Line #15 Theatre/TheShadowBox


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3	''The Shadow Box'' is a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning 1977 play by Creator/MichaelCristofer.
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5	It centers on three terminally-ill hospital patients, all of whom have been moved to a hospice (or, rather, three cottages that function as a hospice) to live out their final days.
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7	They are:
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9	* Joe. His wife Maggie is deep in denial and refuses to even admit that her husband is dying; their son Steve hasn't been told.
10	* Brian. His lover Mark has been living in the cottage and tending to him. Either Brian is bi or he used to be in a different kind of denial, because his flamboyant ex-wife Beverly has shown up to lend support.
11	* Felicity. She is in the worst state, with moments of lucidity that are outnumbered by longer moments of severe dementia. She is being taken care of by her weary daughter Agnes, who sometimes reads her letters from Felicity's other daughter, Claire.
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13	The patients and their loved ones share their thoughts and feelings with an unnamed, unseen interviewer at the hospice, as they each struggle to find a way to deal with impending loss.
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15	The original Broadway cast included Creator/JosefSommer as the Interviewer, Creator/SimonOakland as Joe, Creator/VincentSpano as Steve, and Creator/MandyPatinkin as Mark. In 1980 the play was was adapted into a MadeForTVMovie directed by Creator/PaulNewman, starring John Considine as the Interviewer, Creator/JamesBroderick as Joe, Creator/ValerieHarper as Maggie, Creator/ChristopherPlummer as Brian, Ben Masters as Mark, Joanne Woodward as Beverly, Creator/SylviaSidney as Felicity, and Creator/MelindaDillon as Agnes.
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17	----
18	!!Tropes:
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20	* AsYouKnow: In the opening scene the Voice of Interviewer makes sure to refer to Steve as "your son" when talking to Joe so the audience will know the relationships.
21	* BisexualLoveTriangle: Mark resents Beverly's presence. Beverly for her part clearly still carries a torch for Mark, although in the end she steps aside.
22	* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: The three patients are all clearly dying of cancer--Felicity moans with pain and begs Agnes for medicine--but the C word is never used.
23	* DyingAlone: Brian says that basically, in the end, everyone does.
24	-->'''Brian''': You're absolutely alone facing an absolute unknown.
25	* FaceDeathWithDignity: The central theme, as the three patients and their families have to deal with cancer and death.
26	* LetThemDieHappy: Agnes reads letters from her absent sister Claire, assuring Felicity that she is on her way and will be arriving soon. Later in the play, Agnes reveals that Claire died years ago but the mother has rejected the knowledge in her senility. Unfortunately, Felicity is clinging to life through sheer stubborn desire to see the absent daughter again, making it harder and harder for Agnes to keep up the charade.
27	* MathematiciansAnswer: Maggie, nervous just to be there, starts gabbling about how she brought a ham. Apparently the family lives on the opposite coast as Joe says "You mean you carried a ham three thousand miles across the country?". Maggie's response is "No. I put it under the seat."
28	* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: When Felicity ''is'' lucid, her age and her deteriorating health have put her well past giving a damn, like in the scene where the offscreen interviewer calls her "the patient".
29	-->'''Felicity''': Patient?! Patient, hell! I'm the corpse! I have one lung, one plastic bag for a stomach, and two springs and a battery where my heart used to be. You cut me up and took everything that wasn't nailed down. Sons of bitches.
30	* SpeechCentricWork: Two acts of people talking about their lives and their impending deaths.
31	* SuddenlyShouting: Felicity is loudly singing a dirty song ("Roll Me Over, in the Clover") while Agnes keeps asking her to stop. Finally Agnes snaps and says "Mama!!!! STOP IT!!".
32	* TheVoice: An off-stage character identified in the script as "Voice of [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Interviewer]]" conducts interviews with the various characters. InUniverse the idea is that the hospital is developing a new hospice program, but this device allows for the characters to explore their feelings to a semi-omniscient presence.
33	* WeAreAsMayflies: The play ends with all the characters semi-BreakingTheFourthWall as they talk about how life is short and it's important to appreciate each moment.
34	-->'''Brian''': It doesn't last forever.

Context Theatre / TheShadowBox