OVERTONES RESPONSE

I believe that the characters of Maggie and Hattie are not seen by their counterparts as the script states, but they are felt. I don’t want to say they’re like spirits or anything, but I saw the two as extensions of the “real people”, sort of like your conscious talking to you. The fact that Harriet says Hattie is stronger than her is intriguing, because in a sense, she doesn’t exist. I guess what I’m trying to say is that from the audience’s perspective, it would be hard to distinguish the difference from the four women initially; as time passes by and we realize that Harriet never addresses Maggie, Margaret never acknowledges Hattie, etc. eventually we would be able to somewhat “group” the women. Whether the actions portrayed on stage are clear enough to do so is for debate, but I do think that viewers would conclude that two of the women aren’t real (for lack of a better phrase). From my perspective, it would be difficult-the choices would have to be strong and clear for me to get what’s happening. Regardless, I believe throughout the play, Harriet hears Hattie and Margaret hears Maggie, but they choose to ignore their primitive selves’ demands. Again, the script says they can’t see each other and never come into physical contact, but I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t know the opposite exist, you know? I understand that these are the rules given in the world of the play, but as specific as they are, I feel like they’re almost vague in the same sense-maybe I’m just trippin. Besides the phone thing Yvette mentioned earlier, I could not find any moments when these rules were broken, so the playwright was pretty consistent. I did notice that there’s an abundance of wiggle room with the way the story could be told though, not just costume wise either. I’m talking set wise and casting wise as well. So even though there are restrictions, a lot can be done without affecting the plot. The four women and their actions are essential for telling the audience the story, but how the “empty spots” are portrayed are just as significant. I know this is not professional per say, but I really enjoyed this play. It was a quick, clever read.