Negatives
1. Staging and blocking. After my first reading of The Book Club Play I was immediately concerned with the lack of action (movement) in the play. Something about the only setting being a living room and the characters discussing books made me try to think of ways to keep the action interesting, and I could not. Fortunately, the dialogue was more than enough to keep me engaged, but I kept wanting something intensely physical to happen and it never did. And yes, many great plays do not have huge, dramatic physical action moments. However, there was something about The Book Club Play that seemed anti-climactic. It may have been the physical release I never received, but it may have been the ending.
The play’s fairytale-like happy ending did not initially appeal to me as it seemed a little too light-hearted. Ana’s book being published and turned into a movie seems predictable as does Alex proposing to Lily. And while predictable doesn’t necessarily mean bad, the ending of this play comes across a touch flat. I look forward to hearing solutions for the ending and being part of that process. (I am also aware my opinion about the ending may be mine alone. If that is the case, I look forward to learning how others see it.)
2. Lily outing Will. The scene where Lily assumes Will is gay felt problematic to me. Will’s style and appearance is apparently supposed to fit the mold of a homosexual stereotype. Lily’s stumbling over herself as she tries to explain why she made her assumption feels incredibly embarrassing and offensive. I am aware that the views of the characters do not necessarily reflect those of the playwright, but this moment feels more insensitive than insightful. This insensitivity stems from the moment reading as if were supposed to be comedic. Because Will later discovers he is actually gay the scene heightens this by setting and meeting an expectation. It felt as if the play was making a statement about stereotypes being deeply rooted in truth. That can be dangerous. Even looking beyond Will’s sexuality, the mere outing of someone in any regard is something that can be painful and should be handled delicately, which it was not.
3. Ana is not likeable. This is clearly Ana’s story, and while not every main character has to be a hero or show some sort of dramatic growth, I was not a fan of Ana from start to finish. She is arrogant, selfish, phony, condescending, and can be kind of a bully at times. I did care about her journey through the play because I found her so unlikeable. She bosses her husband around from beginning to end and publicly speaks down to him. Her power complex also leads her to play hero and savior to the other characters in the play. When she introduces Lily, she speaks of her as if she is doing Lily a favor by allowing her to be a part of Book Club. Lily being African-American makes this behavior extra atrocious as it appears Ana brought Lily in partially to have a token minority for the documentary. Ana constantly ignores Will’s cries to receive the credit he deserves for helping to start Book Club. And while I understand her anger and hurt about the Jen-Rob kiss, her comment to Jen - “What is it with you and married men?” - is completely out of line. She victim-blames Jen for the past affair and is fully aware of her actions.
The play’s fairytale-like happy ending did not initially appeal to me as it seemed a little too light-hearted. Ana’s book being published and turned into a movie seems predictable as does Alex proposing to Lily. And while predictable doesn’t necessarily mean bad, the ending of this play comes across a touch flat. I look forward to hearing solutions for the ending and being part of that process. (I am also aware my opinion about the ending may be mine alone. If that is the case, I look forward to learning how others see it.)
2. Lily outing Will. The scene where Lily assumes Will is gay felt problematic to me. Will’s style and appearance is apparently supposed to fit the mold of a homosexual stereotype. Lily’s stumbling over herself as she tries to explain why she made her assumption feels incredibly embarrassing and offensive. I am aware that the views of the characters do not necessarily reflect those of the playwright, but this moment feels more insensitive than insightful. This insensitivity stems from the moment reading as if were supposed to be comedic. Because Will later discovers he is actually gay the scene heightens this by setting and meeting an expectation. It felt as if the play was making a statement about stereotypes being deeply rooted in truth. That can be dangerous. Even looking beyond Will’s sexuality, the mere outing of someone in any regard is something that can be painful and should be handled delicately, which it was not.
3. Ana is not likeable. This is clearly Ana’s story, and while not every main character has to be a hero or show some sort of dramatic growth, I was not a fan of Ana from start to finish. She is arrogant, selfish, phony, condescending, and can be kind of a bully at times. I did care about her journey through the play because I found her so unlikeable. She bosses her husband around from beginning to end and publicly speaks down to him. Her power complex also leads her to play hero and savior to the other characters in the play. When she introduces Lily, she speaks of her as if she is doing Lily a favor by allowing her to be a part of Book Club. Lily being African-American makes this behavior extra atrocious as it appears Ana brought Lily in partially to have a token minority for the documentary. Ana constantly ignores Will’s cries to receive the credit he deserves for helping to start Book Club. And while I understand her anger and hurt about the Jen-Rob kiss, her comment to Jen - “What is it with you and married men?” - is completely out of line. She victim-blames Jen for the past affair and is fully aware of her actions.