Role Call

Hmm. Last night was a phoentic transcription of a Neal A. Maxwell conference address--I kid you not--and tonight is a paper on some aspect of contemporary Irish drama, which just happens to be my English major capstone course. It's due in 12 hours and I've got nothing. This is only a slight exaggeration. So here's the plan: I'm going to type my little heart out here, in happy self-indulgence, and then see if I have any ideas worthy of a paper.

I am fascinated by drama. It started with Shakespeare (I read Taming of the Shrew when I was 9 or 10) and has since turned into anything in script form. I was about to type "anything on the stage," but that's not true. Some of my favorite plays are those I have yet to see staged, like Stoppard's Arcadia.

There are, of course, certain elements that interest me more than others. High on my list--and the topic of tonight's all-nighter--are plays that require actors to play more than one character. I'm not talking about companies that choose to double cast characters a la A Midsummer Night's Dream (the actors playing Oberon, Titania, and Puck are often also cast as Theseus, Hippolyta, and the butler--not remembering his name right now--Philo-something I believe), but plays that are specify this multiplicity of roles explicitly in the play.

The first play of this nature that caught my attention was Stewart Parker's Heavenly Bodies. It's a Faustian play about the life of a Victorian Irish playwright named Dionysus Lardner Boucicault--completely serious here. Boucicault, or B as I will from now on affectionately refer to him as, is two days away from his death, teaching drama classes in New York City. Jimmy Patterson, an Irish "clown" of sorts, appears to him telling him that he is dying and that his soul has been assigned to limbo. B argues for the chance to defend his life. Parker then escorts us through B's life and plays with B and Patterson assuming different roles and the drama students from the beginning of the play fleshing out the plot. So you have a drama student playing B's second wife Agnes, who then takes on different roles in B's plays.

It gets rather complicated, but I think my arguement is that this is done for at least two reasons: 1) to focus the attention on B; 2) to highlight the theatrical nature of B's life. This method of telling it is very appropriate. And I think I'll come back to my other arguements after I tell you about the second play.

Marie Jones' Stones in his Pockets is difficult to read. Luckily I saw it, oh, three years ago in London. It's the story of a small rural Irish town that is playing host to a Hollywood movie production. Only two actors play fifteen parts. It's amazing to watch. My arguement here will be that this forces the reader/audience to focus on the story as opposed to any one character, because each character is communicating the futility and hopelessness of life up until the end of the play.

My overarching arguement is that this theatrical device of having actors take on multiple roles not only very pointedly directs the audience/reader's attention, but it also mimics reality in the many roles we are called on to fill. I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but I continue to be fascinated by this. Add in the history of Irish drama to use stock characters and mythical characters and I think I can write this paper.

Merry Finals to All, and to All a Good Night.