Three Viewings

            The one thing that connected all these monologues was the location. All of the funerals from these monologues were in the same funeral home. All of the funerals were mentioned in the first monologue of the play. I expect most people who read this would make this connection. Other than this surface detail the only thing that I see that connects these monologues is the theme of their stories. All of the stories reminded me of a soap opera. I’ve never really watched soap operas but my take on them is that ridiculous things happen in common locations. I guess you could argue that a lot of stories are like that, but it was something about the tone of these monologues that reminded me of a soap opera. All of these stories are somewhat connected in an unassuming funeral home and city. The drama from these stories and the people involved all seem to be connected because of their tone. They all have these secrets that they can’t let be known because they know it will destroy them. The last one is slightly different because Virginia thinks there are secrets that will destroy, but it turns out to be a ploy to erase her debt. So overall I think the focus on secrecy and the drama that it causes is what connects these monologues on a deeper level. 

On The Verge

One idea for a promotional poster for this play I have would be an island that looks like a city during the 1950’s in America. It would make sense because of how the play starts out with them exploring supposedly “terra incognita”. The fact that it is actually a time warp and they end up in 1955 would also be covered by this poster. The tagline I would use for this poster be as follows; “Terra Incognita: Embrace the Future!”. The land they are exploring is repeatedly called “terra incognita” in the play. The meaning of terra incognita is “unknown land”. Even though they are charting through unknown time other than unknown land the term would still apply. The second part of the tag line is in homage to Alex saying “Embrace the Future!” throughout the play. It makes sense as a tagline because that is exactly what these ladies do during the play.

As for the question of whom this character Mr. Coffee is supposed to be. I can only guess that he is supposed to be a deity of some kind. I would assume he is supposed to represent God. His knowledge of both the past and future definitely gives the suspicion that he is a supernatural being of some sort. 

Fires in the Mirror

You should look at the first group of monologues in Fires in the Mirror as an introduction to the play. Since this is more of a documentary than anything else it’s introduction should be treated as such. The subject matter of the introductory monologues is an insight to the values and views of two different groups; Hassidic Jews and African Americans. These testimonials give us clarity on how the two different groups view things. It sets the tone for the play and allows the viewer to have an understanding of these groups. This understanding is necessary because of the event this play is about. The Crown Heights Riots were a terrible incident that to an outside viewer with no inside information would look upon it with a biased ignorance. Granted, the testimonials concerning the riots specifically do a good job of explaining the events from both sides involved, the introductory monologues go deeper. It allows the viewer to step back and take a view of the entire world through the eyes of these groups. It doesn’t necessarily explain or justify the behavior of the parties involved in the riots, but it gives the viewer a chance to have an understanding of the groups involved as a whole. Without this introduction the viewer will have less of an understanding of these groups and will be crippled by this ignorance to understand the story of the riots.