FAR AWAY

Author: Caryl Churchill

Title and subtitle: Far away

Editorial and year / place of publication: Nick Hern Books in association with the Royal Court Theatre, London (2000).

   “Dramatis personae”: In this play there are only three characters, Joan is a young girl who goes to visit her aunt, Harper, and years later come back. She works (when she is adult) in a hat factory. Harper, Joan’s aunt, hides a secret about her husband. Her husband appears such as intriguing and mysterious character (but physically does not appear). And the last character is Todd, a young man, who works in the same that Joan, in a hat factory.

  Plot: Joan went to visit at her aunt’s house, she was a child. When they were in the bed and Joan could not sleep so she told her aunt something that she had seen. It was about her uncle.  At first, Harper not wanted say to her the true, she lied her. And finally, her aunt told her that her uncle was helping at the people who she had seen, her uncle cured them and helped at them to run away. Quite years later, Joan and Todd were working in a hat factory. While they were working, they spoke about their work or whatever. In one of the scenes, the fifth scene, there was a chain prisoners, each one were wearing hats, they went on the way to execution. As far as happen it, they start to do a new hats. Again years later, while Harper and Todd were talking about animal and countries, Joan come back, she said to them that on the way to turn she had killed some cats and it was difficult.

  Space and time: the action takes play in many places such as, Harper’s house and the hat factory, etc.  So we can say that the space is not single but is closed. And the action happens for various years. At the beginning of each act the playwright tell us the time. “Several years later”, “the next day / week”

  The language that he used in his play is colloquial. There are some idioms, monosyllables, shorts sentences. Some monologue like for example, Harper’s monologue. The play is written in prose.

  Other aspects: I think that this play could have an high budget although there are not many characters, there are many places like Harper’s house, the factory, etc.

  In my opinion, I think that this play is quite confused and it is not very clear. And also when we start to read it, we think that the play will be about the uncle’s secret but it is not. It is baffling.