| Pre-existing Condition- spoilers | |
| Posted by: workerbee 07:26 am EDT 07/23/24 | |
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| I've now seen this play by actor Marin Ireland, with three different casts. The concept: play by an actress, directed by an actress, with a revolving cast of lead actresses of different ages- white and Asian- is marvelous. The creation of a community feel, and the opportunity to see our favorite stage actresses up close is a pure New York pleasure. The problem is the play itself. The concept is that a woman had a violent exchange with her boyfriend when they were both drunk. She slapped him and he hit her in the face. The conceit of the play is that she is plagued by the feeling that she "deserved" what occurred. She goes through life having the same repetitive conversation with various friends - male and female- her narcissistic parents- potential new lovers, and even counselors, but she never emerges from the same question - did she "deserve" it? The audience longs for some kind of break through, and after a while the audience is ahead of the play- we start to understand that this repetitive but false question is a device to keep her from dealing with the real questions: her drinking and her own narcissism, perhaps learned from or a a defense of, her parents' own self-involvement. Because she uses blame as an excuse to not go deeper and actually face herself, it feels like a play about a woman who is very emotionally limited and - in some ways- doesn't want to really see herself. Some of the performances are very teary, on the edge, and those are the most disturbing. The stonier ones are more achieved because they are commenting on the stuckness - not of the character, but of the play itself. Everything about this. experience is terrific for an audience except that writing the play did not help the author understand herself better. And as a result, it remains a justification. | |
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