The Lady from Dubuque?

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 4/14/12 at 7:30pm

Just saw this play.

Can someone pls explain this play to me, in a nutshell? Just couldn't get into it. Found it terribly self conscious and somehow sadistic. I generally like some of Albee, esp. The Goat, A Delicate Balance ,V.Woolf, Seascape. I've read some old blogs and reviews of the show, but the insights are variable. I found most, not all of the acting very cloying and unaffecting for some reason, Are Albee plays overanalyzed in general?

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/15/12 at 9:03am

"Can someone pls explain this play to me, in a nutshell? "

In a nutshell, a lot of sound and fury, much of it of the self-satisfied, self-indulgent sort, signifying nothing. A patchwork of shreds and tatters of his previous, and far better work.

Your assessment is accurate.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/15/12 at 9:45am

I like the play unlike a great many people. A kind man is in denial about the impending death of his wife and suffers. Part of his suffering is that he can make no sense of the afterlife and it fills him with uncertainty, which he stoically hides while his wife and others around him are in an emotional whirlwind, much more alive than he is with their unabashed demonstrations of whatever they are feeling, both verbal and nonverbal. Enter two highly enigmatic characters who challenge him by heightening his uncertainty (and the audience's) and aid in his suffering to the point of physical restraint akin to his daily restraint but also heightened. Are these people benign or malignant? We are unsure, as with death itself. Our uncertainty mirrors that of the protagonist as he battles these intruders in his world, who like death, change everything, as his social acquaintances, not personally impacted, aid in his oppression. The humor and unbridled emotion of everyone around him, earthly and unearthly, including his wife's own arch defensive intense anger - as funny as it is intensely repugnant - he resists; both the humor and emotion of the one most impacted by death (his wife), and the humor and everyday emotion of his friends who remain less immediately impacted by death. Ultimately, He finds some measure of acceptance but is still befuddled by the concept of mortality at the play's close.

That's what I found in the play, which I enjoyed (albeit at times I found the metaphysics of it old hat too similar to what one would find from a half hour of Rod Serling to sustain a play as ambitious as this). Of course my interpretation may be as different from others as my appreciation for the play is judging by the many people who dislike it and its not being a success.











Updated On: 4/15/12 at 09:45 AM

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 4/15/12 at 10:06am

I have a question, not sure if this was explained in the play and I missed it.

****Possible Spoiler****


Why Dubuque? Is there a reason for that location? Thanks.

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/15/12 at 10:13am

*spoiler*

It's a reference to a famous remark from Harold Ross, the former editor of The New Yorker, who said that "the magazine [meaning The New Yorker] was not going to be written for the little old lady from Dubuque." This line is referenced and quoted by Elizabeth and Oscar in the play (Elizabeth brings up the "other" lady from Dubuque, and Oscar quotes Ross's remark).

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/15/12 at 1:29pm

Harold Ross's comment, mentioned in the play, may have an ironic juxtaposition to something else. Perhaps Albee intended Dubuque to mean, as it may according to some etymologists, from the Woods (Buq being possibly an old Norman form of Bois). The Woods as in fairytales and Lapine/Sondheim may mean the unknown, where one enters into experience from innocence and being mystical and inspiring fear in many. Finally, the audience's uncertainty of what Dubuque signifies may resonate with the uncertainty of whom the Lady is to everyone meeting her. Death being the ultimate uncertainty for both the characters and all of us.

Again, just my take.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/15/12 at 3:17pm

Finally, the audience's uncertainty of what Dubuque signifies may resonate with the uncertainty of whom the Lady is to everyone meeting her. Death being the ultimate uncertainty for both the characters and all of us.

That's exactly how I read it as well. All we know of death is how it's presented to use by pop culture, but what happens when we finally have to face it when it enters our living room? It could be all black cloaks and scythes, but couldn't it just as easily be a little old lady from Dubuque wearing pearls and nurturing you your way to death? And what does that end mean for the people in your life? What does that void mean for the husband who has built his life around caring for you?

As for the language, which many would openly describe as "a lot of sound and fury, much of it of the self-satisfied, self-indulgent sort, signifying nothing" (myself included to some extent), Albee loves to twist language. His linguistic patterns are intentionally convoluted to the point of absurdity. One of my professors remarked the other day that the dialogue of the characters in this play almost seem to appear in thought bubbles above their heads. It brings to attention the often banal exchange we often share with the people in our lives and how commonplace even the most vicious of traditions between friends/family/etc. can be.

There's a lot more there, obviously, but those are just some of my thoughts on the issues so far. It's one of Albee's most flawed plays, but it's definitely interesting and worth exploring if you're an Albee fan.

[vegas2]

Posted: 4/15/12 at 3:54pm

I thought the cast was excellent.

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 4/16/12 at 8:49am

Thank you very much for your responses. As I was leaving the play I asked a few people, figuring I missed something said earlier. No one knew, even asked one of the Signature people. Thanks again, appreciate it.