AUTHOR: Caryl Churchill
TITLE: Far Away
YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2000
PLACE OF PUBLICATION:
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
JOAN: She is a girl who lives with her aunt and her uncle. She seems to be a secure and courageous woman. Her attitude is peaceful and she sometimes looks a firm person. Her curiosity makes her aunt angry. Harper does not want Joan to find out some matters about her uncle and she threatens her. Her relationship with Todd is very good. She seems to appreciate him and admires him. It is very comfortable.
HARPER: She is Joan’s aunt. She seems an insecure and worried woman. She tries to confuse her nephew and deals with ambiguous topics talking to Todd at the end of the play.
TODD: He is a boy who works making hat near Joan. His personality is enterprising and it seems to be a fighter man that hates unfairness and wants to get a better conditions. His relationship with Joan is really special. It is not said that he is in love with her, but he appreciates her very much. We can see this when he says:
-“you’ve changed my life, do you know that?”.
Other aspect to point out is his realism about life.
DEVELOPMENT
This play starts putting on stage a conversation between Joan and Harper, nephew and aunt. Joan has seen something strange on the street and she asks her aunt what is happened. Harper says that is a party, but Joan is confused. What she has observed and heard cannot be a party because she has seen blood on the ground, children who ran away, crying and screams. She also thinks that her uncle is related to this. Her aunt denies what she has said and wants her to try to sleep. Several years later, Joan works making hats near a boy called Todd. They talk about their job, and exploitation. He wants to talk to the boss, although he can be dismissed. Again, several years later, Todd is at Harper’s home talking about animals, death and war. They are talking each other about these topics. He wants to see Joan and she appears later talking to Harper thinking about what she has done.
SPACE: The play takes place in different places as Harper’s house and a hat factory. These places are closed.
TIME: This play is developed at the present. Actions occur several years later and next day, but at the moment that they are talking.
LITERARY RESOURCES: Language is not complicated, but this language is abstract. The topic which is deal with is ambiguous and does not have any concrete conclusion.
PERSONAL OPINION: In my opinion, this play does not have an only topic to deal with. It is a play where we can reflect about what we understand and create our point of view about it.