The play requires four actors for its two characters, Susan Weatherhill, a repressed and uncertain woman in her late forties, and Jake, a young man who is the college roommate of Susan's son. Each of these characters is played simultaneously by two actors, who give expression to the characters' internal tensions and ambivalence. The script refers to them as: "Susan", "Susan Too", "Jake", and "Jake Too". This technique of dividing a single character between two actors is not unique to Sweet Sue; it can also be found in Overtones (1913 and 1929) by Alice Gerstenberg[citation needed], Getting Out (1979) by Marsha Norman[citation needed], and Passion (1981) by Peter Nichols[citation needed]. Here, Gurney uses it to create an atmosphere of light romantic comedy, punctuated by moments of unease.[citation needed]
Analysisedit
Gurney has explained that the play was initially meant to be a modern treatment of the classical tale of Phaedra and her desire for a younger man, but turned into a summer romance, with Susan's struggling with problems of self-esteem, artistic integrity, and sexual attraction to a man young enough to be her son.[1] Reviewers tended to dismiss the play as superficial and far from Gurney's best[citation needed], but it ran for six months on Broadway, due in part to the casting of the two Sues with the popular actors Mary Tyler Moore and Lynn Redgrave.[citation needed]
Referencesedit
^A. R. Gurney (27 July 1986). "Pushing the Walls of Dramatic Form". The New York Times.
sweet, play, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, sweet, play, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, j. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Sweet Sue play news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Sweet Sue is a play by A R Gurney It premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and later enjoyed a Broadway production at the Music Box Theatre during the 1986 87 season Contents 1 Characters 2 Analysis 3 References 4 External linksCharacters editThe play requires four actors for its two characters Susan Weatherhill a repressed and uncertain woman in her late forties and Jake a young man who is the college roommate of Susan s son Each of these characters is played simultaneously by two actors who give expression to the characters internal tensions and ambivalence The script refers to them as Susan Susan Too Jake and Jake Too This technique of dividing a single character between two actors is not unique to Sweet Sue it can also be found in Overtones 1913 and 1929 by Alice Gerstenberg citation needed Getting Out 1979 by Marsha Norman citation needed and Passion 1981 by Peter Nichols citation needed Here Gurney uses it to create an atmosphere of light romantic comedy punctuated by moments of unease citation needed Analysis editGurney has explained that the play was initially meant to be a modern treatment of the classical tale of Phaedra and her desire for a younger man but turned into a summer romance with Susan s struggling with problems of self esteem artistic integrity and sexual attraction to a man young enough to be her son 1 Reviewers tended to dismiss the play as superficial and far from Gurney s best citation needed but it ran for six months on Broadway due in part to the casting of the two Sues with the popular actors Mary Tyler Moore and Lynn Redgrave citation needed References edit A R Gurney 27 July 1986 Pushing the Walls of Dramatic Form The New York Times External links edit Sweet Sue at the Internet Broadway Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sweet Sue play amp oldid 1111663807, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
