Buried Child is a "realistic" play. The set is a typical normal house and the characters are like stock characters that you see in ever family. I mean let's be honest most families have some sort of dad or grandfather that drinks heavily. The ambiguity of the show is what distinguishes from the other "realistic" plays we've read this semester. The parents of Vince are always a little up in the air since barely anyone seems to recognize him. The crops thing is confusing since Halie and Dodge say they haven't planted crops in years and then all of a sudden corn is there. Not only is that weird, but no one seems overly concerned about it either. Honestly, though the ost important and most ambiguous thing in Buried Child is that you NEVER figure our who the buried child is!
I had a really hard time articulating what made this play different. Even though it obviously stands apart from other plays we've read i couldn't quite say how. I like what you said about the house being typical and the characters seeming like stock characters. I agree with you about that and about the "ambiguity" being the separating factor.
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying that play is illusionistic, with just a few stylistic choices making it stand out? Or are you saying that because of these style choices, it lost its illusionistic status? Because remember that ambiguity does not make a play non-illusionistic. I can not-know the answer to some questions while being totally convinced this is real life. For example, it could be a play where the main character gets a phone call from a stranger every five minutes. Neither you nor the character know who is on the phone...but we could still be in a working kitchen with real shit everywhere. Illusionistc. Uses ambiguity. So I challenge you to think a tiny bit harder and come up with exactly HOW this ambiguity causes the illusionism to break down.
ReplyDeleteIs it not strange that the corn just shows up? Though we never see it, it is apparently there, or is it? It seems that this play might even have some supernatural elements to it! Or just a bit of rain can make corn grow overnight!? Or did Tilden even get the crops from the backyard? After all, his son Vince didn’t go to the liquor store to buy booze for Dodge, he said he just drove, even though he shows up with a bag full of empty bottles! Question: Why do you think that no one is overly concerned, but the girlfriend and Vince, who soon becomes unconcerned?
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Josh said. The corn threw me off. It is never established where it comes from or why. I sort of assumed it had something to do with the buried brother-son of Tilden's, or maybe even the return of Vince. When Vince is returning, the crops start growing again.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that there must be some sort of supernatural element with the corn, or something! I was thinking maybe the Tilden uncovering the child allowed Hallie to finally see it because there was no longer that huge secret that nobody really talked about. Or maybe it had to do with the fact that Dodge died, like he was a kind of poison because of what he did. I don't know. AMBIGUITY. AH!
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