“You Just Do It.”
Without doubt, this is the spine of the show. This entire production is just one giant train wreck, interspersed with smaller train wrecks both in the production and in the lives of the characters. Whether its actors getting married or divorced, people falling down stairs, forgetting props or lines, or any number of other things, the show must go on. Even when it seems they are terribly unready to perform, they do it anyway. A sensible show would’ve called off the production a long time ago. They would’ve postponed opening or even canceled once they realized they needed more time to rehearse. But this show isn’t quite about being sensible or holding off on things. It is about the insanity of just doing it, regardless of that means to you, or your love life, or your alcohol addiction.
Without doubt, this is the spine of the show. This entire production is just one giant train wreck, interspersed with smaller train wrecks both in the production and in the lives of the characters. Whether its actors getting married or divorced, people falling down stairs, forgetting props or lines, or any number of other things, the show must go on. Even when it seems they are terribly unready to perform, they do it anyway. A sensible show would’ve called off the production a long time ago. They would’ve postponed opening or even canceled once they realized they needed more time to rehearse. But this show isn’t quite about being sensible or holding off on things. It is about the insanity of just doing it, regardless of that means to you, or your love life, or your alcohol addiction.
The play does a great job of tying this in through several
motifs, but my favorite would probably be Closing Things. Literally, just
closing or ending things. Doors, curtains, relationships, literally everything
in this play gets closed. A can of sardines and a bottle of whiskey. The play
is definitely trying to say something about just closing things off. Sometimes
it is used as relief. The moment the door or curtain is closed, the character
is free to express a thought or to just get away from the craziness. Sometimes
things close reactively. Close the alcohol so that your alcoholic actor can’t
drink it. Sometimes they are pre-emptive, like closing a door early to try and
screw up your fellow actor, and sometimes it is a little late, like dragging
down the curtain when you end the act. Closing things seems to tie in with a
lot of the characters on stage, and their overall objectives for each other and
the show.
I love your tag line. Because that is exactly what these actors have to do in this play, even though they have their own personal problems or mishaps, they still have to put this play together and perform it for the audience. You just have to turn off her personal problems and get on that stage and do it! I also like your motif. I hadn’t really thought about it until you posted this but it makes so much sense in this play!
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