me wanting more...haha.

Beautiful work!

Soo-Jin

Michael's Final Blog on SAVING MOM!

Congratulations! It's been a good semester for y'all and for this play.

I'm going to start with Carrie's Before/After question: At the first of the semester I saw a bunch of interesting, disjointed scenes. Some I loved. Some I wasn't so crazy about. I craved more linearity. I craved cutting to the actions that really mattered. I craved answers to many questions. But that's not where you took me. Y'all made it messier and it worked!

The session and the pages that came from McDonalds are really cool to me. I have this visual of the world of this play. McDonalds is like a spool and the story is a very loosely wrapped piece of thread onto it. Meaning. It has loops and paths that diverge from the spool but return to the spool and the rest of the thread. The McDonalds holds this world together. I no longer need linearity. I, like Daniel, like it when things are happening simultaneously or seemingly haphazardly. And since y'all know me, it's kind of odd for me to say that. I say that when I genuinely believe the world of a play. I believe this one.

The exercise where the Rev and Mom were behind curtains was very interesting for me. I guess it just reinforces the proxemity of this relationship to hers with Dad and her lack of concern that they collide too much. I wonder if something like that can be in the play?

Q:
What is the purpose of introducing the Rev Wife?
Ditto, Denny?
Are they further threads that spin on this spool? Or are they a part of the plot?
(I like them there. Just asking. I always wondered about her. Why she was so not there? although there's sometimes power in a strong off-stage presence)

Opinion:

As the only class member who saw the reading over Easter, I caution against feeling like you have to add too much structure to it. I loved the way it read AT McDonald's and the way it read in class this week. But that day at your apt, I think you were trying to justify too much. To add a structure, explain a lot. (ironically to add that linearity I used to crave) It probably was a useful part of the process, but I think it shows well that you heard that too and the freshness was back into the pages we did in class! Congrats!

I love that I care about Mom now. I love the McDonald's. I love the work y'all've done this semester.

Erica N's Response to Saving Mom

Affirmations:

As I mentioned in class, I really love the ways that Mom's meanness seems to have more dimension in these current rewrites. You haven't lost the notion of jeong, or that the meanness ties her to those around her. But you've broadened this idea to include the ways tat the reverend participates in harsh words and the way that Sunshine repeats patterns. it's really lovely.

I also love the way that MacDonald's encroaches upon the space, and infiltrates all aspects of their lives - even their dreams. I feel like the artificiality, american-ness, addictive nature, and capitalist project of MacD's lends a wonderful framework for this story and family.

I like Denny - who is he? And do I like him solely because he gives Sunshine an outlet? I think If I saw the whole draft I'd probably like him for his own sake. But regardless, I like the introduction of him as a character.

I LOVE how you're not sure who the molestation dream belongs to. It could totally be Harriet, or Rev, or both. Way cool.

Questions:

How does the father's drinking figure into the new draft? How will his monologue to the author inform your work?

Who is Denny (other than Sunshine's Friend)?

After working on our timeline I still have questions about how the Mom and Rev met, whether she was already part of the church when they did, and what exactly the series of events - or really plot points - are between Harriet and Sunshine's childhood and Mom and Rev breaking up.

Opinions/Suggestions:

I hope you continue to play with those WONDERFUL moments where MacDonald's objects or activities are part of conversations and interactions. I love that there doesn't seem to be a prescriptive logic, and YET I completely feel like the world of your play is operating with rules. I guess what I mean is that I neither feel bored/ahead of the convention NOR unsure of the ways that the convention is operating. It's a delicate balance that you've created so skillfully!

I feel a little bit as though Harriet has dropped out of this draft...I think that's probably very useful as you work to understand the other characters in this world, but just know that this time through Harriet felt like the least developed or complex voice. On the other hand, her relationship/alliance with her father about money is an interesting addition.

Overall, GREAT work. Terrific rewrites with really juicy stuff. I'm really starting to see the architecture of this play, and you've managed to retain many of the discoveries and ideas that have come up during the semester.

Jenny's Response to Soo-Jin's Final workshop

AFFIRMATIONS

(1) As I said yesterday, I feel like there's a bravery and a sense of play to the writing you've been doing on "Saving Mom" this semester that is really exciting.
(2) I really liked hearing more about Sunshine and how she's been affected by the family dynamics.
(3) Like Carrie, I felt the air go out of the room when we heard the Rev's text message. I think it was a sense of just how deeply he is not what we imagine a reverend to be.
(4) It was really interesting to hear the Reverend's wife's voice yesterday.
(5) The timeline, and trying to create it in group, really opened up for me the things we don't know yet about this story, in a way that felt useful. Good-o.

QUESTIONS

(1) What were the circumstances of Mom and Reverend's first meeting?
(2) How sexual was Harriet before the Reverend came on to her?
(3) Is the Reverend's wife complicit in what has been going on between the two families?
(4) Why hasn't the Reverend's son married? Will his family be ending with his son's generation, and is that important or unimportant?
(5) How much truth was there in the close relationship that Mom was claiming to have with her daughters when she talked to Reverend.
(6) Does Sunshine know about/care about her pecking order in the family? Does Harriet? What impact does that pecking order have on the family's reaction to the events of the play?

OPINIONS
(1) I'm curious what each of the characters sees as the major events of "their play" within this play.
(2) I really like what you've got going on with Sunshine and Denny
(3) I liked the intimacy and mutual joking of the kitchen scene yesterday -- it added to my understanding of why the Reverend and Mom were together.

Affirmations:

Once again I’d like to commend you both for facilitating an interesting workshop that required all of the members of our class to invest themselves in the process; I hope that this session was as productive for you as it was for me (in terms of thinking about various dramaturgical exercises).

I enjoyed collaborating on the timeline—an activity the operated both as an act of memory and the construction of memory itself. The questions which emerged when creating the timeline are incredibly telling about possible structures for the play. That is, I was intrigued that there seemed to be so many possibilities for potential chronoloigies. Creating a “simple” linear timeline was incredibly difficult; so many moments appeared to be interchangeable with others (in terms of chronology). Creating the timeline also forced me articulate what I did and did not know about the play, and in this way, proved productive in evoking questions that member s of our classroom had. Some of the questions I have (to be posed below!) surfaced throughout this timeline activity.

The timeline activity was interesting juxtaposed against the “fairy tale” version of the script. Give the very prescriptive formula inherent to fairy tales, the two activities in combination with one another really encouraged me to think about what was inevitable (and what wasn’t) throughout the course of the play.

Question:

1. I think several people voiced this question yesterday, but I’ll do it again! I’m still wondering when Mom met Reverend…did she join his church and then meet him? Vice Versa?
2. How does the reverend feel about being a minister? We get snippets of this during the conversation about his inability to write interesting sermons, but I’m interested in more. Other than our understanding of him as the Reverend who (essentially) is having an affair with one of his parishioners, what does his Reverend-ness look like?
3. Mom has that entire conversation with the Reverend about boys and sleepovers, etc…what is Harriet’s history with boys, pre-Reverend?
4. What is the time gap in between Harriet telling her mother about the molestation and Mom leaving the Reverend?

Opinions:

As I stated in class yesterday—I’m also a huge fan of (as Carrie says), the McDonaldsization of your play, completely saturating the vocabulary, the body, the environment with McDonalds more and more as the play progresses.

In the reading of the new pages yesterday, it became clear that Mom and Harriet have similar fears. Harriet is terrified at the thought of becoming her mother, and Mom doesn’t want Harriet to repeat her mistakes either—there is an overwhelming desire to “improve” upon the mother in Harriet’s maturity. While this was very clear and seemed to crystallize at a particular moment for me, I’m wondering if that’s a thought that might be peppered throughout the play—I’m also now interested in whose histories we are afraid of recycling and repeating, and whose histories we are not.

Great work!

Soo-Jin's Response to "The Fourth"

Affirmations:

I got to attend your last class sharing on Tuesday where we read your current draft. You played with the structure and used the texting system more. I noticed you cut generously and that help give motion to the beginning of your play. We got right down to the story, which was good.

I love the true to life ness of your play world. You are putting a slice of suburbia under the microscope and I revel in it as you take us from character to character.

I love how Adrian is on a journey. I wonder what he will discover at the end of it.

I love your descriptions of the suburb they live in...They seem as important as your characters.

Questions:

(1) Not that this is hugely important, but I've been wondering since you started the play, who is out? For instance, Connor obviously isn't...he is in a sea of ambiguity. But Adrian, I wonder when he came out. Just cause that skews my perception of their relationship. For instance, if Adrian is a really out person, then I figure most folks who know Adrian and Connor would think something was up between them. People read things well.

(2) Is Adrian Connor's first? Vice versa?

(3) Now that Jessica has broken up with Connor, what does she want?

(4) Is Adrian oblivious of Seth's attraction for him or is he in denial?

(5) Where are all the adults?

Opinions:

One thing I missed from the class reading was Mia and Henry's relationship. I am not sure if they come into the script later as you have been working on it since the beginning of the semester. There is a lovely chemistry between these two who make me really enjoy your world. They are gentle and flirtatious. They capture teenage innocence (sounds like an oxymoron) in a way that Connor and Adrian do but differently. Mia and Henry's attraction may just be budding while Connor and Adrian have a "secret" relationship. Even so, the nature of the relationships feel different and I like this contrast in your play.

This is total opinion land but I want Adrian to not get what he wants but get something better. That sounds vague. But I want Adrian to be a hero at the end whether he gets Connor or not because he will learn something valuable about himself or of life in general.

I can't wait to hear what you've done to it.

Jenny's Response to The Fourth Workshops

AFFIRMATIONS

(1) I don't know that I was really all that aware of the different modes of communication you had going in The Fourth until we pulled them out to play with them in class...but as soon as we did, they really caught fire for me. This is an affirmation of doing so (and digging into the different things that txt vs phone vs see each other will do for the characters and the play) AND an affirmation for Robert in incorporating this into the play. One of those things that, once I see it, I wonder why every play isn't doing it. But it feels VERY right for these characters and this play.

(2) Way to go in upping the act (and, I think, upping the stakes) of what happened between Connor and Adrian. I think you get a lot of mileage out of it, whichever way you play it (top or bottom).

(3) Great that you showed us the "what went down" scene both ways...I think the differences between them aren't JUST in the act itself, but that the scenes generated a lot of good feedback. Nice to have those.

(4) I'm going to second what Erica said...and I think Carrie...that I think it's a nice choice to hold out on showing us Connor (just as Connor holds off on playing his hand...).

QUESTIONS
(1) Does Mia have a flip side?
(2) Why does Jessica go after Henry?
(3) Why is Henry back?
(4) Why did Connor and Jessica break up?
(5) Where are they?

OPINIONS
(1) You lose me, a little, when the characters do a lot of statement of feelings.
(2) I feel like you're really successfully creating a universe/universe of people with a certain set of rules, and that you help me to get that universe instantly.
(3) I want to feel like there is something bigger than any one person's interpersonal relationship at stake. Henry is the place where I think I feel that...I guess I find myself seeking out what is dark, and indelible/irrevocable, in the play...what are the things that can be changed and NEVER go back in the world of these characters?