The Closest Thing To A Family Reunion - Essay Example

Play THE CLOSEST THING TO A FAMILY REUNION This play is about the essence of staying together in a family. This screen play by Heather Rafferty is single act demonstration, set in a small church, having a funeral urn on a stand, while the timing of the play is around one month after the Easter. The main character is named as Jay, being around 33years old, his sister Billy, 30years is feeling guilty about her long absence. There is a sixty year’s old priest who is well experienced to handle religious functions concerning funerals. While Billy enters the church hall along with the priest, after Jay, the first thing Jay says to his sister is about not seeing her since long time. Both Jay and Billy are surprised to find no one else for attending the funeral. Wondering about the shape and color of the funeral urn, Billy finds from Jay that he wanted to have a proper death Jar as this urn, for his father, instead of going for depressing grey ones. This shows the feeling of Jay for the deceased, as he wanted the funeral to be bright. Perhaps this is the reason for him being disappointed to find a dark empty room, as he entered the hall. The father of these siblings has died and the urn is for his funeral, although he had been an atheist. However, the setting has little relevance to the urn and the church, as sister and brother virtually fight over the kind of life their father lived. While their parents had divorced, mother was suspected to have cheated upon their father, when he was away from home, to Russia. She married another man, Peter and betrayed their father. The reason for their failure to see each other, for a long time, has its root in the breaking of family, many years back. While their mother did not attend the funeral, other relatives avoided it, fearing that she would be there. The play highlights the grudge these siblings have against each other, as they feel that each-one has taken the side of father or mother. While they feel justified for taking such action, the oral fight resulted in the violence, as Jay cobra strikes his sister and she hits back, during the funeral setting, as both tried to defend their deeds. However, the theme of the play is strikingly conveyed to the audience in its last dialogue, when both miss having a family where brother and sister could live together. They are together, emotionally, for that moment, at-least. (Screenplays) #2---HOT BLOOD This play by Ryan Isenhart has two characters, Jackie Keller and Wesley O’Connor, both around the age of 60 years. While both have been fighters, Jackie has won prize, in such contests. The theme of the play lies in the fighting spirit, which both have, even in this ripe age. While Jackie has been busy with his profession of fighting, Wesley has started running a bar. The settings relate to an Irish bar in Midwest. While initial background sounds indicate boxing fists hitting a punching bag, as Jackie wonders about the deterioration of punching bags; the same has a deeper meaning of how the fighter has gone down with advancing age. He suddenly enters the bar that belongs to Wesley. While asking him the reason for his visit Jackie finally shows Wesley the bandages wrapped around his abdomen. The reason for such horrible experience is the Mexican lad who had stabbed Jackie, while he was asleep at city bar. As the two ex-fighters go down their memory lane, the act revolves around the kid being son of Mayfield, another fighter with whom Jackie had fighting contests, earlier. While narrating the story behind his stomach wounds, Jackie informs Wesley about the kid being Mayfield’s son. As the kid wanted to have a fight with Jackie, he was ultimately knocked down by the old man. However, the boy stabbed Jackie while he was asleep. Cherishing the memories of old days, with their fighting glories, the duo start drinking in the Wesley’ bar. However, on being reminded about seeing a doctor, instead of drinking at the bar, Jackie wants to even the score with Wesley by having a fighting bout. As lights go out and stage is dark, the sound of a ringside bell is heard, reminding the audience that the fighting spirit for the game is still prevailing inside the tow ex-fighters. (Screenplays) #3--Idle Discurse: A Tragicomedy in About Ten Minutes As the title of the play suggests, it is about entertaining the audience through comic gestures and dialogues. However, the characters are at a loss to find the ways for accomplishing this aim. The result is long pauses and silent darkness which engulfs the play at most of the times. While the play setting belongs to present time, the stage has minimum required lighting, with no dressing or make-up. Even the clothing worn by the older character Brimmlestein (Brim) is of dark color, while the younger character Schoenstein (Scho) has similar attire, which may have been worn earlier also. As Brim and Scho look at the audience and the stage, they are disappointed as they feel that audience expects something more than what is being presented. The audience did not expect an empty stage. The initial time is spent in scanning the audience, by both the characters, as they wonder what needs to be done to keep the on-lookers in good humor. While conversing on the stage, they discuss about the expectations of the audience and talk about teaching the meaning of disappointment. The theme of the play lies in this conversation, as the script-writer wants to convey that the people wanted seeing the comic act to keep away their feeling of depression and disappointment. However, they are being shown the same thing in the act, as well. Hence, the comedy can be about escaping struggle in the real life. While the two characters have been looking for the right script, finding one cheered them. However, as they started delivering the written dialogues from these pages, they realized it to be a wrong script. Finally finding nothing worthwhile which they could deliver for the audience to cheer up, they ran out of the stage. The end of the play is highlighted by the sound of these two characters running away, while the empty stage is shown with lights on, for a few moments, before the lights go off. This reveals the height of disappointment for an audience who looked to have ten minutes of comedy, which can take them away from tragedy of their life. (Screenplays) WORKS-CITED “Screenplays”, retrieved on 27th Oct 2010 from: http://www.academia-research.com/filecache/instr/4/_/470268_4_scripts_from_ats.pdf Read More