THE PLAY'S THE THING

Oliver Cotton

Continuing explorations into the question of writing identity, Oliver Cotton has written a great play suffused with the matter. I have had the privilege of reading it. The action evolves around an evening and a morning in the lives of three related people - two brothers, Joe and Billy, and Joe’s wife Elli. Billy has reappeared in Joe and Elli’s lives after an absence of thirty-five years. It is a simple construct and yet the reveal of each character’s persona is full of moment. The text is the action. This is the case in most theatrical pieces, however in this instance the reader is lured in and cajoled to envisage and carefully examine the events described.  This assessment assumes the reader is listening with intent. It is a work to which one must pay attention. 

The play explores various aspects of identity on a number of levels – philosophical, psychological, cultural as well as personal and gender. It is set in New York in the winter of 1990. The three are all in their seventies, Jewish survivors of the second world war.  This is not another examination of the holocaust; it is a close look at an incident in the lives of three people who happen to be survivors. Of course each of them is touched by that history, but it is only an aspect of their individual identity.

The eldest brother Joe Zimmerman is a man who has a strong sense of who he is. He has made peace with most of his personal demons. He has accepted the effects of events on his life, not as a meek acquiescent, but in a considered matter of fact manner. His brother Billy, although over 70, is still working out who or what he is. He disappeared from Joe and Elli’s life without s word, taking with him most of the joint savings. He has reinvented a life for himself as a Midwestern gentile, George Waites, although he has not really come to terms with it. He is self-obsessed, coasting through a life, and living a sham for the last 35 years. He is confronted by his past in the shape of another who has also been living a disguised life, under a new identity, but with much more to hide than Billy, at least so Billy believes. Billy takes drastic action and seeks out his brother to witness and confirm that what he has done is correct. He seeks some kind of validation, an acceptance of his identity, although one is not sure that he is really aware of what he has done. He has, from his point of view, given some thought to his action, but appears not to have any idea of the consequences.

Elli Zimmerman is more complicated. A woman in love with two brothers, intimate with both of them. Seemingly passionate about Billy, married to Joe and unable to separate from him, she is unable to make a specific decision about what she wants to do. Her decision is made for her by Billy’s disappearance and she comes to accept her situation and forges a strong life and bond with Joe. She is perhaps not entirely happy with her lot, but has made the best of it. She is well aware of who she is and, in effect, her timidity and uncertainty has been her guide. Like Joe, she has accepted her life. She is very much a middle European woman transplanted to America and tied to her husband. She is truly loyal to him despite her affair with Billy. There is a binary aspect here which is all part of the writing of identity.
(Additional Thoughts - see Blog Friday 8th March 2013)

The writing is impeccable and with the appropriate performances this will prove to be a very impressive piece of work.  It will make you think and laugh - all very human.

I believe the play is due to be performed later in the year at a theatre in North London under the tile Daytona.