We're reading Long Day's Journey Into Night in theater class right now, and the students are encountering The Tyrone's, a dysfunctional family to say the least. Their predictions about the play were that it was going to be boring, somewhat funny, or inaccessible 'like Shakespeare.'
What is impressing me most, however, is that so many of them have not only fully grasped the flaws and idiosyncrasies of these characters, but that they are discussing, all on their own, the family's inability to be truthful, genuine and caring towards one another. They are passionately voicing their frustrations regarding the family's inability to care for Edmund, and Mary and Tyrone's tragic flaws. There are some in the class that didn't want to stop reading today, begging to take a copy of the play home this weekend in order to continue the Tyrone's story.
Long Day's Journey Into Night is heart-wrenching, frustrating and painful. These characters are deep, multi-dimensional, and anything but static or simple. They are lost, imperfect, tragic characters unable to speak truthfully to one another. The students get it, and they comprehend much more than they anticipated. This class is changing many of their preconceptions about theater, drama, and literature in general.
Friday, October 9, 2009
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