Why This Play Now
My initial response to The Book Club Play led me to a bevy of points connecting me to the story. The first aspect standing out to me is how extremely relevant the play is. The Book Club Play undertakes an in-depth examination of privacy. At a time when social media is so prevalent, and so many of us put so much of our lives on display for the world, what is the new definition of privacy? If someone circles your house every day without ever reaching out to contact you, it would be creepy. If someone visited your Facebook page without ever contacting you, it would be just as creepy. But why? Is it really stalking if you yourself put it all there to be seen and gone through? Isn’t a Facebook page an open invitation to view those parts of your life you choose to post? Or is it referred to as a ‘wall’ because it is supposed to still be some type of barrier? A barrier from what? The characters in The Book Club Play have agreed to have an important part of their lives filmed and documented, but some feel as if the camera crosses some boundaries at certain points even though it’s just sitting there. Why? These questions are not only posed by The Book Club Play but examined as well, and I would like to be in the room when many, if not all, of these are being addressed.
The play opens opportunities to cast diversely as well. The one character who must be a certain race is Lily, an African-American. The rest of the cast allows (via playwright) to cast very diversely which allows us to break some preconceived notions of the kind of people who read and, more importantly, who do not read books. The dynamic of having multiple people of color (ideally of different ethnicities) onstage discussing the topic of race and ethnicity is something that should not be overlooked.
The topic of sexual orientation comes up more than once in the play and is done so mostly in comedic fashion. While this is certainly a topic relevant to a modern audience and one that should be brought more to the forefront, the way it is presented should be handled delicately by the cast and crew even if not done so by the characters. We don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or offended when it comes to delicate topics such as sexual orientation.
One topic the play brings up is that of the misogynistic culture we as well as the characters in the play live in. This is most prominently seen through Jen, who has the scandal in her past with the government official. We see that she suffered much more from that scandal than the married man she was involved with as she is dealing with the post-traumatic stress disorder of the public backlash. Ana even uses it as an insult when she discovers the kiss between Jen and Rob. The idea of women hurting women while the men (who are cheating on their wives) suffer lesser fates is interesting when we consider the fact that the playwright is a woman.
The comedic aspect of the play should not be overlooked as it is what drives much of the plot and coats all the would-be awkward moments. Ana’s controlling demeanor is off-putting to some of the other characters, but it should come across as entertaining to an audience in a Michael Scott kind of way. The kiss between Rob and Jen is high drama that is immediately met with high comedy. Even the issues of race and sexual orientation are delivered comedically, easing the awkwardness the audience may feel.
All of these are reasons why The Book Club Play is an important piece of art and should be produced now.
The play opens opportunities to cast diversely as well. The one character who must be a certain race is Lily, an African-American. The rest of the cast allows (via playwright) to cast very diversely which allows us to break some preconceived notions of the kind of people who read and, more importantly, who do not read books. The dynamic of having multiple people of color (ideally of different ethnicities) onstage discussing the topic of race and ethnicity is something that should not be overlooked.
The topic of sexual orientation comes up more than once in the play and is done so mostly in comedic fashion. While this is certainly a topic relevant to a modern audience and one that should be brought more to the forefront, the way it is presented should be handled delicately by the cast and crew even if not done so by the characters. We don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or offended when it comes to delicate topics such as sexual orientation.
One topic the play brings up is that of the misogynistic culture we as well as the characters in the play live in. This is most prominently seen through Jen, who has the scandal in her past with the government official. We see that she suffered much more from that scandal than the married man she was involved with as she is dealing with the post-traumatic stress disorder of the public backlash. Ana even uses it as an insult when she discovers the kiss between Jen and Rob. The idea of women hurting women while the men (who are cheating on their wives) suffer lesser fates is interesting when we consider the fact that the playwright is a woman.
The comedic aspect of the play should not be overlooked as it is what drives much of the plot and coats all the would-be awkward moments. Ana’s controlling demeanor is off-putting to some of the other characters, but it should come across as entertaining to an audience in a Michael Scott kind of way. The kiss between Rob and Jen is high drama that is immediately met with high comedy. Even the issues of race and sexual orientation are delivered comedically, easing the awkwardness the audience may feel.
All of these are reasons why The Book Club Play is an important piece of art and should be produced now.