Love!Valor!Compassion!

I would like to say that at first I did not like this play, but after reading is multiple times and getting a better grasp on understanding this play, I actually have come to really enjoy it.  Though it is quite different than a well-made play, that doesn’t mean that this type of play is any less entertaining or valuable to society. Structurally, this play is non-linear and the characters are consistantly talking at the same time to different people and even addressing the audience at some points. Dramaturgically, this play says a lot yet a little at the same time. By this I mean, they characters have a lot of dialogue but have far less action than speaking of what has happened or what will happen in the future. All of these factors make this play quite different than others we have read. I think if a historian was reading this play, they might get the sense that america in the 1990’s was disjointed and confused. The whole play has a sense of disjointed-ness just by looking at the title: Love!Valor!Compassion! It does not seem to roll of the tongue, but rather it is broken and not one complete sentence, instead it is three different sentences. Also adding to the disjointed-ness of this play, the characters  braking of the fourth wall from time to time makes the reader think of the disjointed view of what theatre is “suppose to be” at this time. We get that maybe a capital T- truth could be seen differently by whoever is viewing it. For example when the characters talk of how they die, they each say when they go or how they believe they go. Ramon says, “I don’t die. I’m fucking immortal. I live forever” (McNolly 138) Here we see that Ramon’s belief of death is that it didn’t happen, as opposed to Perry who has his death counted down to the second. They view is different as what the Truth of death is and who controls death (human or God) is based on a person’s point of view. 

Children's Hour

The biggest departure from a well-made play form is the choice to not have a resolution with a nice tied up ending, instead we are left we more of an unraveling of characters and left with more questions. This is significantly different than a well made play because a well made play would have had an ending that was tied with a nice bow on it and all unanswered questions being answered. However, in Children's Hour we are left with Martha dead, Karen leaving Joe, Mary finally confessing it was all a lie too late, and her grandma never being able to really punish her for the mess she has made. Essentially we are left with a bigger mess then at the beginning of Act III when we see that Karen and Martha have lost the court case and now have to live with a stigma over their heads. 

I think this play should be done today. I understand why most people would say that it shouldn't be done because we like to think that our society has advanced and are more accepting of the LGBTQ community. However after seeing Five Flights, I don't think the majority of our society has truly accepted this community. I could not believe the amount of people at the production who were grossed out when either Tom and Ed makeout and even when Olivia and Adele kiss. I heard gasps and even people say "eww." I was appaulled that people thought that those relationships were "unnatural" in some way to say or react in such a way. For this reason I believe this play should be done ,and then maybe these people who react like this to a modern play will realize how ridiculous they are acting in today's world when we like to think we have progressed so far from when Children's Hour was written. 

Glass of Water

It seems as though my spidey sense is at its finest for i couldn't find this mis-translation upon merely reading it. It took me multiple times before I could come with some moments that did not fit to me; however, I am unsure if I have found the correct moments or not. The first moment I noticed was on page 93-94, the beginning lines of Act III. Bolingbroke says, "you sent for me?" ,and then Abigail and him exchange a couple of confusing and non-essential lines before Abigail says, "Listen... I was here in the Queen's boudoir.. just about to speak to her Arthur..."(Scribe). I think if the middle lines were cut out or translated differently then this section would flow better. It seems choppy with so many pauses and miscommunication between the two characters. Another moment that most stands out is the moment between the Dutchess and Bolingbroke on page 102, where they kiss and slap each other. This stands out to me because they argue most of the play and then say that they are to be married and  just kiss each other. This seems to come from left field for me, for the Dutchess was in love with Masham before and seems to move on from that far too quickly for me to believe it was meant to be written like that.