Sunday, February 12, 2012
Buried Child
I thought this play was great. One thing I thought worked especially well in this play was the building of tension throughout. I thought that with the play starting with just the interaction of the character Dodge and his wife Hailie was a great way to not fully disclose the intense family situation that later occurs with the dark secret and the dysfunctional family life. Also, I thought it was interesting how different (in my opinion) Dodge's character was in the first act and the second act when Vince arrives. It seems like he (Vince) had a negative affect of the other characters. Also, another aspect I thought worked well in this play was the relationship of the name with the plot of the play. It was a very deep metaphor. I'm not 100% sure what the metaphor completely exemplifies but, my perception of the metaphor is that the "Buried Child" is both Vincent and the murdered child of Hailie and Dodge. I believe that Tilden took to the child that was murdered so much, and this had a killing (metaphor) affect on his own son Vincent. Overall I really enjoyed this play specifically for the tension build up and the way the interactions were carried out.
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I agree completely with your comments on this play. It was wonderful! I loved that it started with Dodge and Halie with the intensity building up between the two of them. The trickle of the other members of the family in the scenes that built up the tension and leaked out the deep secrets worked really well, as well.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the difference in Dodge's attitude between the first act and when Vincent arrived. Vincent brought so much negative energy to the play when he arrived. Everyone feared him, and that was apparent.
I wasn't sure on the metaphor either, but I am very interested to hear what everyone else thought about it! I also think the "Baried Child" is Vincent and Halie and Dodge's murdered child, and I also agree that Tilden being affected by the death had a killing affect on Vincent. It really affected his character in a major way.
This play was really great! At first glance, I thought it seemed really long, but I breezed through it! The building tension in the scenes really helped the flow of the play and helped keep the reader interested.
In case we're not ALL on the same page here, I'd like to reiterate how effectively Sam Sherperd used tension to build up his story. From the very beginning, the bickering between Haile and Dodge is so appropriate to showcase their relationship. I really liked the comedic aspect of the two elderly characters trying to have a conversation from different floors, along with Haile's nagging and Dodge's stubbornness, it's easy to relate to their situation.
ReplyDeleteThe story introduces one character at a time, and I don't think the audience would have gotten the full effect of each personality if the author had done it differently. With each characters' first entrance the audience is given the opportunity to observe how they interact with their surroundings and family members.
I agree with Sarah and Nich's interpretation of the title's metaphor. The "buried child" reference has a powerful image tied to it and an inescapable feeling of despair; the same despair that appears to be dragging the whole family down with it.
I did enjoy reading this story, although at first I wasn't fond of it's pessimism. By the end of the play I took a different understanding that the intention wasn't to depress the audience. If nothing else I think the story is a great depiction of an extremely dysfunctional family and the hardships most had to face living in America during the economy's decline.
Good play :)
I actually thought this play was very funny. Darkly funny, but funny none the less. I loved the old couple Dodge and Halie fighting, well more like been-with-you-forever voice, from the two different floors who examplify a older couple who are not quite elderly but on the brink. I like how Shepard places comic flow througout and it is my belief that serious drama needs a bit of a humorous tone for a little for nothing more than keeping the audience and reader occupied as opposed to a sufficating tone throughout a long play. Shepard shows wit at times and allows the reader to identify, to some extent, with each charachter, even Vince. The tone is groggy at times. What I mean is the Shepard tries to dig as deep as he can into the audience's gut. Good play and oddly a easy read, although one needs two or three readings to completely understand such layered characters.
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