Getting Out
by Marsha Norman
I wanted to find a play by Marsha
Norman because I love the intensity and strong Major Dramatic Question of ‘Night, Mother and I was hoping to find
something similar in style to it.
I found a play named Getting Out
by Norman. The play premiered in
May of 1979 at Theatre de Lys in New York City. I located this play through the LSU database.
Getting Out is about a woman named
Arlene and her recent departure from the Pine Ridge jail where she served time
for theft, prostitution, and murder.
Norman infuses her present scenes with scenes from Arlene’s past, when
she called herself Arlie. Arlie is
what Arlene went by before she was released. The script focuses on Arlene moving into her apartment after
leaving jail. But at the same
time, Arlie is on stage portraying what happened in Arlene’s past,
including: when she was a child,
before going to jail, and while in jail.
Norman leaves the reader with some blanks that are later filled in and
others that are not. The reader
discovers that Arlene is a mother, but that she is not in contact with her
child since the child was born in the jail and then immediately taken out of her
care. We discover the different
relationships Arlene has after leaving jail. We meet Carl (her ex-pimp), her mom, Ruby (her neighbor
upstairs), and then Bennie (a recently retired guard from Pine Ridge). This script takes the reader through
Arlene’s first time out of jail, how she is dealing with it, and how others are
helping her cope or not.
The
biggest choice I found interesting was that Norman established this dynamic of
almost two different stories going on at once. The first story she starts with is that of Arlene; the
warden is announcing her release. Once the warden is through talking, we are
abruptly taken to Arlie’s story where she begins by talking about killing frogs
a long time ago. The reader is
constantly whipped back and forth between these two stories. They are both part of the same story,
but the way Norman presents it makes it sound like two different stories. Arlie is the story of a woman before
and during her time at prison and Arlene is the story of a woman leaving jail
and restarting her life. Arlie and
Arlene, the same woman, are completely different characters. They contrast each other and show how
big of a change Arlene has really made in her life. Norman chose to put these
two stories side by side instead of chronologically. I think this enhances the contrast, it makes it stand out
more than if it was done in chronological order.
Another
choice I found interesting was very similar to a choice Norman made in ‘Night, Mother as well. She chooses to leave out some information. She does not leave out enough to
confuse the reader or make them question the entirety of the play; she leaves
out just enough to add mystery or make the reader focus on what she finds most
important in her play. She leaves
out specifics of how Arlie committed her crimes, how Arlie’s dad very
specifically treated her, and so on.
I think this choice is very strong. I believe Norman did this because she wants emphasis to be
on how Arlene changed, not about her crimes or her father. Of course her crimes and her father
played in a role in making her into the woman she was, Arlie, but the play is
about who she becomes, Arlene.
Norman
makes strong choices in Getting Out. Her choice of the stories of Arlie and
Arlene side by side is something I have never read or seen before. I found it interesting and intriguing,
but also a little confusing at times.
If staged, I am sure everything would just fall into place and help
readers understand a little better.
Her choice to leave things out adds emphasis to other things that I
believe are more important to the plot then those details themselves. This play was just what I hoping to
read about it.
Norman, Marsha. Getting
Out [Electronic Resource] / By Marsha Norman. n.p.: Alexandria, VA : Alexander
Street Press, 2004. Louisiana State University. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.
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